SJ Singles
Ready for their close up!

By Zachary Herrmann • photography by David Michael Howarth
Shot on location at the Ritz Theatre Company in Oaklyn

Accomplished. Independent. Funny (with a splash of sarcasm). Meet seven SJ singles who have much to offer, and plenty to share.

Kate Fellows

She moved from Vermont to Vineland, and as you might expect, experienced a culture shock.
About a month ago, Kate Fellows, 21, began an internship at SJ’s The Sweet Life Bakery as part of her coursework at the New England Culinary Institute. So far, she says she has been trying to think of the whole thing “as a learning experience.”

“To be honest, I was a little unsure, coming from Vermont, about how I would fit in New Jersey. But actually, I really like it. Everyone has been nice and supportive, very friendly. I’m enjoying it a lot more than I anticipated, which is pretty excellent.”

Getting acclimated to the new area and new job, Fellows says she hasn’t had opportunities to date.

“I definitely stick out in this town. I wear hiking boots. I wear big scarves, and I own snow boots. I have snow tires. I’m obviously not from here.

“I have a co-worker who recently got a boyfriend and they went out for drinks, and he paid and all that kind of stuff. And I’m not used to that kind of formality that goes along with dating. I don’t think I’ve been out on a date date in a very long time.”

Back in Vermont, dating was a pretty casual affair, according to Fellows. “You just kind of got together. You might go for a walk, you might get a beer.” And although she has changed locales and hopes to be hired full-time at the bakery – thus making SJ her permanent home – Fellows’ idea of an ideal date is basically the same.

She has a passion for theater and film (“basically any performing arts”) and expects any prospective dating material to be, above all, “playful.”

“I’m curious about how it will all unfold without knowing anyone here,” Fellows says. “In some ways, it’s kind of comforting to live in a town where I don’t know anyone because everything is an option, which is pretty interesting.”

Anthony Mongeluzo

He hadn’t even graduated from Rowan University when Anthony Mongeluzo, 29, started his own IT firm, Pro Computer Service (PCS). Today, PCS has three offices operating in four different states, with the home office located in Medford. Mongeluzo says he now has a “great back office” and enough people so he only has to work about 50 to 60 hours a week.

If that sounds like a lot, consider that Mongeluzo often pulled 100-hour weeks “back in the day.”

“It was basically brutal until I was about 25 or 26. The first four years, I pretty much had no life. I mean, I would go out one night a week, Saturday night. It was pretty much 24/7 business.”

On a date, though, Mongeluzo is modest about his professional life. “Honestly, I try not to bring up anything like that. But the weird thing is, I have a pretty unique last name. If you go through Google, you’ll probably know a lot about me pretty quick.

“I should start telling people I drive a garbage truck and see if they like me,” he later jokes.

His ideal date is a fairly low-key affair – lunch or drinks the first time around, and then maybe “somewhere quiet with a bottle of wine” for subsequent meetings. In the summer, he loves the beach, and he also loves to travel, though he’s happy to enjoy home when time permits.

“I love to have fun, that’s the easiest way to put it,” Mongeluzo says. “It’s kind of cliché, but there are so many people who say it but don’t do it.”

The Marlton resident describes himself as “married to SJ” (he was born and raised in Philadelphia, though), and says marriage is something he thinks about, but not too hard.

“I’ve had a lot of fun the last four or five years, and I’m looking for someone good. I won’t say marriage is always on the forefront. The number-one goal is to go out, have fun and meet someone cool. I think the people who try too hard end up failing, because they’re just so focused on it. It happens when it happens.”

Melissa Mignogna

There’s either something very contradictory or completely logical about being single and working as a family law attorney. Either way, Melissa Mignogna, 30, doesn’t let it affect her.

“I think the whole dichotomy of my being a divorce attorney and single at the same time kind of confuses people,” Mignogna says. “I have so many clients who come in and ask me, ‘Are you married?’ And I’ll tell them, ‘No’ and they think I’m smart and tell me, ‘Good for you, good for you.’”

