Valentine's Day

 

       Jerry Apps Photo

            Valentine’s Day at the country school that I attended was special.  We were generally in the middle of a long, cold and snowy winter.  And we all needed a break.  The country school Valentine’s party was the break we needed.  It began around 2:00 p.m. on February 14 as I recall.  The mother’s were invited. They had to walk, of course, some of them more than a mile. We all walked to school in those days.

            A big box, decorated with red and white hearts stood on the teacher’s desk.  Each student had a valentine for every student.  And every student had a card for the teacher.  We couldn’t wait to see the valentines that we knew were in that box.

            The mothers brought cakes and cookies.  Our teacher made Kool-Aid.  We enjoyed the treats as we waited for the distribution of the valentines.  Usually an eight-grader had the honor of passing out the cards. The cards we received were similar to ones pictured here.  What we looked for is for some special hand-written notes on our cards, especially when we were in the upper grades and boys and girls began noticing each other.  It was a special day. It helped to shorten winter.  Once Valentine’s Day arrived, we knew that spring must be waiting just around the corner. 

            Valentine’s Day is named after St. Valentine and began being celebrated as a “day of romance” in about the 14^th century. Another story says that a fellow named Valentine was in jail, and had fallen in love with the jailer’s daughter.  He wrote a “Valentine” to her before he died. Supposedly, Pope Gelasius declared the day of his death as St. Valentine’s Day.  This was in the 5^thcentury.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Valentine’s Day—a day to take a break from winter. Remember your Valentine.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

You can buy my books at your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or purchase from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering, or contact the librarian: barnard@wildroselibrary.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby, visit Dregne’s.  and look at their great selection of my books. Order a book from them by calling 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.  If you live in northcentral Wisconsin, stop at the Janke bookstore in Wausau (phone 715-845-9648).  They have a large selection of my books.