LOVELAND, Ohio — Every February, romance is in the air across Loveland, Ohio. The so-called “Sweetheart City” earned its title in 1972 when it started a Valentine’s Day tradition, offering hand-stamped Valentine’s cards courtesy of the “Valentine Lady.”
Over the past 40 years, the tradition has only grown, with the Little Miami River Chamber Alliance selling and processing more than 500 annually, but for 2022, local leaders wanted the tradition to grow even further, getting more of the downtown core involved.
Loveland Valentine’s Events with a breakfast Friday morning
This weekend, Loveland hosts its first-ever, “Hearts Afire Weekend.” CeeCee Collins, the chamber president, said it will be like a downtown festival with local businesses and vendors contributing with indoor and outdoor events.
“It will be like nothing the city’s ever seen before,” she said.
There will be live performances, fireworks, ice sculptures as well as ticketed events like painting classes and arts and crafts fairs. To make sure love stays at the center of it all, Collins said the city is also hosting a vow renewal ceremony and a pet adoption fair.
“So we offer something for everybody in the family from, grandma and grandpa, all the way down to the children,” she said.
It’s a big change from last year, when most of the traditional Valentine’s Day events had to take a year off due to the pandemic.
“We couldn’t do the breakfast, we couldn’t do our kickoff, the [Valentine’s] ladies couldn’t go into the schools,” she said.
That’s why this year’s Valentine Lady, Jeannie Shumaker, is serving her second year in the role. A longtime volunteer at the Loveland museum, the community nominated her for her service and dedication to the city.
“I’m 79 years old, and 75 of those years I have lived in Loveland and I haven’t regretted a minute of anything,” Shumaker said.
Schumaker is the 2022 Loveland Valentine Lady
She said her favorite part of the experience has been sharing her definition of love with kids at Loveland area schools, so she’s appreciated a second chance to come out and read to them.
Now that city is recovering from the pandemic, Shumaker it’s more important than ever to celebrate love.
“People have gone through so much and they’ve actually come back together again as a family,” she said.
Shumaker said she’s also excited to see how the community embraces Hearts Afire Weekend, especially with so many local businesses getting involved.
Katie Butler makes Mile 42’s Valentine’s Day drink special “Love Potion 42”
Katie and Tim Butler, co-owners of Mile 42 Coffee in downtown Loveland, are among the many business owners offering food and drink specials for the occasion and opening up their doors for events.
“It’s fun because we opened in February, so February’s the big month for us,” Katie Butler said. “It’s Valentine’s Day, our birthday, and now the Super Bowl too!”
On Saturday night, their store is opening up to host a “newlyweds game,” while the hardware store they share space with is hosting a pet adoption event and photo booth.
Tim Butler said he’s excited to see what new business all this excitement can drum up.
“All the businesses that Katie and I associate with feel the same way. We’re all in this togetherl; we support each other,” he said.
Collins said she’ll consider the weekend a success if it brings in visitors who may never have seen the city before or maybe haven’t visited since much of the downtown development began.
“We want people to come and see what we have to offer,” she said.