Mignogna, a Collingswood resident and lifelong SJ inhabitant, has worked at Haddonfield’s Adinolfi & Goldstein law firm since May 2008. And despite dealing with her clients’ divorces, her opinion about marriage hasn’t changed.

“It’s still something I want to do. It’s something I look forward to. It’s interesting how I’m able to separate work, watching these marriages kind of fall apart, and my own personal life.”

Working as an attorney doesn’t leave Mignogna with a lot of spare time. She dates “whenever the opportunity presents itself” and enjoys going into Philadelphia, hanging out with friends in the area or traveling on long weekends.

Outside her day job, Mignogna has started a small business, designing custom headbands. She got the idea after buying one and deciding she could create an “even cuter one.” Her company, ME Headbands, was born.

“I’ve always been very creative,” she says. “I love fashion and art and things like that.”

Her ideal beau would match her disposition – humorous and creative. “I’m very into personality; that usually grabs my attention. I’m kind of a witty person so I like someone who can fire it right back at me. And of course, the tall, dark and handsome works well too.”

And what lengths might this potential suitor have to go to? Well, each year at Thanksgiving, Mignogna’s family has a Thanksgiving-themed costume contest. Last year, Mignogna took away the top prize, dressed as a sack of potatoes.

“You know what’s so funny? Whenever I go out with someone, I think to myself, ‘Would this person dress up as corn for Thanksgiving?’

“That’s probably not something I would bring up on the first – or second – date.”

Rosemary Rys

There may not be shortcuts in life, but Rosemary Rys, 69, is living proof that there certainly are the longer, more scenic routes. At age 23, she left New Jersey and drove to Florida in a little sports car with one of her best friends. They both married NASA engineers, kicking off a life that took Rys from Florida to Ohio and back again, out to California, South Carolina, and finally, back to NJ.

Being part of the social circle at NASA, and then later, General Electric, meant being something of a “Stepford Wife,” she says.

“You had to dress alike, live in the same kind of house,” Rys says. “Be socially adept and able to cook. It went on and on and on. Dress just so and act just so…I did it. But I didn’t enjoy it.”

Long since divorced, Rys now lives in Collingswood and is CEO/President of a small public relations firm, Creative Public Relations. She is an adjunct PR professor at both Drexel University and Temple University, and recently started a career as a voice artist.

“I try to stay young, and I think the students I teach – the 20-somethings – keep me that way. I have to keep on top of what’s going on in order to teach them. So they teach me as well.”

Dating hasn’t gotten any easier with time but Rys is adjusting, trying things like dating websites as a way to meet people. “As you get older, there aren’t as many bachelors out there, and you really don’t want to do the bar scenes anymore.”

A breast cancer survivor for over 20 years, Rys says she enjoys spontaneity, living life to its fullest, though she clarifies that doesn’t mean she’s looking for someone who goes out drinking all the time.

“Some of the best times I’ve had were just taking the moment and doing whatever, like going to a Yankees game and then going to see a singer in a local club and for coffee afterwards,” Rys says.

Her ideal man should be humorous, able to engage her in witty banter and a gentleman who can challenge her. But most of all – “I would like to find someone who is okay with who I am now…not the Stepford Wife.”

Greg Casterioto

Greg Casterioto, 33, pretty much lives and breathes baseball. Makes sense – Casterioto is the director of baseball communications for the Philadelphia Phillies.

“I love it,” Casterioto says. “You get to watch baseball games for free. You can’t beat that.” But sharing in the Phillies’ recent glory has certainly come at a price. Casterioto will spend almost all of February and March down in Florida for spring training. Once he returns for the start of the season, he will travel on at least half of the team’s road trips, and return to Philadelphia for every home game, working well past the final out.

“You know, working here, you’re not looking at things like a fan because you’re thinking of so many other things besides the actual game. But at the same time, once Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske for that final out in Game 5…yeah, it was pretty fun.”

