Valentine's Day, Loveland, Colorado and My Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Over thirty years ago, my husband and I moved to Loveland, Colorado. When we celebrated our first Valentine's Day in the "Sweetheart City", we began to realize how much February 14th means to our hometown. In 2009, I got to experience first hand what it was like to be a part of Loveland's traditions. Here is the story of how Valentine's Day in Loveland, Colorado brought me my 15 minutes of fame.

Each year Loveland sells an official Valentine card. The tradition dates back to 1964. I've purchased an official Loveland Valentine card almost every year since we've lived here.

A couple of years ago, I decided it might be fun to be a part of one of Loveland's famous traditions. I picked up a brochure at the grocery store that gave details on how to enter the official Loveland Valentine card contest. The contest takes place every year in the fall. Community members enter card designs and/or verses. The winning card design and verse are unveiled in January.

Since I am one of the world's worst artists, I decided to try to write a card verse. I wrote the verse in the fall of 2007, but for whatever reason, I missed the contest deadline. The verse was written on a little scrap of paper. I stuck it in one of my purses and came across it in the fall of 2008 when I was cleaning out my closet. I read the verse and thought it sounded pretty good. I decided I was not going to miss the contest deadline again. I got the information for the 2009 contest and entered my verse a week before the deadline.

I put the contest out of my mind until early December when I received an email from the Loveland Chamber of Commerce saying that my card verse had been chosen. I was ecstatic! Being a part of a Loveland tradition would be such an honor.

In early January, a press conference was held to unveil the 2009 official Loveland Valentine card. The press conference took place at the Chamber of Commerce offices. I had no idea what to expect, so I showed up early dressed in red, of course, and entered the offices.

Wow! TV cameras from some of the news channels in Denver were present, in addition to a few local newspapers. Several long tables were set up across from the cameras. I walked over to the tables and saw a place card with my name on it. What a thrill! Miss Loveland Valentine, her chaperone, the contest winner for the card artwork, representatives of the post office, and the president of the Chamber of Commerce would also be seated at the tables.

My husband arrived to take some pictures and videos too. I could tell he was proud and amazed at all the press coverage.

The press conference began with the president of the Chamber of Commerce telling about the history of the official Loveland Valentine card and the valentine remailing program. He went to unveil the card and introduced the contest winners and Miss Loveland Valentine. He called us up one by one to say a few words to the media. I came prepared with a small speech, but I definitely wasn't prepared for all the TV cameras rolling as I spoke. It was quite unnerving! I told my story about how I had written the verse the year before and stashed it away in my purse. I held up the little scrap of paper where I'd written the verse and the cameras started clicking away taking pictures. Then one of the news people asked me to recite the verse. Luckily, I had my paper to read it from because I was too nervous to recite it from memory! Everyone clapped after I read the verse and I became a part of Loveland history.

After I had my 15 minutes of fame, I went home to record the news. I actually ended up being on a few Denver news broadcasts reading my card verse. The next day, my picture was on the front page of our local paper (see link below).

It was all quite thrilling, but more than anything it was an honor to become a part of history in my hometown of Loveland, Colorado.

Learn more about how Loveland celebrates Valentine's Day by reading the article Loveland, Colorado Loves Valentine's Day.

Click here to see article in the Loveland Reporter-Herald.

Sources:
Personal experience
Loveland Chamber of Commerce Valentine Card Contest Brochure