SPOTLIGHT : WHERE THE ACTION IS : For Singles Not Seeking Couch Potatoes, Clubs Are an Attractive Find

It’s Valentine’s Day and you’re single. Chances are you fit into one of these categories:

A) You’re in the market for a partner.

B) You don’t give a hoot about finding a partner, but you do like people and have interests.

C) You have no interests and you don’t like people.

Those in group C are pretty much on their own, but if you fit into categories A or B, there’s probably a singles organization for you. These are not dating services, but clubs for people looking to share interests and, in the process, possibly meet their match, or at least make some new friends. Locally, there are clubs for people interested in a wide range of activities, including hiking, biking, sailing, fine art, fine dining and travel.

Even if you don’t fall in love and get engaged, at least you’ll be engaged in an activity you love.

You’ll Never Walk Alone

When you finally tire of telling people in bars to take a hike, consider taking one yourself. The 1,200 members of the Orange County Sierra Singles do just that, and more, on a regular basis.

While upcoming group activities include car camping in Joshua Tree National Monument (Feb. 18-19) and a cross-country ski trip to Yosemite National Park (Feb. 17-20), there is also a Valentine’s party this Saturday, whale watching and a movie night on Sunday, and conditioning hikes for newcomers at locations around the county almost every day of the week.

“We encourage people just joining to go easy,” explained member John Morris. “The conditioning hikes get people in shape to better handle longer trips, and most newcomers are not in good enough shape.” When Morris joined, he recalled, “I couldn’t keep up with much older people--they can be deceptively fit.”

Bike rides, concert outings and country dancing are other Sierra Singles activities, with between 15 and 30 members participating in a given event. Dating and romance are surprisingly not high priorities.

“The singles in this group are looking for a way to get away from the dating scene and still be single,” Morris said. “They’re not necessarily looking for somebody--more like a respite from looking. In a way, Sierra Singles is the opposite of what people might think. “You do meet nice people--in fact, that’s what makes it work. One of the cross-country ski leaders recently got married to somebody he knew from the club . . . .”

It isn’t necessary to join the Sierra Club ($35 per year) to participate in Sierra Singles events, and costs for an event are only occasionally slightly higher for non-members. To facilitate finding out about events, however, a subscription to the Sierra Singles’ Orange Peal Newsletter is encouraged ($8 for members, $13 for non-members). The monthly general meeting at Garden Grove Community Center (usually the first Monday of the month), includes a potluck and a slide show or dance, and attracts between 100 and 150 people.

Orange County Sierra Singles, P.O. Box 26757, Santa Ana, CA 92799. (714) 538-6972.

Meet Eaters

The Single Gourmet is made up primarily of business professionals in their 30s to 50s seeking platonic connections, “who enjoy meeting singles of both sexes,” according to co-founder Irene McCarthy.

But romantic connections are hardly out of the question.

“Oh, yes! Six marriages that we know of,” McCarthy enthused. “And we’re sure there are others we haven’t been apprised of. Many long-term relationships, many, many short-term relationships--countless!”

The group dines out once a week, usually mid-week but occasionally on the weekend. Group size at each event ranges from 20 to 70 (average 45), and the cost of the prix fixe meals ranges from $30 to $80 including tax and tip (average $50). Upcoming events include a Valentine’s Day dinner at Sports Club/Irvine ($39), a wine tasting Feb. 22 at Robert Mondavi Wine & Food Center in Costa Mesa ($37) and dinner Feb. 27 at Pascal in Newport Beach ($49).

Another event announced recently--to be held at a restaurant called Fatal Attraction on Hospital Way in Irvine--provides insight into the group’s character. On the menu were an appetizer of escargot crunchy style on the half-shell and an entree of poached liver and raw onions with choice of sweetbreads, stir-fried calves brains or braised ground hog.

“It was an early April Fools joke,” McCarthy admitted, “but it was amazing how many calls there were. The cutest call we got, a member wanted to know if he’d be covered by his medical insurance. For the most part, our people enjoy fine dining but they’re not experimental. They go for steak or salmon--a good meal. What attracts people is value.”

Dues are $99 per year, which includes a monthly newsletter. Newcomers can attend one dinner for an extra charge of $10; if they join that evening, it’s deducted from the membership fee. The group has been operating for three years, and there are currently 300 members.

The Single Gourmet, P.O. Box 19681-470, Irvine, CA 92713. (714) 854-6552.

Spokes People

“We’re not zoomers, we’re not out to set any records,” assured Paul Alfrey of Newport Beach Bicycling Singles. As long as it’s not raining, nonsmoking bicycle enthusiasts 35 and older meet Sunday mornings for a two- or three-hour ride followed by lunch at a restaurant.

“Whoever shows up at 10 a.m., we go riding,” Alfrey said. “Our primary goal is social, and the riding is mostly a way of getting out and doing things. But it’s also a filter. I want to widen my sphere of friends, but I don’t want to meet couch potatoes. Hopefully, the people who show up will have the exact same feelings.”

Those interested need only phone for ride location; usually a dozen cyclists turn out on a given day. The rides often take place along Huntington Beach, or on trails in Irvine or Newport’s Back Bay.

This is one group where chivalry isn’t dead.

