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Dating dilemma: Pub or church?

Where do singles in Craig go to find Mr. or Miss Right?

Michelle Balleck

Mathers’ Bar and Grill is packed on a weekend nights with men and women looking to have a good time and possibly find a significant other.

But through the haze of smoke, alcohol and alternating rap and country music, romance is usually the last thing they find on the dimly lit dance floor.

April Dilldine keeps her eye out for eligible bachelors when she’s at Mathers.’



“I don’t know why I haven’t found anyone decent,” she said. “I would say it’s a shortage of good guys.”

The mother of a 3-year-old girl, Dilldine said it’s difficult for her to date because of her daughter, but even harder to figure out some of the men she’s met at the bar.



“You could be looking good with your legs shaved and guys wouldn’t talk to you,” she said. “But you could wear a T-shirt and guys would go home with you.”

She attributes this to men’s higher confidence level with a woman who is dressed casually.

Dave Foster said he doesn’t have trouble approaching women, but he has trouble finding women he wants to approach.

“I’d love to fall in love. I’d love to find a date,” he said. “But it’s not going to happen, not in this town.”

He said the problem is finding someone he can have a decent conversation with, and someone who isn’t just looking for a one night stand.

“Church is actually the best place to find women,” Foster said.

“Problem is, you have to be a saint to get them.”

LuAnn Kline, secretary at First Baptist Church, agreed.

“I don’t feel like a bar is a place to go to meet a spouse or long-term partner,” she said. “I think you should meet them through church.”

Kline met her husband at that church when they were younger, and the two were wed in the first wedding ceremony there.

First Baptist offers a singles Bible study on Saturday evenings, but Kline said the program is not geared toward matching singles up.

She said most of the events the church sponsors are focused on young children but thinks the church should initiate some programs to encourage young adults in the church to date one another.

First Christian Church Pastor David Carrick said his church has no events such as that, either, but said the church aims to include members of all ages.

The church hosts a fellowship dinner Wednesday evenings that attracts a wide range of members in terms of age.

“We have everything from just kids to widowed seniors to singles to whole families,” he said.

He encourages young adults to meet through church and avoid the bar scene, where many men and women think they have to be particularly careful.

“People don’t date anymore,” Foster said. “It’s just free sex.”

Many singles agreed that the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease is something they consider when meeting new people.

The Popular Bar bartender Cindy Renfro said one night stands are a common occurrence among her customers after an evening at the bar.

“I’ve been a bartender for six years, and there have been some that have started dating and it’s lasted,” she said. “For the most part, though, it doesn’t last.”

Renfro said most of her patrons are repeat customers, and many people who come in already know everyone there.

“It’s really hard (to date) here in Craig,” she said. “Not that many new people come to town.”

She said she gets hit on a lot herself and sees men buying women drinks frequently.

“Sometimes they’ll ask me if I know the girl at the end of the bar,” Renfro said.

“I say, ‘I’m not doing you’re dirty work. You go down and talk to her yourself.'”

Michelle Perry can be reached at 824-7031 or mperry@craigdailypress.com.


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