Marge Dart of Arcata loves weddings, and she loves to help people get to the altar. In fact, in ten years she has been involved in 108 weddings. The oldest bride was 84.

She's not a wedding planner, someone to call when you and your fiance want to make arrangements for your wedding day. She's the one you call when you want to meet someone. Marge Dart is a matchmaker.

"My husband died 12 years ago," she said, "and I can't see anyone else in my life. But I was lonely and I wanted to reach out. In 1989 I put an ad in the Times-Standard welcoming singles to a social network."

More than 6,000 men and women have joined over the years since she bought "Match Up," a dating service that was for sale in 1992. A group of some 580 people remain active with another 76 or so "romantically on hold" at any given time. In the active group, she now has people from their late 30s to their 90s. One man is 93. The average age is in the early 50s. She said she receives calls from men seeking male partners and women seeking female partners. "That's for someone else to do," she said, explaining that she chose to limit her service to men and women partnerships only.

Her business name is "Chances Are...," named for the popular Johnny Mathis song. Dart has clients all over Northern California, from as far away as Yreka and Shasta Lake down to Nevada City and Chico. Some of her far-flung members come to Eureka for monthly dinners on the town. She organizes group trips, and a group will go to Bangkok next year. She has led groups to the Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, Panama Canal, Costa Rica, Columbia and Jamaica. Closer to home, they have gone on the "Snow Train" to Reno and soon will enjoy a gourmet dinner on the Napa Valley Wine Train, complete with a murder mystery.

Members join for a single lifetime fee and an annual update fee. They receive an initial membership list and a monthly newsletter with the names and descriptions of new men or women who joined that month or became active again (no longer romantically on hold). Members fill out a lengthy questionnaire about themselves and their interests with space for a photo and places to list personal qualities and pet peeves. The front page of the profile lists only first name and phone number to protect members' privacy.

"Even my mother doesn't get to see the last name!" Dart said. Her mother, 89, is also one of her clients.

"I don't make a living at this," she said. "But it does pay my expenses and a trip occasionally. It lets me do what I want to do-go out to dinner with friends. Some members just like the social network the best and don't really care about dating. I tell people-don't ever marry until you're the best friends in the world.

"We also have a core group locally that runs on the spur of the moment to dinners. We've all become such good friends. I like the social life. I look forward every day to the mail."

You can phone Marge Dart at 707-826-9373 or e-mail her at chances@humboldt1.com She'll send an information package with a return envelope.

And, who knows, "Chances are, 'cause you wear a silly grin....."

Barbara Clark is editor of Senior News.