Today Cupid surfs the World Wide Web to find a date with the right smile, the right look in her eye, and the right spirit in her soul.  But 40 years ago he cruised the streets of his own home town, which worked well when towns were small, streets were narrow, and everybody knew everybody's name. 
Cruising streets worked well for Mel Hazelwood who recently celebrated 40 years of marriage to his bride Sharon.  Mel tells the story in his own words ...
"I came home from the service and was cruising the town and I saw a class-mate and asked if there were any girls around.  She said that there was a girl who worked with her, from Excelsior, and I said, 'Don't waste any time.  Get me down there to Excelsior!  Get me a name!'  So she got me a name and I called and got a date.  It was Sharon."
Sharon's girlfriend Harriet, who was also Mel's classmate, had given her heads-up on this Hazelwood fellow.  "She said he was a nice guy," stated Sharon.  Being a nice guy apparently meant a close-up look was in order.
What was Sharon's first impression of the cruiser?  "He looked like what I expected," she said, "but he came to our back door, which was kind of strange because most would come to the front door.  He had made a mistake, and I was laughing when he came in because we had talked about how the guy might have a moustache or a beard, and then he walked in with a mustache."
Mel came to call on the Excelsior girl again, and again ... at the front door.  "He thought I was rich because we had a remote control TV," said Sharon.
"She tricked me," said Mel.  "I don't think we even had a TV at the farm."

Mel was born on April 14th, 1941, the middle child of Norman and Louise Hazelwood who farmed near Mayer, Minnesota.  He has an older brother  LeRoy, deceased, and a younger sister Mary Ann.
Mel attended Mayer Lutheran Elementary School when "there were only two rooms for eight grades."  Then it was on to the Waconia High School because Mayer didn't have any high school at that time.
"Grade school was tough," said Mel, "but high school was great because I got to wrestle and play football."  He graduat-ed in 1959 and volunteered for the draft.
"In those days you either got married or went to the service," he said.  "Not very many from my class went on to college."
Mel's enlistment put him in Korea for 14 months.  "The Korean Conflict was over," he said.  "I was stationed seven miles from the DMZ line, from North Korea.  I got out in 1962, after two years and four months.  The extra four months of duty were related to the Cuban Missle Crisis."

Sharon was born on December 8th, 1941, the only child of Lenny and Evie Ess of Excelsior.  "Yes, I was spoiled and then I married Mel and he spoiled me some more," she admits.
Her dad was a cement contractor who had his own business and then worked for Jesco in Minneapolis.  "My mom was a homemaker who also took care of my dad's books," she said.
Sharon attended Excelsior Elemen-tary School and Minnetonka High School, graduating in 1959, like Mel, but they didn't know each other at the time.  Sharon enrolled in the Minnesota School of Business for training as a lab tech.  "I always wanted to be a nurse," she said, "and this was pretty close to that."
Her first job out of school was per-forming lab work at a clinic in North Minneapolis, driving in from Excelsior every day.  It's during this time that Mel came knocking at her back door.
Their first date was to a party at the home of mutual friends.  Subsequent dates involved "drive-in movies and eat places," including Smack, an "eat place" at Vinehill Road and Highway 7 where Sharon had been a car hop.
What did she like about Mel?  "He was very adventurous," she replied.  "We always had fun.  We laughed.  We liked the same things."
What kept Mel interested?  "We liked the same things, especially water," he said.  "We liked skiing and outdoor camping.  Her father was a big fisherman.  I don't think it was love at first sight but we grew together."

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