Top Singles

They’re sexy, stylish, successful, and most importantly—available. Meet Wichita magazine’s 12 sensational singles.

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We sifted through hundreds of nominations to pick Wichita’s 12 Top Singles. From a beautiful blonde who helped liberate a country to an engineer who inspired a crowd of South Africans, they’re an impressive, eclectic group of individuals with diverse histories, interests, personalities and dreams. They certainly aren’t the only desirable bachelors and bachelorettes in town, but they are the crème de la crème of a singles’ scene that’s vibrant, hip and as sundry as ever. Read their stories and see why there’s no better time to be single in Wichita.

War Stories
Laurie Lassley, 31

When Laurie Lassley arrived at Aviano air base in Italy on March 23, 1999, she and her co-workers were spirited away to an emergency meeting.
Behind closed doors, an Air Force general told the group that President Clinton had ordered an air strike in Kosovo where Serbian forces were slaughtering Albanians. Aviano air base, he continued, would be the center of operations.

The next night, the 21-year-old who had joined the Air Force out of Wichita’s Heights high school watched the first F-16s screech skyward. Crowds lined the runway and waved American flags.

For the next four months, Lassley helped coordinate flights for the US-led NATO attack and earned an Air Force medal for her service.
She was proud of the mission but uneasy about the loss of life from the bombings. She wondered if anyone back home would understand.

In 2007, Lassley took a job at Executive Airshare in Wichita. At a get together that summer, she overheard a man with a strange accent. When someone asked his nationality, he said, “I’m from Kosovo.”

Lassley froze. She feared that someone from his family might have been killed in the war.

She pulled herself together and asked if he was Albanian. He nodded. “I have a war medal for bombing your country,” she said.

To Lassley’s surprise, he walked over and hugged her. Through tears, he thanked her for helping to liberate his homeland.
 The next week, at his going away party, Lassley gave him the medal.

SOUNDTRACK OF HER LIFE: Viva La Vida by Coldplay