Graduates have options in socializing
Valerie Bontrager / KANSAN
Bars, gyms and churches serve as meeting places
Singles ads can be a way to meet people when a person is in a new community and doesn't know anyone.
By Joe Thornburg Special to the Kansan
KU graduates with a new job in a different town don't have to be home alone. People from bartenders to matchmaker professionals say newcomers need to make the effort to meet people.
Bars seem to be a place commonly connected with introductions and new relationships.
"People come in here to relax and have a drink and to meet new people," said Joe Andrati, a bartender at Kelly's Bar in the Westport area in Kansas City, Mo.
Workout places are another good place to meet people.
"People who come in here are serious about results and their attitudes with their bodies and those around them," said Chris Bartling, assistant manager of Golds Gyms in the Kansas City area.
Some Kansas City area gym employees, such as Lori Bowman, said gyms were places that gave people time to get to know
each other while working on getting in shape.
"We are more of a family atmosphere here, with not as many members," said Bowman, employee at Georgetown Racquetball and Fitness Club in Mission. "We have more of a chance to get to know every member."
A calmer place to get to know new people may be at church and through the services
it offers to newcomers.
"Church is a wonderful place to get to know new people because you already have the faith of the church in common," said the Rev. Vince Krische of the St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, 1631 Crescent Road.
The church offers many groups and services for newcomers entering the church, he said.
"We offer everything to these newcomers we can," Krische said. "Welcome programs such as fiestas, ice cream socials and Catholic fairs are just a few of things we have to offer."
In bigger towns, the reaction seems to be the same from pastors such as the Rev. Vernon Dubose of the New Fellowship Baptist Church of Kansas City, Mo.
"We believe that the new people in our church are the people who keep us learning and growing as a church," he said.
A more controlled way to meet people is through Matchmaker International in Kansas City, Kan., a service set up so that compatible people have a chance to get to know one another.
"We are a successful and realistic way to develop a good friendship or a romantic relationship based on compatibility rather than just on looks alone." said Jack Alley, co-owner of Matchmaker International.
This service is a quick way to find someone who will fit the lifestyle a person leads.
"Our company is growing across the country to over 85 different centers, just showing that this way of meeting people is effective and fun," Alley said.
With all of these options available to graduating seniors, the one thing most people will have in common is their work place, where co-workers often become a person's closest friends.
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May 2,1994 THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN • GRADUATION
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