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Mazel Toy!

TILE RIGHT PAGE

d ipping t rough
a book turned
out to be just the
right move or
Ian Flashner an
Risa Schwartz

SHARI ZINGLE
Special to the Jewish News

t was just beshert (meant to be) for
two West Bloomfield singles look-
ing for love.
Ian Flashner, 29, and the. for-
mer Risa Schwartz, 27, met through the
Beshert Connection, a dating service at
Temple Israel, where singles pore over
pages of other singles in search of their
future soul-mates.
To subscribe, singles fill out profile
forms and provide a picture to put in .
scrapbooks. Then members can wade
through the books, looking for someone
to date. If they find someone, the service
sends a postcard to the person they
picked.
Two years after joining, and 25 dates

l

zVe::

1/19

2001

60

later, Ian chose Risa's picture and profile.
Risa then looked up Ian, and decided she
liked what she saw. He was her second
date through the service:
Their first date was on a snowy
January night. They went to dinner,
played pool and threw snowballs at
each other. Risa accidentally left her
umbrella in Ian's car that night. Ian
jokes that she left it on purpose as a
ruse to see him again.
One date led to another, with definite
interest from both sides. Risa, who hates
sports, even attempted to watch the
Super Bowl with Ian on one of their ini-
tial dates. She was asleep by the time
they sang the national anthem, but she's
quick to tell you, "It shows the effort I
put in."
The romance took of Their first date

was in January 1999. They were engaged
by April 1999. And in May of 2000,
they married at Bay Pointe Golf Club in
West Bloomfield..
Delighted parents of the couple are
Barbara and Ira Flashner and Joanne and
Mark Schwartz, both of West
Bloomfield.
The newlyweds are in the process of
building a home in Novi. Ian is an
account executive for Crown Lift Trucks
in Plymouth and Risa is a freelance
make-up artist.
The unusual part of their story is that
their paths never crossed before their first
date. They grew up in neighboring sub-
divisions, living only a half a mile apart. .
They both attended West Bloomfield
High School. He graduated in 1989, and
she in 1991. They also both graduated

Ian and Risa Flashner
on their honeymoon in Hawaii.

two years apart from Michigan State
University.
Ian and Risa had no expectations
when they joined the dating service.
They just both thought it would be fun.
But it was beshert.

A mazel tov within a mazel tov to Risa
who entered a Faith Hill look-alike contest
sponsored by Cover Girl and beat out 25
other candidates in a regional contest in
Grand RapiaL She was one of five winners
who won a trip to New York City in
September to attend a Faith Hill concert
and to meet the country singer. Other
grand prize perks included numerous
beauty supplies and a first class weekend
in NYC with the full limo treatment.