Valentine's Greetings from LOVEland!

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This is a bit of a re-wind from past years, 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.This is the first governor's picture I've ever seen in all these years where he seems to be so thrilled to receive the official box of candy. He's quite the people person.

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, for the message on the inside, and the cachet that is stamped on the envelope. This is the first year that I remember the governor ever coming up here to stamp the envelopes. Here is this year's winner, front cover, inside message, and the cachet on the envelope:

Heart-shaped messages on the light posts around town 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 town. It does represent somewhat of a hazard as you drive and try to read the messages! I have never taken pictures of these, but here is an artist's rendition on the official card from a couple of years ago. I must take some pictures.

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 Remailing 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 with the cachet and with the postmark from LOVEland. 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. The valentine program is so popular that there is a volunteer waiting list of 45 people.



Valentine's Day, oddly enough, has been overshadowed in our family ever since Kevin was born on the 13th in 1977. Happy 35th Birthday, my dear son.

Valentine's Day Fun and Games

Mommy couldn't, so I spent a lot of time celebrating Valentine's Day in school classrooms yesterday. It was fun. When I spend time in classrooms, without fail I come away thankful for teachers, and grateful that I'm not one any more. Both the girls have been blessed with wonderful teachers ever since they've been in school - yes, public school.

Miss Feisty's teacher this year is a young mom with kids in the same school. She is very soft spoken, kind, and loves Feisty. I attended Feisty's conference last night and she's growing by leaps and bounds in her reading and math abilities.



The room mothers did a terrific job on their Valentine party. They had two fun projects, and good healthy snacks (I know, I know, but it's the way of the world in this school - which is good). They got plenty of the other kind of stuff from each other!

One of the mothers brought these cute mail boxes from Oriental Trading Company for the kids to decorate.

Then they made these adorable headbands, or crowns, if you will.



She has a wonderful mentor who comes in every Monday to spend time with her and love on her. This was her normal time to be there, so it worked out really well - Feisty had lots of help and love.




They made their snacks - fruit cabobs. Miss Feisty concentrated so hard on making hers just right. She doesn't like strawberries, but she used quite a few to make it really pretty.

I went home for a few hours, then back in the afternoon, just before school was out for the day, for a quick party in Care Bear's classroom. Unfortunately CB wasn't feeling her best yesterday (and is home today, much worse - probably should have stayed home yesterday, but didn't want to miss the big doin's). I felt bad for her, because she wasn't herself at all.

This teacher is very young, very energetic, creative, and dearly loved by the kids. She's so petite that it's hard to spot her at times among the kids. They were out for recess when I got to the room. I've been there several times, and each time I am overwhelmed by the amount of stuff she has hanging and pinned up and stacked all over this room. Every square inch is taken up with learning opportunities and fun "stuff." It seems a bit overcrowded, but the kids know exactly what everything is and what it is for. She has a knack for classroom control that is awe inspiring. She talks so fast, but has certain words that just bring them to attention immediately. Impressive.

The bright papers on the bulletin board are compliments written by the kids to each other and posted there.

When I taught school, the teacher's desk was large and was centered in the front of the room. Here's her tiny little space. I love the question.

For some reason, she had no mother helpers this time, so she had everything incredibly well organized and pretty much did it all herself. They were divided into 3 groups - CB's first stop was the snack station - juice, granola bars, and many varieties of goldfish crackers.



They then went to a work station where they ate and chose an activity - CB chose to do a Rebus message. They didn't have much time, so she only got about a third done. Do you think you could finish it??

The second station was a craft project. They had fun with the googly eyes - the teacher was amused.





The third station was passing out their cards to each of their classmates' decorated boxes.





CB received this awesome balloon and candy machine from her mentor.




The last few minutes were spent looking at the Valentine cards they received - much different than the ones of our youth!


Thought she wasn't feeling well, she managed a lovely smile with her teacher, Ms. G.

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, for the message on the inside, and the cachet that is stamped on the envelope. Here is this year's winner, front cover, inside message, and the cachet on the envelope:

Heart-shaped messages on the light posts around town 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 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 Remailing 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 with the cachet and with the postmark from LOVEland. 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. The valentine program is so popular that there is a volunteer waiting list of 45 people.



And now for the announcement of the winner of the book by Marilyn Meberg, What to Do When the Roof Caves In. Our friend, Miss Pea, is the winner. I'll look forward to hearing what she thinks of it. So, Pea, just send me your mailing address and I'll get it to you.

Valentine's Day, oddly enough, has been overshadowed in our family ever since Kevin was born on the 13th in 1977. Happy 33rd Birthday Saturday, my dear son.

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: