'Shoot your shot,' Elkhart woman uses community Facebook group to find Thanksgiving date

 

ELKHART, Ind. --Many use community Facebook groups to inform, debate, or complain. But one Elkhart woman took to the platform to shoot her shot at finding love.

Wendy Wells could be called a hopeful romantic.

"Hey, let's just do something fun, something different, and see if we can find a man to bring home for Thanksgiving," she said.

Posting in the local Facebook group, "Nosey Neighbors of Elkhart County," Wells wanted to see if one of those neighbors could play matchmaker.

"This one is for the single men of the group," the post read. "This is not an advertisement for a business. I have room for one lucky gentleman at the thanksgiving table this Thursday at 1 p.m. Should you be looking for somewhere to dine. There will be people, kids, dogs, lots of food. Inbox for further details and application process."

Her post immediately flooded with comments. These include the following:

"Shoot your shot, girl."

"Well, that's certainly a first! Go get 'em girlie!"

"Girrrrrl this is hilarious and yet intriguing… c'mon fellas… work up the nerve and say what the hey to this young lady!"

"Plot twist, we get to vote for the winner."

"They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Lol. Good luck."

"Curious, is the objective to please or disappoint the family?"

"I'm just here for the comments."

Wells responded to nearly every comment.

"One of the most common themes that I noticed was a lot of women power, just women empowering women, and just being very encouraging of the situation," she said. "Of course, it did get some less than savory attention, which is fine, I know how to play along and have a good time."

While encouraging, so far, no one has been enticing. After 24 hours and plenty of comments, Wells posted an update even funnier than the original post.

"The update some of u want I’m not sure why I expected a lifetime movie outcome in Elkhart," the post read. "But sadly, all this post got me was a lot of funny (and appreciated) comments, some friend requests from married men, a few inbox messages (one of them married) that have not resulted in a confirmed visit on Thanksgiving. Maybe it’s the wrong holiday and we can try again for Christmas. In the meantime, I’ll be watching Christmas movies on the Hallmark Channel and Lifetime. To all the well-wishers: you are what’s good about this community."

The extra seat at her Thanksgiving table is still open, but to Wells, it wasn't all about finding a date.

"It's mostly more just being fun. However, if Prince Charming came busting down the door on Thanksgiving Day, I would not turn him away."

She didn't find Prince Charming yet but did find the love in the "city with a heart."

"I think sometimes, we take ourselves a little too seriously, and there's a lot of bad in the world," Wells said. "So, if we can post something that makes people smile, makes people laugh, then it's a good day."

Wells said she plans to keep this going for the Christmas holiday, possibly even collaborating with local groups to throw a holiday singles mixer.