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Love is within the air … and the mail … within the northern Colorado city of Loveland.
Every yr, tens of thousands of folks from world wide route their Valentine’s Day cards to the “Sweetheart City” to get a particular inscription and the coveted Loveland postmark. The re-mailing custom has been happening for practically 80 years and is the most important of its variety on the earth, in accordance to Mindy McCloughan, president and CEO of the Loveland Chamber of Commerce.
At its peak, program volunteers processed greater than 300,000 items of mail per yr. That quantity dropped to 100,000 to 125,000 as folks turned to electronic mail and social media messaging.
VALENTINE’S DAY LETTER TOMY DAUGHTERS FOR A LONG AND HAPPY MARRIAGE
Volunteers wearing Valentine’s-themed garb collect earlier than the massive day to stamp thousands of envelopes with the particular postmark and cachet.
Loveland, California, receives tens of thousands of cards each yr to the city of love. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)
“Love is our message — Hearts are our model. Happy Valentine’s Day from the City of LOVEland,” the cachet reads partially.
One of the extra seasoned volunteers, 89-year-old Joyce Boston, has been stamping since 1997.
“What do I get out of it? Is a lot of new friends. Friendship. Spreading love. I love spreading love,” she mentioned. “And I love doing volunteer work. It keeps me, gives me a reason to keep living. Yeah. Keeps me young.”
In addition to the Valentine re-mailing program, Loveland holds a Sweetheart Festival, crowns a Miss Loveland Valentine and is embellished year-round with hearts connected to lampposts and featured in murals. There’s additionally a big steel “Love” signal on the guests’ middle, the place folks connect padlocks engraved with names and messages of love.
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“In a time when there is such uncertainty in the world, what greater thing to do than to share love and compassion and hope with those around the world when it’s just time when it’s needed most?” McCloughan mentioned of this system, which receives mail from all 50 states and 110 nations.
Loveland is about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Denver.
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