Tale of Two Towns

But first - a message from the teeny tiny twins. They are growing like little weeds - Kate is up to 5 lbs. 4 ounces, and Emma is at 4 pounds 8 ounces. They will be 6 weeks old on Monday.

Proud Great Grandma

Feisty is really sick today, so I kept the babies while Kristen took her to the doctor. It turned into a "sleepover" to protect the little ones from catching anything. That would be disastrous. We decided to take them with us on our Friday night "date." Were we ever the center of attention at the restaurant!

Grandpa finally gets to hold one (Emma) - and feed her.

It took them quite a while to settle down - both of them! They're sleeping now, but I don't see myself getting a very good night's rest. But hopefully Kristen will.

Now to the story of the day.

When I was in the middle of 5th through the 8th grade, we lived in International Falls, Minnesota. This town is situated in the northernmost point of Minnesota - just across the bridge from Fort Francis, Ontario. It is a very COLD place. In fact, International Falls long promoted itself as the "Icebox of the Nation".

I can't imagine being so desperate for fame that you would want this distinction, but the trademark for the slogan has been challenged on several occasions by the small town of Fraser, Colorado. Officials from Fraser claimed usage since 1956, International Fall since 1948. The two towns came to an agreement in 1986, when International Falls paid Fraser $2,000 to relinquish its "official" claim. However, in 1996, International Falls inadvertently failed to renew its federal trademark, although it had kept its state trademark up to date. Fraser then filed to gain the federal trademark.

I read in the paper just this week that after several years of legal battles, the United States Patent and Trademark Office officially registered the slogan with International Falls on January 29, 2008, Registration Number 3375139. Only a few days after announcing its success in the trademark battle, International Falls had a record low temperature of −40°F, beating a previous record of −37°F in 1967.

My dad drove a school bus to supplement his very minimal salary as pastor of a small church. We had to walk 6 blocks to school in this frigid winter weather. Dad's route took him right by us, but he could not pick us up because we did not live far enough from school to merit a bus ride. He felt so bad. We literally did walk to school in -40 weather. Thank goodness this was before the days of figuring "wind chill index." I don't think we could have stood the psychological impact of knowing that number.

For the last two Valentine's Days I have wanted to tell this story about the town where I have lived for 36 years (hard to believe, since prior to that, the longest I lived anywhere was 5 years). I was reluctant to reveal exactly where I live. But I have decided it's such an interesting tale that I will leave my anonymity to this extent.

Two years before International Falls took on the claim of "Icebox of the Nation," way back in 1946 (well before the Internet, but slightly after the Pony Express) an idea came to Postmaster Elmer Ivers, Chamber of Commerce President Ted W. Thompson and his wife Mabel. They had a vision - a vision to share the romantic name of our town of Loveland with the whole world.

So it came to pass, in the February of 1947 the Loveland Valentine Remailing Program was born. Since 1947, literally millions of valentines have touched the heart strings of loved ones with Cupid's message hand stamped and remailed from Loveland, Colorado.

Since 1962 a high school senior girl has been chosen to represent the program and the city as "Miss Loveland Valentine". Personal appearances representing the City of Loveland take this ambassador around the state of Colorado. An appearance at the Colorado State Legislature and a personal visit with the Governor are just two of the highlights in her busy schedule.

In 1964, a specially designed Valentine card was produced to offset some of the expenses of this costly program, and the Official Loveland Valentine's Cards continue to touch the hearts of people around throughout the world. Loveland Valentines can be purchased through the Chamber of Commerce , from their Official Loveland Valentine web site, or through any of the participating Chamber merchants. Every year there is a contest for the card's design. Here is this year's winner:

Loveland's "Valentine Sweethearts", Ted and Mabel Thompson have now passed away. The Loveland community feels their absence. To commemorate their vision and love of Loveland, their memory lives on through the annual Valentine Re-Mailing program. A bronze relief of the Thompsons is featured in Thompson Park on 4th Street in Loveland. (copied from the Loveland Daily Report Herald).

An average of 200,000 letters are stamped each year. I read that Oprah even sent her cards here one year for the Valentine cachet. People from 110 countries send their cards here for remailing. This is what the 65 volunteers stamped on the 200,000 letters this year.

There has been quite a bit of commotion over the fact that this year Cupid is wearing jeans and a cowboy hat. Before this year, he has been unclothed. Someday I'll share some other stories with you that might have led to this controversy with Cupid. We have an interesting town!

The valentine program is so popular that there is a volunteer waiting list of 45 people. I'm thinking maybe I should get my name on that list so I can join in the fun next year when I'm retired! What do you think??

NOTE: I think I slept a total of 1.5-2 hours last night. The girls took turns waking up, eating, sleeping, waking up. At least never both at the same time. I am not getting any sleep, but don't feel too bad. Feisty is still sick. Please pray for her.

NOTE #2: I still had them all day Saturday and all night. But this time I think I managed about 6 hours of sleep. They slept much longer between each feeding. Feisty is improving, but we have had to do a lot of "musical chairs" type organizing to get DC and me to church and choir, get Care Bear to Sunday School, and Kristen and Mike to second service to play and sing in the worship team. DC is now with Feisty at their house and I'm with the babies at ours. Dinner is in the oven. The snow that was coming down hard when we got up has ended and the sun is out. Someone at church told me I look great considering I have had such a week-end. But we have really bonded with the little girlies!

Kristen has finally found a minute while here this morning to do a catch-up post. Go on over and visit her if you have a minute to spare.