Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 15, 1993 TAG: 9302150054
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
OF VOWS AND SWEET MEMORIES
Valentine's Day was mentioned in so many store sales this season that it was hard to know where to go if you were looking for love.For instance, there were plenty of shoppers, but little cooing among the stacks at Books, Strings & Things for its "Love Conquers All" sale.
And, it's anyone's guess how many "Hunk of Burning Love" Elvis afghans Hecht's sold. Or, who took advantage of the $20-off Valentine's offer for an Anchor truck cover.
But, love was out there.
Faculty and staff paid $1 each Friday to hug Ed Barnes, president of New River Valley Community College. The hugging booth raised $50 for a student book scholarship.
Harris Teeter, which boasted the lowest price for a dozen roses, sold 9,000 of the love symbols.
The flowers went about as fast as staff could rejuvenate the buds, which arrived dry-packed from Bogota, Colombia.
Like love, dry-packed roses have to be nurtured to survive, said Tom Webster, store manager.
And that's what he was doing Sunday. The roses had to get their stems clipped and sit in a water solution in the dark for a couple of hours before they were at their best.
Webster said he wasn't planning to take any roses home to his wife because she wanted a shopping trip to Pigeon Forge, Tenn., instead.
Diane and Steven Taylor decided on a trip, too, down the aisle at Boones Mill Baptist Church.
She's from Roanoke and he's from Charlottesville. They met at a car show in September and fell hard.
Longtime marriages and budding romance were in vogue Sunday at Old Country Buffet.
Clyde Lewis, a William Fleming High School student, arrived at work with balloons for his girlfriend and co-worker, Ursula Willis, a Patrick Henry High School student.
With a long line of customers to watch, she was appropriately pleased and embarrassed.
And by 6 p.m., the restaurant had served free meals to 110 couples who had been more married more than 50 years. Diners included Margaret and Willie Ingram, together for 65 years.
"Love" and "not taking it for granted," is a formula for success, said the Roanoke County couple.
"Mellowing" and staying cool work also, said Roy and Ruth Henrickson of Salem.
"My mother always said when you get angry, put your fist in your pocket and keep your mouth shut," said Roy Henrickson, who wed Ruth 53 years ago.
And, finally, did love manifest in a mating of that most famous of Roanoke Valley couples, No. 282 and No. 457, the red wolves at the Explore Park's American Center for Rare and Endangered Species?
"Not that we know of," said Scott Spangler. He and wife Laurie live on the Explore property and are on the wolf-watch.
"Of course, to really know, we'd have to watch them every minute," said Spangler.
And the Spanglers, married five years, didn't do that Sunday. It was Valentine's Day.