Valentine Dinner with Beer and Mead Pairings at Fabled Brew Works When: Feb. 8 at 6 p.m. Where: Fabled Brew Works, Erlanger What: If you are in need of an early Valentine’s Day celebration, Fabled Brew Works has an evening of food and beer prepared for you. Come and enjoy a welcome beer followed by appetizers, dinner and a sweet dessert. Who: Fabled Brew Works Why: Our days can get busy, and this is the perfect way to make sure to still celebrate your honey even if you can’t next Friday. Photo: Laura Ockel, Unsplash

CityBeat is looking to please in a whole new way by being a matchmaker and love connection for Cincinnati singles this Valentine’s Day.

Looking for love and tired of doom scrolling on Tinder and dating app burnout? Try something different from a simpler time with like-minded Cincinnati singles and send CityBeat a classified ad looking for love to be featured in our Love Issue, out on newsstands Feb. 5.

Before online dating and dating apps, newspapers and magazines featured personal ads, where readers could write in anonymously to a classifieds section and, later, a designated personals section looking for relationships of all kinds. 

Personal ads are a precursor to online dating and existed for decades until the rise of the internet in the ‘90s and smartphones in the last few decades. CityBeat even had its own personals section titled “CINgles” that was retired years ago — until now. It’s back just in time for Valentine’s Day.

We’re asking you, the readers, to write in and submit a sentence or two (five max) about yourself, what you’re looking for, or whatever is your heart’s desire, for a chance to find a love match. This is your chance to find love or just a new friend through an old tradition that predates the dating app. Imagine telling the story of how you met for years to come, running across your soulmate or special someone inked in the printed pages of your city’s long-running alt-weekly. 

We’re also bringing back a special missed connections section for all your missed opportunities at love at the grocery store, out walking your dog, at the club or wherever else you may have found an elusive love.

Here’s how to send your personal ad submissions to CityBeat:

Write in to: love@citybeat.com

There will be Woman Seeking Man, Man Seeking Woman, Woman Seeking Woman, Man Seeking Man and Nonbinary sections.

List what you’re looking for in the subject line, “Man Seeking Woman,” “Woman Seeking Woman” or just “MSW,” “WSW,” etc.

Here’s an example of what the personal ad should look like: 

Woman Seeking Woman

Female, 28, seeking fun 25-35 yr old. Likes club culture, music, thrifting and the local food scene. Looking for someone like-minded and kind.

To submit your missed connection to CityBeat, email us at love@citybeat.com with a brief, detailed (one-sentence max) summary of your encounter with that special someone.

We’d also like to hear from anyone who has a success story from personal ads. Write in to love@citybeat.com and put “success story” in the subject line to tell us all about your personal ad love stories.

Submissions will be printed as space allows. CityBeat assumes participants are acting in good faith and truthfully but cannot be held responsible for any false information. Participants must be 18 or older.

This article appears in Jan 8-21, 2025.