T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Newfound lovers Frankie, left, and Blossom, right, enjoyed a fun-filled frolic around Lake Woodmere on Wednesday afternoon after finally meeting and going for a swim that morning.

The story of Riverside Cemetery’s domestic goose Blossom and her search for a new companion was supposed to have a happy ending just in time for Valentine’s Day, but even that became a bit more complicated than originally planned.

Deb Hoyt, who runs a horse rescue farm near Runnells, brought her male goose Frankie to Riverside on Tuesday at about 11 a.m. with plans to introduce him to blossom. Surely, they would catch one glimpse at each other, and it would play out like a scene straight from a romantic comedy. They’d fall in love, and the rest would be history, right?

Well, it didn’t quite pan out that way. As he was freed from the kennel in the back of Hoyt’s truck upon arrival, Frankie took off in the opposite direction from Blossom, first attempting to fly over the cemetery’s south fence but then flying across the pond and wandering around the rest of the property.

Initial attempts to locate him were unsuccessful, and both Hoyt and Riverside General Manager Dorie Tammen worried he had disappeared altogether. A T-R story originally slated to run in Wednesday’s paper was scrapped, and it was unclear if the two birds would ever get a proper introduction.

“I was afraid he was gonna be gone and down in the river… Oh, I was disappointed and frustrated, and sad. I was afraid,” Tammen said. “Honestly, for a while there, I was thinking I’ve failed, especially with how big all the buildup has become.”

All’s well that ends well, however, and Tammen and her team were finally able to track down Frankie below the bluff near the northwest corner of the cemetery on Wednesday morning. They corralled him and brought him back to the Lake Woodmere/office area where Blossom spends most of her time, and before long, the two decided they liked each other after all.

Blossom was a bit more open about her feelings initially, while Frankie played a bit hard to get at first, which Tammen attributed to unfamiliarity with his new surroundings. By mid morning, they were enjoying a dip in Lake Woodmere together, and the author was even able to capture a snapshot of the new lovers in the afternoon.

Tammen admitted she has enjoyed the unexpected viral success of her campaign to find Blossom a partner — after KCCI ran a segment last week, it’s been rebroadcast on TV stations across the country and caught the attention of popular pet blog The Dodo — but it has been a bit exhausting at times.

“It’s been fun, but it’s also been a little overwhelming. I’m trying to keep up and respond to people’s comments and everything, and it got to the point a couple of times where I just felt like ‘I need a break from Facebook,'” Tammen said.

While the next move for the newly minted couple — buying a house? Marriage? Kids? — remains unclear at the moment, the people of Marshalltown and apparently the rest of the country will be following with baited breath and wishing them nothing but the best in all of their endeavors.

“Romance is blooming,” Tammen said.

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Contact Robert Maharry at 641-753-6611 ext. 255 or

rmaharry@timesrepublican.com.