Tag Archives: valentines day

Carthage students and parents craft belated Valentine's Day cards for seniors

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CARTHAGE, Mo. — Students and parents in an area school district have been on a mission to make some special cards for seniors in their community.

Blake and Brady Cloud are among a host of students in the Carthage school system that spent part of their snow days making valentine cards for residents.

Blake Cloud, Carthage 5th Grade Student, said, “The past few weeks I’ve understood you know how much the senior citizens are dealing with you know with not seeing people, I, I, always get kind of sad whenever we’re walking by and we see someone waving in the window.”

Brady Cloud, Carthage H.S. Sophomore, said, “A lot of senior citizens have not been able to receive love and Valentine’s from people that they love, and with all the kids, all the pre-schoolers making Valentine’s for them it will help put a smile on their faces during these troubling times.”

The idea for the cards came from St. Luke’s Board Member Scott Goade, who’s wife runs the parents as teachers program in Carthage. She put it on the P.A.T. Facebook page and it went viral throughout the school system from there.

Scott Goade, St. Luke’s Board Member, said, “The original idea was to reach out for our St. Luke’s residents, had no idea that this was going to explode into such a remarkable community outreach, it’s been said before that we can’t wait to see the faces and the smiles from just this simple community project of outreach.”

Now obviously these greetings were supposed to have been delivered by Valentine’s Day, but Mother Nature just wouldn’t cooperate.

In the end, there were enough cards to deliver them to all senior facilities in town. Helen Hubbard is one of the residents in St. Luke’s and says she doesn’t mind a bit if the cards are a few days late, she says it’s the thought that counts.

Helen Hubbard, St. Luke’s Nursing Home Resident, said, “It just gives you a little thrill that there are people and children, it’s fun.”

Higdon's Florist busy as ever for Valentine's Day

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JOPLIN, Mo. — If you haven’t already gotten flowers for your valentine – you’re cutting it pretty close. However – there’s a family that’s more than willing to help.

With the exception of Mother’s Day, no other holiday is busier for florists than Valentine’s Day. Which means you’ll find every member of the Hoopai clan putting in long hours this week at Higdon’s Florist, where it’s truly a family affair.

Larissa Hoopai, Floral Designer, Higdon’s Florist, said, “Yes, very much so, even our dogs are here, depending upon how many orders we have, how many people we have walking in and also if we’re able to push everything out on time, so yeah, there’s a lot of different things that come into play with the hours, definitely a lot more than a normal week.”

Her mom is also working inside the store as well as her brother who’s in town just to help out. And her father Lance is out delivering. But he says this year is different than most.

“It’s unlike any other Valentine’s Day we’ve had in the past, the weather makes it very channeling besides the cold, we’ve also had to deal with the side roads which are very icy which makes it very difficult for the delivery drivers to go out.”

And the cold temperatures means one extra step before the arrangements hit the Winter air.

“When the weather gets to a certain point, there is the danger of the flowers freezing so what we do is wrap it in plastic to keep the warmth inside so the pedals don’t shatter.”

One of his deliveries was to Brittany Legwold, a teacher at Thomas Jefferson, she says they’re an annual tradition from her fiancée.

Brittany Legwold, Flower Recipient, said, “It’s a really nice gesture, kind of silly, we he always sends them to my work cause my cats like to eat them at home, Gerber Daisies are my favorite.”

That reaction makes all the hard work and hours worth while for the Hoopai family.

“Yeah, a lot of them have really good reactions so it’s super encouraging for us as designers to see that and then also it’s a fun environment in here to because everyone kind of works together and we work to make sure we have the right colors and flowers and of course when someone is happy, that’s like the cherry on top so it’s definitely a good environment,” said Hoopai.

Retailers not expecting Valentine's shopping to be impacted by pandemic

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JOPLIN, Mo. — With Valentine’s Day coming up on Sunday many people are out looking for a gift for their significant other. But has covid-19 hurt businesses in their upcoming holiday sales?

Brian Newton – President Of Newton’s Jewelers, said, “Things have been pretty consistent, actually since the pandemic, we’ve just been very blessed, our business actually has been up.”

It’s not so much the pandemic that’s worrying Newton’s Jewelers store workers on Valentine’s Day sales, but the icy conditions outside.

“The next couple days will tell just because of the weather, you know it’s so bad out, people don’t want to get out in it.”

Newton adds, despite the poor weather, every year there is last moment Valentine’s Day shopping.

“Last minute with always the guys. It’s gonna be Friday and Saturday. They’re gonna be coming in beating up a little sweat, running out of time, wanting to know mainly will we gift wrap it.”

Along with last second shoppers, Sales Associate Kylee Lang credits their long-time customers to keeping them afloat during the pandemic.

Kylee Lang – Newton’s Jewelers Sales Associate, said, “We have a lot of repeat customers. So grandparents, and their children, and their children, they’re all just repeat and they constantly come in all the time and we know them by name.”

The constant repeat in customers leads to more foot traffic through the door which ultimately leads up to many people buying a very special kind of Valentine’s Day gift.

“Around this time a lot of men think it’s cliché to do it on Valentines Day, which I think it’s adorable, but a lot like to do it around this time, so we’ve sold a lot of engagement rings.”