KIPLING, Sask. — That one red paperclip got him a house and now a fiancee.
Kyle MacDonald proposed to girlfriend Dominique Dupuis on Sunday during a massive housewarming party at their famous new home on Main Street in Kipling, Sask.
He fashioned the famous red paperclip into an engagement ring. She said “Oui.”
“Tears were flowing everywhere,” said Bert Roach, Kipling’s economic development officer. “Now it really is a Hollywood ending.”
MacDonald, originally from Montreal, used the Internet to make a series of trades, turning his red paperclip into products and services. He gave himself one year to get a home.
Early estimates are that 2,500 to 3,000 people took in the festivities that started Friday night. Between 1,100 and 1,300 were in the beer gardens Saturday night. Kipling’s population is just over 1,100, Roach said.
It was the chance to share with an entire community the buzz he realized he was creating with his one red paperclip blog that sealed the deal with Kipling, MacDonald said.
There were also 12 of the 14 “traders” who helped secure MacDonald and Dupuis their house.
This past weekend was one Roach says he wouldn’t trade for the world.
“It was indescribable. Almost like there was an electricity throughout town Sunday,” he said.
MacDonald will now spend his time writing a book for Random House about the year-long experience of making a series of trades, ending up with a house. He is also helping develop a movie with Dreamworks.
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