When he does get some free time, the lifelong Tabernacle resident loves a good movie – action flicks and blockbusters – especially since most of his downtime comes in the winter months. But considering Casterioto’s work schedule, dating can be…rough.

“You’re constantly on the go. I could be in three different U.S. cities in one week,” he says. “So it makes it difficult to maintain a healthy social life versus if I had a 9-to-5, Monday-to-Friday job. Or even a job that didn’t take me out of state so often.”

Due to his hectic work schedule, the most important quality Casterioto looks for in a partner is independence.

“They have to be able to take care of themselves, be very independent and not have to rely on people 24/7, because I’m not around a lot,” Casterioto says. “I love strong, independent women. I come from a family of them, so I know one when I see one.”

Casterioto’s perfect date might be dinner and a movie, or maybe an outing for drinks. But would he ever take a date out to a ball game?

“No,” Casterioto says without hesitation. “That would not be my ideal date.”

Joel Seiden

Almost everyone is looking for that special someone to have a sense of humor. But Joel Seiden, 27, goes one step further. He says he’s looking for someone sarcastic.

“It’s a special type of humor. Obviously, any sense of humor is good,” he says, “but sarcasm combines your sense of humor and overall intelligence, and you can challenge someone. The best relationships I’ve been in are where you learn from each other.”

Going into his sixth season as assistant general manager with the Camden Riversharks, Seiden works a pretty rigorous schedule. A regular day runs from 8 am to about 7 pm. Game days start at 9 am and go until 11 pm. In short, he’s a career man. He is quick to admit that as much as he loves going to work every day, his job tends to “put a damper” on relationships and dating.

“I believe there are two types of people: People who work to live and people who live to work. And I live to work, so it’s definitely been challenging having a relationship while I’ve been with the ’Sharks. It takes an understanding person, but the truth is, whether it’s going to a diner at midnight on a Friday or Saturday night, or doing little things here and there, there is time.

“My belief is the right person doesn’t just suck it up and deal with it. They have things going on themselves and things they enjoy doing. You take pride in your time apart, but also really enjoy your time together.”

During off hours, Seiden is an avid Philadelphia Flyers fan and a regular movie watcher, whether it’s in theaters or at home in Cherry Hill. He’s been around boats since childhood, and is still getting around to exploring Philadelphia to the fullest extent.

“When I grew up in New York, I viewed the city as intimidating. It was a monster. It was really, really big to me. Philly is a little bit more manageable, but so incredibly diverse. There’s so much to do. I’d like to do more, when I get the chance.”

Lisa Johnson

From SJ to Sin City and back again, Lisa Johnson has had quite the career. After graduating from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, this Linwood native went from television reporter in Philadelphia to a TV morning anchor in Las Vegas, eventually settling into her own public relations firm here in SJ, Lisa Johnson Communications.

Although being on television is a great way to meet people, Johnson, 48, says it wasn’t the best for maintaining personal relationships.

“A lot of guys had problems whenever someone would come over and ask for an autograph, and I would try to downplay it. People would ask you out because you were on television, but then they got intimidated, especially if someone else was paying attention to you.”

When asked about the difference between dating while she was out in Las Vegas, versus in SJ, she bursts into laughter.

“I was briefly married, so I had never really dated before. And I’m in Las Vegas, I’m in this exciting city, and it was tremendous because it’s all guys coming in. Every weekend, there’s a new batch of guys arriving. It was great because you meet somebody on a Friday and have a dinner date for Saturday, but then they’d fly back to their town.” Johnson admits it’s not quite as easy to meet people here, but she still loves being back in the area.

Marriage is on her mind, but more than anything else, Johnson is looking for companionship with a humorous guy who understands her line of work – someone who can schmooze at the black-tie events she has to attend, and then, the next night “put on sweats and go to Denny’s.” She’d also be interested in someone who could lure her away on a week-long vacation, since it has been over a decade since she’s traveled for leisure.

“I’m not someone who needs lavish gifts. And I’m not someone who’s looking for money. But I am looking for someone who has manners and knows how to make a woman feel like a woman.”