By Peter DeMarco, Globe Correspondent, 8/18/2003

SOUTHBRIDGE -- The suitors arrived on Donna and Peter Wood's freshly mowed front lawn one by one yesterday morning, passing a horde of curious neighbors and a row of television cameras as they stepped into dating history.

Some wore hip sunglasses; some carried roses; one guy even brought his mother. Among the candidates: a Coast Guard officer, a cable installer, and a few truck drivers. But no doctors or lawyers.

The turnout wasn't quite what the Woods or their 22-year-old daughter, Kimberly Devlin, had expected.

In the past two weeks, newspapers, television stations, and radio stations have chronicled Donna Wood's plan to find a husband for her daughter by accepting applications from men ages 21 to 30 and then holding open auditions at her home. Wood has expressed dissatisfaction with her daughter's taste in men.

Given such publicity, and signs reading "Who Wants to Marry Our Daughter" posted on the front lawn, more than 100 potential suitors have inquired about Devlin, who has a 4-year-old daughter.

But in the end, only 10 brave souls were willing to put their hearts -- and egos -- on the line.