'Everybody's in love:' Celebrating Valentine's Day in Windsor-Essex
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Love is in the air today across Windsor and Essex County, and plenty of local businesses are offering up sweet treats to help you celebrate.
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At Walker’s Fine Candies on Howard Avenue, manager Rob Obeid said Monday and Tuesday will be the busiest days of the year.
The family owned and run business founded in 1922 offers a variety of hand-made candies and chocolates — with more than 100 years of experience, you might consider them the experts. Treats are flying out the door, but Obeid said customers seem to have a few favourites.
“We do the truffles in the shape of a heart and we fill them all different flavours,” Obeid said. “The chocolate strawberries, they’re always a big hit. The chocolate roses, a lot of people go for those (because) you can eat them too.”
You know, everybody’s in love
Over at Walkerville’s Anchor Coffee House, owner Kyle Bondy said their custom Valentine’s treat boxes sold out for Tuesday — a good sign for what they hope will be a busy day — but you’re far from out of luck.
“We have a bunch of baked goods that we’ll be able to do little gift boxes if people come in, too,” Bondy said. If your sweetheart is more green thumb than sweet tooth, Anchor Coffee House also has an impressive plant selection.
“The Galentine’s Day trend has become really huge too,” Bondy said. “There’s a lot of people who are single that just want a place to go.”
The real origins of Valentine’s Day as we now celebrate it are a little muddled — but experts agree on a few things. The holiday likely started with the Romans and the festival of Lupercalia celebrated in mid-February. According to NPR, the ancient Romans may have also been responsible for the name when Emperor Claudius II executed a man named Valentine, whose sacrifice was honoured by the Catholic Church with the celebration of St. Valentine’s Day.
St. Valentine of Rome is the patron saint, naturally, of lovers and happy marriages — but he’s also called upon as the patron saint of beekeeping, travel, epilepsy and the plague, according to the History Channel.
Valentine’s Day first started to take on the customs we now celebrate when authors Chaucer and Shakespeare romanticized the holiday and trading paper cards became common. And then, of course, in 1913 Hallmark Cards began mass-producing valentines as we now know them.
Many local businesses are celebrating Valentine’s Day, so you’re sure to find something whatever your style. Windsor pizzeria Antonino’s is offering various heart-shaped pies throughout February. If a historical setting is more your speed, a romantic dinner at Willistead Manor might be the ticket.
If you’re hoping for better weather, Dancing Swallows Vineyard in Amherstburg is taking bookings for private Valentine’s tastings, complete with cheese and wine, on three dates this summer.
But however and with whomever you celebrate, remember: It’s about showing you care.
“You know, everybody’s in love,” Obeid said.
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