Tucked away in a Loveland conference room is a pink and red scene not unlike Santa's Workshop. Trade in the Christmas colors and add in an abundance of red and pink hearts, and you might get a clearer picture of the operation center that is the Sweetheart City's . It's a small but mighty team.
The headquarters of the program, the Loveland Chamber of Commerce Room, is a chorus of plastic stamps conducted by a small group of women donned in the colors of the season and hard at work. It's serious business, but love is in the air.
Volunteers will stamp over 100,000 pieces of mail coming from all over the world. The Loveland Valentine's Day stamp features a custom poem written by Berthoud, Colo. resident Jeanne Perrine.
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鈥淚n this day and age, this is my happy place,鈥� said volunteer Ann Ague, who鈥檚 been stamping Loveland's Valentine's Day mail for 13 years after a friend brought her along one year. 鈥淚t's fun to see the different postage stamps that come through, little notes that people write on the (envelopes) sometimes."
The re-mailing program 鈥� and what has grown to be 鈥� started as a marketing stunt 79 years ago. Stamp collectors at the post office tried to start a fun tradition, but it didn鈥檛 quite catch on until former Chamber President Ted Thompson promoted it with the new Loveland nickname of 鈥淪weetheart City.鈥�
Now, it has now turned into a huge mailing event. They have seen letters from all 50 states as well as 110 different countries since it started.
鈥淵ou get a lot of the big ones, of course, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, which is sort of misleading, because listed also is Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England,鈥� said Cathy Oelkers, who has been counting and doing 鈥渜uality control鈥� of the letters for 24 years. 鈥淭here are handfuls, you know, here and there from Africa and Asia.鈥�
People will mail cards to more than just their loved ones. Williamson and other volunteers have seen cards to President Donald Trump, Governor Jared Polis, Dolly Parton and more.
鈥淚've seen some interesting ones, some were like to a loved one in Heaven,鈥欌�� longtime stamper Judith Williamson said. 鈥淎nd I saw some to God. You know, I've seen some to Mickey Mouse and Disneyland and different celebrities.鈥�
Oelkers said when she first started, she remembers seeing nearly 250,000 letters and more than 50 volunteers in the stamping room. Those numbers have gone down considerably due to the rise of e-mail and texting, but she said she鈥檚 already counted 25,000 letters for this year as of last Wednesday.
Here鈥檚 how it works: you write a card, address it and stamp it, and then put it in a larger envelope to be mailed to the Loveland Post Office or the Chamber of Commerce where they will give it the official Loveland Valentine's Day poem stamp and send it on its way. It is quite a sprint for all who are involved. They start taking cards on January 10. The cards can also be , like Aims Community College.
鈥淭his time of year is chaos, but it鈥檚 so awesome,鈥� said Jacquie Leivestad, who works for the Loveland Post Office. 鈥淚t is long days, but it is well worth it.鈥�
In late January the stampers get to work. Volunteers start by stamping each letter with a red, ink-soaked stamp that features the poem selected to be this year's official Loveland poem. The letter also receives a unique postage cancellation stamp.
Being a stamper is a coveted gig. Chamber President Mindy McCloughan said there鈥檚 a waiting list to get in.
鈥淧eople call me going, 鈥業've been on the waiting list for two years,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淎nd I'm like, 鈥榊es, ma'am, I know. And there's people on the waiting list for more than 12 years.鈥欌��
The list only gets longer as more people hear about it. They all know it's a blast.
鈥淏eing in that room with those stampers is like being back home with a room full of grandparents on steroids,鈥� McCloughan said.
Some stampers are so committed, they will come from different parts of the state. Seventy-two-year-old Edna Pelzmann lives in Westminster and has been stamping for 13 years.
"Only once I started to come here and the roads were too slick from snow and ice,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o in all the years I've come, I only had to turn around once.鈥�
And even once stampers are selected, they鈥檙e not let in right out of the gate. Williamson, who has been stamping for nine years, remembers having to learn the technique.
鈥淭he (acceptance) letter said I was a 鈥楽tamper In Waiting,鈥� which means you get to come and practice,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 took a day off from work to come in and practice. So you had to learn how to stamp and get the right pressure and to do it just right鈥he stamps have to be done a certain way and in a very particular way, so we do the finessing of them.鈥�
Any letters that are 鈥渃hunky monkeys,鈥� or too big to go through the mail sorters, go back to a special room to be stamped. It鈥檚 also the room where little imperfections are corrected, such as a smeared poem or a stamp that鈥檚 missing a letter.
鈥淚t's going to somebody's lover,鈥� Jeanne Perrine, who works in the correction room and has been part of the re-mailing event for 18 years, said. 鈥淭hey don't want something that's all smeared black all over it. They鈥檙e sending them for valentines because they want them to look pretty and to show the person on the other end that they cared.鈥�
Ninety-year-old Joyce Boston has been a stamper since 1997. She thinks it鈥檚 important for people to keep sending letters.
鈥淭his is more personal, really, I like getting letters in the mail. I don't want to ever quit that,鈥� Boston said. 鈥淎nd what the world needs now is more love. There's so many angry, hateful people in the world right now that I think we all ought to spread more of this.鈥�
Seventy-five-year-old Darline Rivas agrees. She has been stamping for more than a decade. She said stamping is her favorite two weeks out of the year.
鈥淚 have all of my valentine cards, I always keep them. That's one thing I don't get rid of,鈥� she said.
The re-mailing event has some personal significance. Rivas met her husband on Valentine鈥檚 Day and they鈥檝e been together nearly five decades. But this year, he had a big heart surgery, and Rivas wasn鈥檛 sure if he was going to make it.
鈥淗e came home with roses,鈥� Rivas said, sobbing. 鈥淎nd he said, 鈥業f I'm not here, this is for you.鈥欌��
His surgery was successful. But Rivas said his intentional act of love beforehand is something the world could use more of. Sending love through the mail is just one way to do that.
鈥淲e are very used to being around our loved ones, and we don't show it every day, and that鈥檚 sad,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople need to show their love much more, and all the time, not just on certain days.鈥�
