By Whitney DeGroat
Staff Writer for Springfield News-Sun - published 10/20/10
SPRINGFIELD — Marriage Resource Center of the Miami Valley is turning to an old game to raise money and bring attention to couples who have had successful marriages.
Four local couples will face-off in the “Not-So Newlywed Game,” a play on the 1960s game show “The Newlywed Game,” to win a second-honeymoon Carribean cruise.
Three couples will be chosen by voters via a ballot at www.springfieldnewssun.com - all except the final couple, who will be chosen from a drawing the night of the game as “wild card” competitors.
The game will take place 6 p.m. to 8p.m Nov. 5 at Shawnee Place Apartments, 102 East Main Street.
Tickets are on sale from $25 to $40, and are available at newlywed.eventbrite.org. Proceeds will fund the operations of Marriage Resource Center, who is hosting the event.
Marriage Resource Center, which works to promote family stability by teaching couples and individuals how to build healthy relationships, was launched in 2004 and began teaching classes in 2005. The group focuses their efforts on Clark, Greene, and Champaign counties, but has had individuals come from as far as Wisconsin, said Executive Director Lavern Nissley.
Supported by a combination of government, private, and individual funds, the group has served nearly 8,500 people in the past five years, said Nissley.
The results, he says, have been positive.
“In 2004, around the time we began operations, Clark County’s divorce rate was twice the national average,” he said. “It has since dropped about 20 percent.”
The center was created as a response to those high divorce rates.
The center’s impact is also seen in the responses of those who have participated in their services. “I’ve heard people tell us that their marriages might not be intact if it weren’t for our organization,” said Nissley. “That’s what makes it worthwhile.”
