From What's Up? with Love
By Becca Newell
From Lonely Hearts ads to digital dating apps, matchmaking services have always played a major role in creating unlikely or undiscovered pairings. And, for more than seven years, What’s Up? Media played its part as Maryland’s very own Cupid.
Each November, we published an annual list of our Most Eligible Singles—a dynamic group of selected men and women across the Chesapeake region who were searching for Mr. or Ms. Right. On the heels of each list, recipients were honored at a “Singles Party,” with cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, live entertainment, and, to our knowledge, several successful matches!
In cele ating our 20th anniversary, we dove into the archives to look back at this popular event that welcomed hundreds of partygoers. We even got in touch with a few former singletons to see how their love-lives fared after their designation—and, in one instance, following a chance encounter at one of our parties.
Deborah Goode
Goode attended What’s Up? Media’s “Singles Party” in 2003 with her neighbor, who introduced her to Richard Franke. “There was a mutual attraction right away and we talked the whole night,” she says. “I thought he was really cute and he was very nice.” The two began dating shortly afterwards and were married in St. Croix in 2006. They currently live in Churchton.
Philip O'Neil
A What's Up? Eastern Shore 2010 Most Eligible Single, O’Neil met his wife Megan (née Daniels) through a local kickball team their friends had signed them up for. “I’m so grateful that God ought Phil into my life,” says Megan O’Neil. “He is an amazing husband and the best father. I’m so happy I’ll be spending the rest of my life with him!” The two were married in 2014 at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay in Cam idge and welcomed their daughter, Mariana, in 2016. They currently reside in St. Michaels.
Russell Meyers
Goode’s story helped create another couple, too: Jennifer (née Conley) and Russell Meyers, who was named a 2006 Most Eligible Single in What's Up? Annapolis—the same issue which published the story of Goode and Franke’s ‘happily ever after.’ “Russell met his wife because her mother—my friend—sent the magazine to her while she was living in Fort Worth, Texas,” Goode explains. The Meyers’ long-distance love story was published in a 2007 issue of What's Up? Annapolis, shortly after their September 22nd wedding.
Camille Curro
A What's Up? Annapolis 2006 Most Eligible Single, Curro married Stephen Piscitelli in May 2016, at The Ritz-Carlton in the Cayman Islands. They had met four years earlier through a mutual friend, while attending a local fundraiser. “[Stephen] spoils me and he makes me laugh,” she says. “He ings out the best in me, yet loves me for who I am.” The two split their time between homes in Annapolis and Miami Beach, Florida.
