Crazy Little Thing Called Love: West Valley’s Valentine’s Night

By Avi Vieira
Glendale

Valentine’s Day always seems to conjure up extremes for people; whether it’s a day of love and romance, or a Hallmark holiday meant to make the lonely even more miserable. At West Valley one•n•tenthe goal was to simply use the day as an excuse to have a party complete with baked treats. The evening kicked off with a brief discussion of the history of Valentine’s Day before the youth were asked what the holiday means to them. As expected, the responses were varied from positive, negative, and simple apathy. The youth were then asked to share best and worst Valentine’s memories, though few volunteered to step up and share stories.

The evening moved on to social time with an edible crafts activity. Mini red velvet cake hearts were baked for the youth to decorate and eat while they socialized. The youth seemed to enjoy this portion of the evening as they began making cake sandwiches and other goodies before they turned their attention to a bundt cake which they frosted with rainbow frosting and candy hearts.

The evening proved to be a welcome respite from the pressures of love and relationship the holiday seems to inspire, and instead simply allowed our youth to enjoy a social evening with lovingly made treats that allowed them to tap into their creativity, but satisfy their sweet tooth to boot.