Send Valentine's Day Cards From Loveland, CO
Sweetheart City Offers Special Postmark, Cachet Stamp on Valentines
Jan 24, 2009
Every year, the city of Loveland, CO, receives thousands of cards and letters from people seeking a special postmark and cachet stamp for their Valentine’s Day cards to their sweethearts.
Get a Special Postmark for a Valentine
Couples looking for a unique Valentine may want to try sending a card bearing Loveland’s postmark to a loved one. Whether this is a one-time Valentine or becomes an annual tradition to collect each year’s cachet, the recipient will appreciate the extra effort and attention to detail on Valentine’s Day.
The way the remailing program works is lovers send their Valentines to the Loveland postmaster. Senior citizen volunteers then hand-stamp each Valentine’s Day card with a cachet and a pictorial postmark is added.
Lovers who want to send Valentines with special postmarks and cachet stamps from Loveland, CO, need to follow certain guidelines. The Valentine needs to be properly addressed and stamped then placed in a larger, first-class envelope. The larger envelope should be mailed to: Postmaster, Attention Valentines, 446 E. 29th St., Loveland, CO 80538-9998.
Valentine Remailing Deadlines
Loveland receives Valentines that will be mailed all over the world. According the Loveland Chamber of Commerce, more than 200,000 Valentines are mailed to all 50 states and more than 110 countries.
In order for delivery on Valentine’s Day, certain deadlines must be observed. Cards and envelopes that will be mailed outside of the United States need to be received in Loveland by Feb. 4. Mail that will stay within in the U.S. should be in Loveland by Feb. 9. Valentines that will stay in Colorado can be received in Loveland as late as Feb. 12.
The Loveland Valentine Program
The Loveland Valentine Program has three parts: the Valentine Re-mailing Program, Miss Loveland Valentine and the Official Loveland Valentine Card. Each year, contests are held to choose a special Valentine card message, card design and cachet. The Valentine Re-mailing Program is sponsored by the Loveland Chamber of Commerce, which partners with the U.S. Postal Service and King Soopers grocery store.
The Official Loveland Valentine Card
The Official Loveland Valentine Card for 2009 was designed by Corry McDowell, who also had the winning cachet entry. This is the eighth year McDowell’s artwork has won, according to Sarah Bultema in the Jan. 10, 2009, Loveland Reporter-Herald article, “Sending the Love.”
“Dan the Cupid is still going around the world,” McDowell said in the Loveland Reporter-Herald article. “It’s such an honor the love from Loveland, drawn from my hand, is going all around the world.”
The card’s inside verse was written by Karen Zakavec. The verse reads, “This Valentine greeting is sent to you, with heartfelt wishes through and through. From the city of Loveland this Valentine brings, Wishes for a day filled with love and all good things.” This was Zakavec’s first submission to the contest, Bultema says. Zakavec missed the deadline to enter in 2008 but found the verse in time to enter this year’s contest. “It’s thrilling, and it’s an honor to be part of this tradition, because it’s part of Loveland,” Zakavec told the Loveland Reporter-Herald.
Medical Center of the Rockies is this year’s Valentine card sponsor. The card will sell through many retail outlets in Loveland for $2.25. It can be ordered by calling the chamber at 970-667-6311.
The Cachet Verse and Picture
Teresa Boynton wrote the winning cachet verse, “From the Sweetheart City I sent this valentine to you, With lots of good wishes for the whole year through.” The cachet verse is accompanied by McDowell’s cachet picture of Cowboy Cupid. In addition to the cachet, cards are stamped with a pictorial postmark designed by Loveland Postmaster Cindy Kinney, Valentine Re-Mailing Coordinator Duane Kaye and sales service associate and artist Joanne Rocheleau, according to Kinney.
Miss Loveland Valentine
This year’s Miss Loveland Valentine is Victoria Fischer, a senior at Thompson Valley High School. Fischer is the 48th Miss Loveland Valentine. Miss Loveland Valentine makes community presentations, presents the governor with a special gift from the Sweetheart City and makes a formal presentation to the state Senate. Miss Loveland Valentine is a scholarship-based program with funds coming from the Ted and Mabel Foundation trust.
Airport Offers Display, Postcard
Denver International Airport is also getting in the action this year with a special postcard and the display, “Sweetheart Town.” The special display will feature valentines, photographs and memorabilia from the Valentine Re-Mailing Program as well as Loveland artists. The display is prior to the security screening area and open to public viewing on Pedestrian Bridge from Jeppesen Terminal to Concourse A through April 2009. DIA is partnering with the Loveland Chamber of Commerce and the Loveland Museum/Gallery.
The postcard is available at the northeast and southwest ends of the gallery walkway. Lovers can write a Valentine message, address the postcard and place it in a drop box in the exhibition area. Postage will be paid by DIA’s Art Program and all postcards will receive the pictorial postmark and cachet stamp.
History of the Remailing Program
Members of the Loveland Stamp Club originally came up with the remailing program as a stamp collection oddity. The program didn’t get legs until Ted Thompson began to market the idea as the Valentine Re-mailing Program. Thompson managed Loveland’s Rialto Theater and served as president of the Loveland Chamber of Commerce. Ted and Mabel Thompson were lifelong supporters of the program. A bronze relief of the Thompsons is featured in Thompson Park in Downtown Loveland.
Sending Valentine’s Day cards is an opportunity to spread a little love to others. Loveland, Colorado’s Valentine Re-Mailing Program is a great way for lovers and friends to show they cared enough to plan ahead to make Valentine’s Day special. Remailing cards through Loveland’s Valentine program may become an annual tradition for couples who want to collect the special postmark and cachet every year. For a collection of Valentine's Day articles, read Valentine's Day Gifts For Him or Her.
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