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"Wanted: A Few Good Women." That's how a 1994 Associated Press story about the west-central Minnesota town of Herman began.
The tale of the town with 78 bachelors and fewer than a dozen unmarried women was picked up in newspapers around the world and spurred thousands of love letters and phone calls.
During the height of Herman's time as "Bachelortown, U.S.A.", its eligible bachelor farmers were seemingly everywhere — including on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," the NBC daytime talk show "Leeza" and ABC's "20/20."
Busloads of women arrived to town and officials planned events like special dinners and date auctions.
Brian Rosaaen remembers hearing a lot of buzz about Herman for a few years. After that, it faded from the public conversation, he said.
He reached out to Curious Minnesota, the Strib's reader-powered reporting project, to find out what happened in the decades that followed.
"I wonder if people moved there or if they're still there?" asked Rosaaen, who lives in Minneapolis. "If they got married and they're still married?"
In the years after the town's matchmaking stint, about 60 people moved to Herman and a half-dozen new businesses opened, the Star Tribune reported in 1996. The growth was short-lived, though.
Today, Herman's population of 400 is smaller than it was in 1994. But a handful of Herman's bachelors did get married after meeting a special someone during those heady days. A few even have grandchildren to show for it.
Bachelormania's beginnings
The whole thing didn't begin as a call for eligible single ladies.
It started back in February 1994, when a Herman farmer named Dan Ellison — who also worked as economic development coordinator — spoke up during a town meeting. He shared concerns about the lack of career opportunities for women in town.
Ellison himself was a bachelor at the time. He had no inkling of the craze to come. He was simply worried about Herman's future.
He told town officials the troubling results of a survey of high school students: None of the 25 girls polled planned to stay in Herman after graduation.
The Star Tribune picked up the story a few months later with the headline "Town working to create employment opportunities for women." The article said Ellison's comments got people in Herman thinking — and counting.
"They came up with a list of 78 bachelors aged 20 to 50. ... They had trouble coming up with the names of 10 eligible women in the same age range," the Strib wrote.
Matchmaking wasn't the aim. But it soon became the story as calls and letters came in from women in every state and at least five countries.
At one point, the town auctioned off lunch dates with its bachelors and camera crews from Fox's "A Current Affair" hovered near picnickers.
"What do you think is going to sell more newspapers? A headline that a small town's looking for business? Or Herman's looking for single women for bachelors?" asked Ken Hanson, 68.
He was a Herman bachelor during that time — even flying out to Los Angeles to appear on a talk show — but didn't get married until years later.
How Grandpa met Grandma
Gary Findlay, 68, met his wife, Rhonda, during "bachelormania." They now have five children and two grandchildren.
"It's multiplying now," Findlay said.
Findlay was wary about participating in the craze at the time, he said. But when "20/20″ came to town in winter 1994 asking for bachelors to interview, he volunteered.
"I thought, what have I got to lose?" he said.
In came a flood of 700 phone calls and a daily stream of packages. "Champagne, cards, flowers, bottles of wine," he said.
Many of the letters were pages long, Findlay said. But the one that piqued his interest was confoundingly short.
"It said, 'Not much going on but it would be fun to talk to you sometime,'" he said.
It was from Rhonda, who was working at a nursing home in Fergus Falls at the time. She didn't include her number.
He tracked her down using a phone book and they had their first date on Easter. Rhonda was surprised he reached out at all, she said.
"I thought he was so busy with all those other women contacting him." she said. "I mean, it was on national TV."
Findlay, who tended to 400 cattle at the time, immediately knew Rhonda was a kindred spirit. On their date, she asked him to help with chores on her parents' farm before they went to a movie.
Finding a spouse who would embrace a farming lifestyle wasn't easy for many of the Herman bachelors, Findlay said.
"You can't put this land in a suitcase," he said. "They have to come here, accept us as we are."
Findlay's brother Dan also had a successful "bachelormania" marriage. His wife Bonnie was living in New York when she saw Herman's story on "20/20."
She put a singles ad in the Herman paper; Dan answered and they married and had a child. They're still together.
Ellison, who started the whole thing, told the Minnesota Star Tribune he doesn't do interviews anymore. He confirmed he still lives in the area, though.
He was also married during the whirlwind of "bachelormania" and had a son. He's now remarried.
At least two more bachelors got married during the mid-1990s; one is now divorced and another died in 2019.
In 2001, a movie came out based on the town's story. Called "Herman U.S.A.," it was filmed in New Germany, Minn., rather than Herman itself. (There weren't enough hotel or motel rooms in town to accommodate a cast and crew.)
Decades later, Gary Findlay still gets questions about those "bachelormania" days when he tells people he's from Herman. "It's amazing how many people ask," he said.
"It did give us notoriety. It brought people into town. There was a lot of camaraderie," he said. "It's a talking point for the town. I think it was good for Herman."
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