As Valentine’s Day Approaches, Love Is In The Air at Arrowhead

Legend has it that an imprisoned Saint Valentine sent the first “valentine” greeting himself, after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailer’s daughter–who visited him in prison. Before his death, it is said that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today, according to history.com

History.com also reported that while some believe Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death, others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February alongside the celebration of Lupercalia. Lupercalia was a fertility festival which incorporated sacrifice of goats and dogs, and was eventually outlawed for being “un-Christian.”

Leah Stapleton, a senior at Arrowhead said, “I’m looking forward to Valentine’s Day this year because my boyfriend Parker is coming home from college and I’m excited to spend time with him. I hope he gets me chocolate or roses or something nice because I’m buying this watch that he wants.”

According to WEAU.com, worldwide, over 50 million roses are given for Valentine’s Day each year.

In Hartland, a popular flower shop is The Flower Garden on North Ave. The shop is taking orders for Valentine’s Day, with special feature bouquets. They sell a staple, a dozen roses, for $60.00.

According to infoplease.com, approximately 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second most popular card-sending holiday after Christmas.

According to the Huffington Post, candy, chocolate, headphones, flowers, love cards are among popular Valentine’s day gifts.

St.Valentine’s Day.org says that in the beginning, Valentine’s Day was associated with romantic couples, only but in recent times, the festival is seen in much larger perspective. Now, people take opportunity of the day to wish Happy Valentine’s Day to anyone they love be it father, mother, teachers, siblings, friends, coworkers or just anyone special to them. The idea behind this tradition is to celebrate love, get love and give love to everyone around us.

Sarah Smith, a senior at Arrowhead said, “I used to hate Valentine’s Day, but now I have a boyfriend, so I’m kind of looking forward to it. He told me he was going to take me out to dinner so I’m pretty excited to celebrate it this year.”

According to their website, the Melting Pot is offering a special four course meal on Valentine’s Day, and reservations are filling up fast. Another popular restaurant offering a Valentine’s Day dinner is Wards in Delafield.