Home of my oldest son, Kevin. We’ll be headed out there in September for his wedding. I guess love is in the air in Loveland.
Every year, thousands of valentines are rerouted through Loveland, a northern Colorado city that enthusiastically embraces its charming name. For two weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, 50 volunteers — mostly retired folks —hand stamp cards that arrive from all over the world.
In a makeshift mailroom, the festive volunteers are dressed in shades of pink and red, giving special treatment to the valentines. Each envelope gets two stamps: a romantic verse that’s selected in an annual contest, and a second one that shows the card traveled through “The Sweetheart City.”
“Just the name Loveland is filled with so much love,”
“When February comes, this is where I belong,” says Delaine Phillips, who has been a volunteer stamper for 24 years. Her veteran status shows: while most volunteers sit down to stamp, Phillips prefers standing up because she’s found the technique helps her achieve firm, steady and consistent stamps.
Playing the role of Cupid, after all, is a coveted duty here in Loveland. The waiting list to volunteer is 98 names deep, and it’s rare for an opening in the Valentine’s mailroom to open up.
Volunteers are mostly longtime Loveland residents, who share both a love for their city as well as the February holiday they’ve essentially been bequeathed by way of living here.
“In any relationship, you give more than you take,” says Phillips, a widow who was married for 64 1/2 years.
The story of how Loveland got its name isn’t romantic per se: the city’s name pays homage to William A.H. Loveland, the president of the Colorado Central Railroad. But over the years, residents of Loveland have assigned special meaning to their city’s name by adopting lovely traditions.
One of the February traditions is to adorn the city’s street lamps with giant hearts that, in exchange for a donation, can be dedicated to loved ones. A budding tradition is a “group wedding” on Valentine’s Day, in which lovebirds from all over the country flock to Loveland to say “I do” or to renew their vows. Of course, Colorado is a mecca for craft beer, and Grimm Brothers Brewhouse brews a special Valentine’s beer each year. This year’s is a Cherry Blackberry Baltic Porter called “Bleeding Heart.”
But it was Loveland’s valentine rerouting program is what got everything started. The program began in 1946.
Anywhere between 100,000 to 200,000 Valentine’s Day cards get rerouted through Loveland each year, says Dixie Daly of the Loveland Chamber of Commerce.
The Valentine’s Day verse selected to make its way onto last year’s envelope read:
“Our Sweetheart City has a magical way to brighten up your Valentine’s Day. When you open your card, it will reveal the spirit of friendship and love we all feel.”
“Just the name Loveland is filled with so much love,” Daly says.
Volunteer Darlene Rivas waited almost a decade before it was her turn to volunteer as a valentine stamper. “Valentine’s Day is special to me,” she says. “I met my husband on Valentine’s Day.”
Her “how we met” story, though, is more romantic comedy than it is fairy tale.
“He was a bartender and saved me from a drunk!” says Rivas, who, with her husband, moved to Loveland nearly three decades ago.
Jerry Westbrook and his wife Ruth Palmer volunteer together, stamping valentines while sitting across from one another. The two met in college, and have been married for 56 years. Westbrook began stamping in 2005 after retiring from a career in public service, because, he says, he wanted to continue serving his community postretirement.
He and his wife established their family in Loveland because they appreciated the smaller community, good schools and friendly people. Each year, Westbrook takes his wife out to a new, local restaurant — preferably one on Main Street — for a Valentine’s Day date.
Betty Lamoureaux has been a volunteer stamper for a decade. A widow now, she and her husband enjoyed 67 years of marriage and moved from Minneapolis to Loveland in 1988.
A key to their happy and long-lasting marriage? She credits the ballroom dancing studios and square dancing halls in and around Loveland.
“We did a lot of dancing together.”
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Congratulations Jim. I wish the couple a long and prosperous marriage. I became a grandfather 9 months ago. It is fantastic.
With all the doom porn we’re subjected to it’s very good to see there are so many good people and many traditions we can pause for just a minute to enjoy. The wife and I have been married 28 years and we are still somehow in love with each other. How the poor woman puts up with me I’ll never understand but I certainly appreciate it. Best wishes to all you out there still in love and to those who are not, I hope you find that person to share your life with.
A good reminder of what day it is. Maybe you kept some readers out of trouble.
Congratulations on the wedding!
I thought Loveland meant the land was lovely. /s
Good views of mountain ranges, lots of rolling range land. Plenty of green in town, as the Big Thomson River runs through town and lots of city lakes for all kinds of recreation. One of the cleanest towns within driving distance of that big town that has a football team.
I did see your /s.
Congrats!!
Both kids were baptized in Loveland, right “downtown” in a small, old stone church. Starting in the late ’60s the small downtown started getting surrounded by custom homes on 5+ acre lots as high tech was working well for all involved. Now large housing developments are on the outskirts of town, especially on the north side where overflow from Ft. Collins often buys.
Other than some urban sprawl, Loveland has avoided a lot (but not all) of the bad things that are now common to what were once quaint and smaller towns. Seldom used rail lines zig-zag all over the area and once connected farm towns to outside markets. Sugar beets were are a big thing and there still is a fall harvest-don’t get in the way of the beet trucks. The big 120 car coal trains still rumble down from Wyoming day and night, but they will eventually go away-even clean Wyoming coal is losing out in the war on coal. The electric provider for Loveland and 3 other towns says they are going 100% renewable by 2030. They already have lots of solar on-site and get wind power from wind farms on both sides of the Colo/Wyo state line. As expected, they give lots of assurances but few straight answers when asked about rate increases.
Loveland has great people and always has.