Laurie Gordon is in the Valentine lady spotlight
by Janis Fogle,
Volunteer extraordinar, Laurie Gordon, Valentine Lady 2016 is known to many in our community from her efforts to make our community better for all. Whether it is decorating tables for the Greater Loveland Historical Museum’s Herbal Delight’s luncheon, chairing the Loveland Women’s Club Ways and Means Chairman in charge of raising monies for Scholarships, serving as an Elder at the Loveland Presbyterian church, organizing volunteers at Bethesda North hospital or helping clients at both the LIFE food pantry and LIFE Christmas Giving Shoppe, Gordon does it with grace and enthusiasm that made her a natural choice for Valentine Lady!
If you are unfamiliar with the program, the Valentine Lady is a person who distinguishes herself in community, school, and family endeavors and serves as the official spokesperson of the Little Miami River Chamber Alliance, Valentine Program in the Loveland area. If you are unfamiliar with the Chamber’s Valentine Program, it began 1972 and has grown over the years to include a variety of Valentine community activities, as well as a nationally-known cachet stamping and postmark program. Each year the team of Valentine Ladies hand-stamp Valentines with a unique cachet, which is modeled after a winning card design (selected annually), and then hand-cancelled with a special Loveland, Ohio, postmark. Each year, the Valentine Ladies – in conjunction with the Chamber – re-mail thousands of cards to all 50 states and many foreign countries.
When asked about a favorite memory during her “reign” as Valentine lady, the first quick response was “the children”, their cute responses and the fact that the children wanted to know about Loveland! Reflecting, Gordon stated, to the fact that special friend, Marirose Striver, Valentine Lady 2001, was at The Works when the committee named me Valentine Lady. After another pause, Gordon went on to say that Kathryn Undercoffer, Valentine Lady 2003, had dropped her name tag at the naming of the Valentine Lady event at The Works, Mrs Gordon picked it up and returned it to Undercoffer who invited her in and they sat and talked about the duties of being a Valentine Lady for quite some time.
Painting beautiful wine glasses for charitable events is yet another way that Laurie Gordon supports our community for its betterment and is just one more reason that she was a common-sense choice for Valentine Lady!
I encourage you to begin thinking about a nominee for the Valentine Lady to represent this program for 2018; it’s not too early to start thinking about someone you consider special who resides in the Loveland area (zip code 45140). Send nominations to The Little Miami River Chamber Alliance, 123 S. Second Street, Loveland, OH 45140 or by sending your nomination to [email protected].
