2012 Valentine Lady unveiled
Loveland, as the Sweetheart of Ohio, has a tradition each year of selecting a wonderful lady who represents our town, not for a year, but for the rest of her life. We have had a chance to get to know some of these women over the years and we are thrilled to call them our friends. The ladies are a goodwill gift to our city. Most have volunteered throughout their lives to try to make Loveland a hospitable and enjoyable place to live and work. They spend time at the local Loveland Post Office, stamping Valentine Cards with a beautiful cachet to let the recipient know they’ve received a card or letter from the land of love.
A day full of celebration
The event was held in a different venue this year. Normally it’s held at the Loveland Kroger store. Kroger is the main sponsor of the event and has been for years. This year, the event was held at the Loveland Stage Company. This was a great choice, the theater offers so much more room and fairly decent acoustics. The morning started with a wonderful dance number by the Loveland Stage Company Dancers. They danced to the tune of Glenn Miller’s “In The Mood”. They did a great job and everyone seemed to really enjoy it!
Click on the thumbnails to enlarge
The dance number was followed by a short talk by Jodi Inabnitt, Chamber President, who reviewed the history of the Loveland Valentine Lady tradition. It’s Jodi’s second year and she really stepped into the program this year, sharing the details of what she found while doing her own research on the program. As someone who has only lived in Loveland a few years, I was excited to hear the background.
The emcee of the morning was Pastor Bill Hounshell of New Hope Baptist Church. He really enjoys the honor of leading this portion of the program. He noted that, next to his wife, these are his favorite ladies! Pastor Bill read through the list of past ladies and as the ladies names were called, they were escorted to their seat by City Manager Tom Carroll and presented a small bouquet by either Mayor Rob Weisgerber or Vice Mayor David Bednar. David relishes his role and his wife was one of the court this year so he wasn’t sure how to address her. He dipped her before giving her the bouquet.
The final bouquet goes to this year’s winner, Jan Ranard. Jan has been active in the community, she led an after school student council program for Loveland Intermediate students, she introduced 200 students each month to community service, school spirit, fundraising and other positive activities. She’s a two time cancer survivor. She taught Jazz music students and she owns Pizazz Studio downtown. Now she is our newest Loveland Lady!
Loveland also holds a contest each year for an artist to render a special Valentines card. They are always very special and this year the winning designer was Jamie Morath. She created a lovely card that will be on sale for $1.50 at Kroger, the UPS Store, Loveland Healthcare Center, Loveland Chamber, Pizazz Studio, Huntington Bank, Union Savings Bank, Historical Museum, The Lodge, and the City of Loveland. Then be sure to drop your card off at the post office to be postmarked “Loveland, Ohio” and sent on to your valentine.
MariRose sings a beautiful song
Special Luncheon
After the ceremony, the ladies all gathered at Tano’s Bistro, where Chef Tano hosted them for brunch. We got the chance to visit with them as they were preparing to order lunch. It was a lot of fun to watch as the staff took great care of these special ladies. It’s fun to watch these ladies who bonded over the meal with their newest member!
This program is a special tradition of Loveland and it’s a lot of fun to hang out with these wonderful ladies who have experienced the good and the bad of life and show grace and dignity every time we see them across our fair town. It is our honor and pleasure to know many of these women and we wish Jan great joy as she performs her Loveland Lady duties this year.
Don’t forget, the Valentine Breakfast is February 14 at Oasis Conference Center starting at 8 o’clock. Hopefully, we’ll see you there!
