While roses, chocolates and cards are the lingua franca of Valentine’s Day they aren’t the only language of love. Here are five local ways to mark the holiday, whether you like it or not. A Singing Valentine
Whether it’s in private or in public one does not soon forget a real serenade. Singing valentines are available again this year throughout the Quad Cities. Barbershop quartets from the Palouse Harmony Chorus will deliver two love songs with a long-stemmed rose, card and chocolates for $50 in Moscow, Pullman, Lewiston and Clarkston. “It is a real hoot to deliver these singing valentines, they make people so happy and we have a lot of fun,” says Paul Hill, a member of the barbershop quartet Four Names in a Hat. Four Names in a Hat and the Goatee Guys are available all day and evening Feb. 14. Office visits are encouraged. Reservations are available by calling Dan Pierce at (208) 883-3600.
The Lewiston High School Gold Voices Jazz Choir will also deliver singing valentines Feb. 14 in Lewiston and Clarkston. Orders will be accepted until Friday, Feb. 8. The cost of a song, card and rose is $5 for delivery to Lewiston High School; $15 for Jenifer and Sacajawea junior high schools and Lewiston elementary schools; and $25 for Lewiston and Clarkston communities. Orders can be made by calling the music department at (208) 748-3138.
Victorian Valentine
Kids can put on Victorian clothes and make old-fashioned valentines Saturday, Feb. 9 at the annual Valentines Celebration at McConnell Mansion in Moscow. Live music, refreshments and exhibits are all part of the free event from 1-4 p.m. Exhibits include a display of American Flyer toy trains and erector set machines invented by Moscow entrepreneur A.C. Gilbert. Reproductions of old-fashioned valentines, along with other gifts, will be for sale in the Museum Gift Shop at 110 S. Adams St.
Valentines Ball
Playing swing music of the 1940s the Jazz Co-op will headline a Valentines Ball at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 9 at the Old Opera House Theatre, 011 S. Main St., Kooskia. The Co-op features professors and graduate students from the University of Idaho. Coffee, punch and snacks are included in the $15 ticket available by calling Graves Floral and Thrift at (208) 926-0094.
Anti-Valentine
No need to drink alone on Valentine’s Day. Paradise Creek Brewery in Pullman will celebrate people’s relationship with beer and anti-Valentine festivities Feb. 14. “Make no mistake, this is not a romantic evening for you and your significant other. This is a rendezvous between you, a big slab of meat, a cold pint and whatever else happens to unfold at a brewery full of single people who love craft micros,” says the brewery’s creative director, Scott Mackey, who adds couples are welcome too, if this sounds like their cup-of-tea. At 6 p.m. the brewery will release The Hoppy Trinity, a new Belgian IPA “that’s a hefty 9.0 percent alcohol by volume.” The dinner special is New York strip steak. There will be a T-shirt giveaway and a screening of the movie “Hi Fidelity” at about 8 p.m. at the venue in the Old Post Office, 245 S.E. Paradise St.
A Valentine that Gives Back
For the Love of a Child is an evening of wine and hors d’oeuvres Feb. 14 with all proceeds going to the local CASA program. CASA stands for court appointed special advocate. CASA volunteers are appointed to ensure that abused and neglected children don’t get lost in the legal and social service system or languish in inappropriate group or foster homes. Volunteers stay with each case until the child is placed in a permanent home. For many abused children the volunteer may be the one constant adult in their lives. Wine from Lewiston’s Clearwater Canyon Cellars will be featured at the event from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the winery at 1708 Sixth Ave. N. Suite A. A $25 donation includes wine tasting, food, music and a commemorative wine glass for the first 100 people.
