Saturday, February 14, 2009

Happy Valentine's Day from LOVEland!

This is a bit of a re-wind from last year, with appropriate changes.

Way back in 1946 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, front cover and inside message:


The painting depicts US Highway 34, which meanders past Lake Loveland and leads you to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. The heart-shaped messages on the light posts can be purchased by anyone who wants to leave a very public "heartfelt" message to someone they love. It's fun and a bit corny, but is the "heart" and soul of our town. It does represent somewhat of a hazard as you drive and try to read the messages!

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. (portions 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. The valentine program is so popular that there is a volunteer waiting list of 45 people. Here is this year's cachet that was stamped on envelopes by those many volunteers:

Finally, my own personal Valentine to you:



21 comments:

nancygrayce said...

How nice to live in Loveland on Valentines! The girls are so precious and growing like crazy! Happy Day!

Linds said...

Oh I love the photo! Have a lovely Valentine's Day, Dawn!

Unknown said...

I have to say I like your valentine even better than the city's. Cutie girls!!

Sam said...

Oooh, your valentine is just precious! What beautiful girls.

How fun that you live in Loveland. That story is just fascinating. I'm astounded at the number of volunteers.

Have a wonderful week, Dawn!

jls said...

Yes, that does make me homesick. I miss that view as you drive around the lake. It was my favorite when I was living in Grandpa D's house and had to drive that direction a lot. Love the pics of the girls dressing up.

Susie said...

Loved reading the story of Loveland.
It is really telling that romance is still alive, if that many people want their letters postmarked from there!
What an adorable picture of the twins.
Stop in when you can. I did a new post today..
xo

Nancy said...

What a great Valentine post, a trip to Loveland and the precious twins in a perfect valentine pose! Happy Valentine's Day, you are a BLESSING to me!

Needled Mom said...

I can imagine the hazard as folks stop to read the Valentine greetings, but what a cute idea!

It's always nice to hear the story of Loveland.

The photo of the girls is adorable!

Christa said...

What a great story!
The girls are so cute ♥

Laurie in Ca. said...

Wow Dawn, this tradition started a year before I was born and I have never heard of it. I think it's so sweet. What is one hundred times sweeter are those two adorable little girls. They are just the cutest and I love their outfits. I hope you are having a wonderful day and weekend. Praying for our burdens and loving you a lot.

Love and Hugs, Laurie

Diane@Diane's Place said...

I remember this from last Valentine's day. Neat history about your town.

The pics of the twins are great! I'll go check out that photographer's site after I post this comment.

The snow pics on the post before this one are beautiful, and the pics of the girls with their great grandma are precious.

Hope you've had a great Valentine's Day, Dawn, and have a blessed Sunday. :o)

Love and hugs,

Diane

PS: Praying for your Prodigal and hoping he's making progress....

Mary said...

Dawn,

What a unique town you live in. I didn't know that you could get a Valentine sent from there. I will try to remember for next year.

Love the beautiful Valentine with the girlies. They sure have grown.

Happy Valentine's Day to you, my friend.

Blessings,
Mary

Sherry said...

we got one of those in the mail today. SO FUN!

Hootin Anni said...

Wow....does this EVER bring back memories for me. I always made a special trip to your town so my cards could have the postmark...LOVELAND!!

And your special valentine is as sweet as candy.


Thanks for visiting me and viewing my Photo Hunt blog yesterday!!

Midlife Mom said...

What an adorable picture of the girlies!!! Just beautiful!!

Such fun and interesting history about your town. I must remember to do that some year. It would make a Valentine just that much more fun! :o)

Linda said...

Thank you for that darling Valentine Dawn! They are so cute.
I remember that post. You did such a great job with it.
Have a blessed weekend!

Barb said...

Because I lived so near Loveland for so many years, I knew this story. It's wonderful, all the Valentines that are postmarked in Loveland every year.

This year's card is really sweet, but your personal valentine is absolutely adorable. How sweet they are.

Robin said...

What a fun story! I have never heard of sending mail to Loveland to be stamped before.

You asked about Wendy and Olivia's blogs and if they are from our church. Wendy is from our church and is signed up to be a part of the 40/40 teams. Olivia is not from our church but graduated from NNU with my daughter Andrea last year. She is precious. She will also be a part of the 40/40 teams.

Unknown said...

Thank you for the Valentine. :-)

Carole Burant said...

I loved being able to read all about Loveland again, so fascinating to learn the history behind it and how it came about to be the Valentine capital of the world:-) That picture of the girls is too precious for words...your own adorable Valentines!! xoxo

groovyoldlady said...

Oh...forget all that Loveland stuff; Give me those adorable twins!