Valentine’ s Day By: Chanachon“ Nam” Boonphakdee
CUTIE ORANGE $ 1.00 CAN OF CRUSH $ 2.00
Valentine’ s Day By: Chanachon“ Nam” Boonphakdee
We all know that February 14 th of every year marks Valentine’ s Day, a day to show your love and affection to those who matter the most to you. Yet, there may be a few things that you may not know about this widely celebrated day. Here are some Valentine’ s Day facts: Fun fact # 1: Valentine’ s Day is named in honor of a Christian Saint: Saint Valentine. However, the origin of Saint Valentine is shrouded in mystery. No historical record found has ever mentioned a“ Saint Valentine” in any time period. Yet, legend has it that the Saint lived during the Roman Empire time period, and that he presided over secret Christian weddings. Fun fact # 2: The origins of Valentine’ s Day being put in mid-February is also shrouded in mystery. Some say that it is to commemorate the death( and burial) of Saint Valentine. Others say that it is to“ Christianize” the Pagan holiday of Lupercalia. Basically, Lupercalia is a Pagan tradition to give prayers to the Roman god of agriculture“ Faunus.” The tradition begins with sacrificing a goat and stripping its hide and then dipping the strips in blood and using the strips to slap both woman and crops to ensure fertility for the upcoming year. Fun fact # 3: It wasn’ t until the early Middle Ages that the 14 th of February was associated with love. It is theorized that the date came around because that it was the beginning of mating season for a particular, unnamed, bird. Fun fact # 4: The very first Valentine’ s love note was presumably written by Charles, Duke of Orleans who wrote a love poem to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London after the battle of Agincourt in 1415. The letter is still in existence today and it is being kept in the British Library in London. Fun fact # 5: Historians generally agree that Americans began exchanging Valentine’ s cards in the early 1840’ s. The tradition was first pioneered by Esther A. Howland, also named“ the mother of Valentines.” She began the tradition by sending out hand-made cards made with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures. Fun fact # 6: Valentine’ s Day is a very good day for the card industry. Approximately 1 billion cards are sold and exchanged in the US on Valentine’ s Day every year, making it second only to Christmas. Fun fact # 7: Ever heard the phrase“ wear your heart on your sleeve?” Well that phrase actually has a historical meaning. Back in the middle ages, young men would draw their Valentines’ names from a hat, lottery style. They would then have to wear the name on their sleeves for the week. Fun fact # 8: A lot of candy hearts are produced on Valentine’ s Day every year. How many you ask? 8 billion! If laid in a perfect line from end to end, it would be enough to stretch from Valentine, Arizona to Rome, Italy, and back again. Fun fact # 9: Every year on Valentine’ s Day, the city of Verona, Italy receives 1000 cards addressed to Juliet, the famous character from Shakespeare’ s play Romeo and Juliet. Hopefully the senders will not be too heartbroken when they find out that Juliet actually dies in the play. Fun fact # 10: Talk about loving your pets; an average of nine million people buy Valentine’ s gift for their pets. That wraps up this month’ s top ten facts. Hopefully you learned something new about the“ day of love” and we’ ll see you in the next month. See ya’ ll then!
SEND YOUR VALENTINE A“ CRUSH” OR“ CUTIE” MESSAGE THIS FEBRUARY!
FBLA IS SPONSORING A VALENTINE SALE AGAIN THIS YEAR! TO SEND A CUTIE( MINI-ORANGE) OR CRUSH( CAN OF ORANGE SODA) TO ANY STAFF OR STUDENT IN THE LITCHFIELD SCHOOL, PLEASE PICK UP A CARD FROM THE LITCHFIELD SCHOOL OFFICE, SPEAK TO ANY FBLA OFFICER, OR CONTACT FBLA ADVISER, MRS. NIKIA HUNT BY TUESDAY, FEB 13 TH.
CUTIE ORANGE $ 1.00 CAN OF CRUSH $ 2.00
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