“The gentlemen help the ladies repair and/or carry their bikes if it’s needed,” Alfrey said. “Many of the ladies are not that mechanically inclined, so a couple of guys have offered to pump the tires and make adjustments when necessary. One fellow has gone to three different ladies’ homes to fix bicycles, and even to just help to get them in the car.” (The bicycles.)

There are no dues or fees. Alfrey will try to match-up those interested in riding days other than Sunday.

Newport Beach Bicycling Singles . For ride location, (714) 631-9090.

Sailing Sea-ngles

“Our principal love is the sea and sailing,” said Fred Bockmiller of Nonsmoking Ocean Pacific Single Sailors. “We get the occasional lovelorn in there, but this group is not for lonely hearts. It’s a sailing club for singles who love the sea, and the companionship is great.”

The Single Sailors sail once each weekend, alternating Sundays and Saturdays, on the 46-foot sloop Hidalgo. A barbecue aboard the boat follows every outing, and Bockmiller serves as chef as well as “bottle-washer and Capitan ,” he said. “I’m licensed by the Coast Guard, just like the guys who run the oil tankers to Alaska. I run commercial boats for a living. This is what I do for fun.”

The sail lasts from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with longer trips occasionally scheduled to Catalina Island. A maximum of eight can be accommodated, with an estimated 50 regulars participating every four to six weeks. $25 per outing defrays expenses, which Bockmiller readily admits includes the cost of maintaining the boat. Age range, he said, is “29 to 59-and-holding.”

“We go out every weekend that the weather is clement, and we have a perfect record for six years,” he said. “We celebrate birthdays and every other occasion we can. For Valentine’s Day, we’ll have cake, but nobody with a bow and arrow. You don’t have to know how to sail. You only need to have good health and a good stomach--there’s commotion and motion in the ocean!”

There have been romances, Bockmiller added, “quite a few as a matter of fact.

“You boil it down to the common denominators. You’ve got nonsmoking outdoors people who love the sea, that’s three common bonds already. It’s not like you’re meeting people in a bar smoking a cigar. What do you have in common with them?” Nonsmoking Ocean Pacific Single Sailors. Reservations required. Call for location. (714) 646-4005.

The Art of Romance

What can be more romantic than meeting through the arts, ponders Ramona Parkinson, program director of Bowers Singles for the Cultural Arts. “Did you happen to see the play ‘Green Icebergs’ at South Coast Repertory?” she asked. “That was such a romantic story--the couple met under a painting at the museum.”

Based at Bowers Museum of Cultural Art in Santa Ana, the group was founded 11 years ago “to foster interest, learning and understanding of the arts, and to enjoy the fellowship of other single people interested in the arts.” According to Parkinson, the group has about 40 members, including “some dating couples.” But listen up, guys: She says there are quite a few more women than men right now.

Bowers Singles meets the third Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. for a social hour and lecture, usually on art or music. Art historian Patricia Craig recently presented a slide show on Van Gogh; the next lecture, Feb. 21 at Bowers Museum, is called “You Too Can Sculpt,” while the March 21 talk is on pre-Columbian Panama. The calendar also includes concert, theater and restaurant outings.

“Whatever we do, there’s lots of friendship,” Parkinson said.

Annual dues are $15, plus $30 museum membership. Lectures are $4 for members, $8 for non-members.

Bowers Singles for the Cultural Arts, 2002 Main St., Santa Ana. (714) 733-1508 evenings and weekends.

A Whole New World

According to its motto, Travelin’ Singles is “dedicated to fulfilling the needs of restless singles.” Those restless singles range in age from their 30s to 60s. Trips range from $300 to $3,000, and from long weekends to two weeks. “The higher the price of a trip, the higher the average age,” said president John La Point.

La Point collects names and addresses of singles who like to travel. When he hears a destination mentioned often enough, he organizes a tour and sends out a flyer. La Point says participants get better-than-retail prices, avoid single supplements, and best of all, they know they’re traveling with other singles.

“We go anywhere, Cabo San Lucas to New Zealand,” La Point said. “If I hear the Antarctic often enough, I’ll arrange that too.”

The club, in existence since 1983, hosts about 14 tours per year. A $15 “postage fee” to be put on the mailing list counts as a $20 credit toward your first tour. The average number of travelers on each tour is 35 to 40, though a trip to Puerto Vallarta at Thanksgiving--five days for $560--drew 95.

“The camaraderie is important,” La Point said, “so it’s nice to keep it down to 35. The goal isn’t necessarily romantic, although everybody’s open to that. It’s also somebody to go shopping with, somebody to have dinner with, even if nothing romantic happens.

“We do have a couple who’s been dating for three or four years, and they still travel with us as a couple. But now and then I’ll notice that two people interested in each other don’t travel with us any more. Once they’re a couple, the women usually don’t want the men exposed to the singles. And vice versa.”

Travelin’ Singles. P.O. Box 111, Artesia. (800) 748-6662.

Other clubs focus on volleyball, camping, tennis, golf, skiing, opera, bridge . . . The list goes on, and becomes highly specialized too. One travel club focuses exclusively on meeting other singles in Australia; a “dance group” might mean cha-cha, swing, square dancing or some other style.

Whatever the activity, the common goal is to share some fun. Which, most singles would tell you, is not a bad basis for any relationship.