Billboards advertising a millionaire's search for a wife are attracting candidates as well as criticism.
Thirteen billboards by a Latter-day Saints-focused matchmaking service popped up within a 50-mile radius in Utah on May 1.
"LDS Millionaire looking for his wife. Exclusive VIP Event June 7," says the text. It refers viewers to a website, LDSMillionaireMatchmaker.com, where an application can be filled out.
The millionaire bachelor, whose identity is being kept secret, grew up in a large family in San Diego, says Amy Stevens Seal, CEO of The LDS Matchmaker service. She describes him as "tall, dark and handsome."
"He's very fun loving and has nieces and nephews who adore him." She adds that the anonymous wife seeker is a great communicator, smart, a total gentleman (even a bit old-fashioned), very social and loves baseball, tennis, Southern California sports teams, playing games and traveling.
Seal explains that he was so focused on education in college that he found little time to date and now has difficulty finding single women with the same LDS-based values. "There are a lot of social opportunities when you're in your 20s," she says, "but, in your 30s, not as many."
The billboard was not her client's idea. It was the suggestion of Erin Schurtz, one of Seal's relationship coaches who had participated in a couple of reality TV shows and suggested a similar approach.
Interested ladies are invited to submit their photo and an application with basic personal information, along with likes and dislikes. About 100 will be chosen and asked to do 15-minute video interviews. "We do all the vetting and screening," she explains, to narrow the candidates to the top 20 who best fit the client's description. They will be invited to the June 7 VIP event.
Like "The Bachelor" TV series, the gathering will be at a mansion, but it will be one four-hour session of group games and one-on-one interviews with the bachelor to narrow his date list down to two or three.
While Seal says she has gotten a few expletive-laced responses and photos from women applicants displaying unwelcome hand gestures, she is not letting the criticism get under her skin.
"It’s intriguing that they’re taking the time to fill out the application, then attach a photo of themselves flipping me off, but I'm way too busy to give that any energy." The cut-off date is May 31 and, so far, of the 1,000-plus applicants, at least six are from San Diego, she says.
While Seal won't reveal the bachelor's identity, she confirms he is not the same San Diego millionaire who put up a billboard in Barrio Logan advertising for a Latina girlfriend in 2012. That was radio entrepreneur Marc Paskin, who had appeared on the ABC reality show "Secret Millionaire."
Fairy tale theme: Toto, the Tin Man and the Wizard of Oz made their debut at the media preview of the 2019 San Diego County Fair, which will run May 31-July 4.
Fairgrounds General Manager Tim Fennell hinted that, in keeping with this year's "Oz-some" theme, he will be disguised on opening day as something "that rhymes with lizard." Hot air balloon rides, anchored in the racetrack infield, will join the annual attractions.
There is one more day at this year's fair — 27 instead of 26. A $32 fair pass good for all 27 days puts admission cost at less than $1.20 a day. Plus, on Fridays, kids age 12 and under can enter free. The fair has added a skip-the-line Fun Zone feature — a limited number of $20 ride fast passes will be sold each day.
The parade of Oz-themed caloric creations — Yellow Brick Fudge, Flying Monkey Caramel Corn, Blizzard of Oz Frozen Hot Chocolate — will be joined by other newcomers, including deep-fried crème brulée, jalapeño Cheetos-dusted Buffalo chicken chimichangas, BBQ Cardiff Crack sliders and nachos and fried bacon plantains.
A Chicken Charlie's employee will soon be stopping by Krispy Kreme to buy 300 dozen doughnuts every other day to make the concession's three-patty, three-cheese burger tower sandwiched between glazed doughnuts, along with its Krispy Kreme jelly doughnut-crowned fried chicken.
To wash it all down, Mike Hess' North Park brewery has concocted a"Wizard of Haze" IPA (India Pale Ale), which is being stocked in local Albertsons and Vons groceries and liquor stores beginning this week.
The fair isn't all eating and entertainment, though: education plays a key role.
Making a fair comeback is the San Marcos Hollandia Dairy — the only remaining commercial dairy processing plant in San Diego County (although its 2,000 Holsteins have moved to San Jacinto). In the 1980s through the late '90s, dairy cows greeted visitors by the fair entrance. After an absence of about 16 years, Hollandia returned and, in 2017, began a four-year sponsorship of the fair's California Grown educational exhibit.
Their task is to build loyalty to milk. With all the alternative plant-based milks on the market — soy, almond, oat, walnut, hemp, coconut water, flaxseed and cashew milk, to name a few — Hollandia Sales Manager Rick Struble says dairy milk consumption in San Diego County is dropping by an alarming 2 percent to 3 percent a year.
"It's challenging our industry," Struble adds. He wants to educate consumers and get them to look at the artificial ingredients in the alternative milks. "We're working to try to turn the tide."
