Page 11
Nortla Idaho College
Ex-GI tells his prizewinning story
NIC skiers • survive avalanche
Trustee's cover masks heavy book
Page 3
Sentinel
Volumt 41 , Numbu 8
Coeur d'Ak11e, Idaho
Thursda). fe,b. ll. 1987
Valentine roots reach way back by Sharon Sheldon Store displays arc up, and advertising pitch~ abound, as yet ano1J11n St. Valentine\ Day approaches. While Commercial America cashes m on all the cards, nowcr5 ond other llcmb bought to help celebrate this holiday, the U.S. Postal Service gets ready ror one of 1he bu$iC)l day5 or the year. In fact, Christmas is the only other holiday that is bu~ier. The idea of a day ~cl aside ond dedicmed to love i\ 1101 a nc" one. I I all :.ccmb 10 hove sinned with Lupcrcalia. an ancient Roman fest ival held especially for lovers. M the legend gors, a man would drow a women ' b name from a bo). of eligible member~ of the opposite ~c~ Qnd then live with her lor one year. While this custom is 1:0nbidered the forcrunnrr to modern day cclcbra1ions, the roots of S1. Valentine\ Day are bleeped in myMcry. II ~ccms 1h01 in 270 A. D. an uncannoni,cd ~mt by the name of \/alcmine wa, put to death b)• cm1)cror Claudius. The conne.:-tioo bet,\cen ht~ death and the soon-to-folio,, cclebrmion 01 his day as unclear. but \Orne ~tone~ ~a) that ,, hile aw11i11ng, ht~ e~ecution he cured the jailer\ daughter of a rare itlne~. Other storic, hnvc ham falling an to, e \\ ith the ,nme Jailer\ daughter and ,, ruing her lettC'rs ~1&ned "your V,1lentine." A~idc from the:.t I\\ O s1onei. th.ere is no real e,ptanation for as~o'1aling IO\'e wnh Si. Valentine. l·eb. 14 hn) a ~imilar. although beuerdocumcmed hmorv. legend proclaims that birds everywhere are called to choose mates on this da,. In the middle ag~ Chaucer ob\cr,ed 1hh, a~d wrote, "For this on St. Vnlenune\ Dav when every bird cometh to choose n mate." ''
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Modern day men and women have heard different calls. According to AT&T spokespeople, Si. Valentine's Day isn't jus1 busy for the U.S. Postal Service, but for telephone operators as "ell. Five Limes more people " reach out and touch someone" tllan on an average day. St. Valeminc's Day has no, always been easy to celebrate or. for that matter, even legal. Interestingly enough. if the founding fathers in the ne" world of 1700 had their way, St. Valenline's Day would not be a tradition. During the PuriLanical domination of the New England inhabitants. St. Valentine's Day was outlawed because it lacked specific religious significance. Accordmg to one founding father it "lacked any redeeming ,.aJucs or morals." Ho"C\·er. changes in public opinion seem to ha,·e ocrured, because later in the same century 11 ~ legal once again 10 celebrate the holiday. The prartict of mailing ,·aJentines was not pure1) a matter of public prcferance, bu1 a timely postal rate decrease enabled celebrants to exchange hohda) peeun o~er \il\t ,ections of the couotr; I J '<70 a NC',\ t ork printer named Jo~n .\ klou.,nun in\enttd "penny" valentines, \\hich closet}' resemble lhose 1ha1 elemeniary school children give out today It changed St. Valentine\ Day b) making u affordable to most e, eryone. So.~ hile the h1s1or, of St. Valentine's Day include:. some mys1erious and unexpected turn,. ii i:, also one of the most profitable and busiest 1im~ of the year for the U.S. Post.al Service and various telephone companies and businesses. It all goes back 10 the death of St. Valentine and the ability of people to tailor time-honored traditions to their own particular needs.