Brandi was perusing the Seven Days iSpys online in 2010 when a man’s photo caught her eye. She liked what she saw. What she read, too; the words in Brian’s personal ad resonated. Twice in his profile he mentioned being a dad to two sons. Brandi also had two boys.
Now the divorcés are parents of five. The Littlefields married in 2011 and had a child together — another son — to create a blended family of seven.
On Monday they shared their love story with a crew from NBC’s “Today” — not at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City, where the show is based, but in the Burlington office of Seven Days. The iconic morning program dispatched three pros to Vermont to get the scoop on our outlier matchmaking service. They braved Vermont’s stick season to schlep lights and microphones and tripods to our shop, where they interviewed me, personals coordinator Jeff Baron and two happy couples.
It seems the national media can’t get enough of the personal ads in Seven Days
The second set of satisfied customers was Marcia Gauvin and Chris Leister, who found each other through the Seven Days personals in May 2021. They share a third love interest: outdoor recreation. Last month, Ken Picard wrote a feature, “Chain Reactions,” about the four-year, 252-town biking project that grew out of their partnership. On Monday, the couple drove from Bethel to Burlington to talk about their romantic adventures with on-air host Yasmin Vossoughian and producer Hannah Van Winkle.
Did I mention that Van Winkle and cameraman Bill Angelucci arrived at 7:30 a.m., before any of us usually gets to work? At dusk, Angelucci was still on the job, loading equipment into the SUV he would drive back that night to New York. His two colleagues had already left for the airport to catch return flights.
It seems the national media can’t get enough of the personal ads in Seven Days, which, in the age of swiping for sweethearts, are viewed as old-fashioned — presumably, in a good way.
Last November the New York Times published a piece that explored the same topic: the unique way we serve the lovelorn. A freelance writer who grew up in St. Johnsbury penned “Dating App Fatigue? In Vermont, Personal Ads Still Thrive.” Whenever I get depressed, I go back and read the 184 comments on the story. One writes “Pretty much everybody here in Vermont peruses the Seven Days personals, whether they admit it or not.” Another: “What an amazing dating ad concept. This is how ‘personals’ should be vetted locally.” And my favorite, from KHD of Seattle: “This is bottom-up community building at its finest. For those feeling despondent post-election, wondering ‘what can I do?’: find a way to create or support things like this in the place you live. It will make a difference.”
Four days after that NYT story published, the BBC wanted an interview — on Thanksgiving. If it were any other day, we probably would have agreed.
We’re tickled that our personal ads are drawing attention around the world. It’s no wonder, I guess, since the quest to find love is universal. But it’s just one of many anomalous things we do at Seven Days. I’d love to see more recognition of Margot Harrison’s brilliant film reviews and the fact that so few media outlets write them anymore. Ditto our food, music and visual arts coverage. Signed, verified letters to the editor. The handcrafted calendar of events. World-class illustrators and cartoonists. Diane “The Rev” Sullivan’s really good, and funny, original advice column.
In my interview with NBC on Monday, I tried to mention all of those things and more; Seven Days is a serious newspaper. Similarly, we steered Angelucci past our working staff journalists — there are 14! — and down a hallway decked with awards.
We’ll see if any of that makes the final cut when the segment airs — perhaps in early December, which is still “cuffing” season, during which singles seek each other out to cope with winter. It’s a good time, too, to snuggle up with Seven Days.
This article appears in Nov 19-25 2025.
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