The spirit of Saint Valentine is alive in the Hilltowns all year long

DELANSON — The OMOTM arrived on time at Gibby’s Diner ready for some hot coffee and a hot breakfast on this chilly, 8-degree, Tuesday morning. This group of  OMOTM are always ready for some hot coffee and a good hot breakfast on any chilly morning.

Last week, on Wednesday, on Feb. 14, the OMOTM, like everyone, celebrated Valentine’s Day with some OFs giving red roses, other OFs giving some chocolates in a red heart-shaped box; certainly Valentine’s Day cards were given and received all prior to sitting down to a special dinner (or feast in the old days). 

There are many, many different paths as to the origins of Valentine’s Day going far back in time — as long ago as the year 269, when a Catholic priest, whose name was Valentine, was put to death for religious reasons.

He is given credit for performing a miracle of giving sight to a blind girl. Before his untimely demise, he sent the little girl a note, which he signed “Your Valentine.”

A couple of themes are fairly common throughout the different origin paths of today’s Valentine’s Day observance. It has always been observed on Feb. 14. It usually has a feast or special meal connected to it.

It also has a strong religious background. The priest, Valentine, is now a saint. The idea of love and romance quickly and universally became central to the day.

Many Valentine’s Day poems that have been written, some as early as Edmund Spenser’s “The Faerie Queene” written in 1590, have lines that  sound familiar to us.
 

She bath’d with roses red, and violets blew

and all the sweetest flowers that in the forest grew ….
 

Shakespeare gets into the act in the year 1600 with his play, “Hamlet” in which he has Ophelia mentioning Valentine’s Day, and possibly the genesis of today’s modern poem may be found in a collection of English nursery rhymes from 1784.
 

The rose is red, the violet’s blue,

The honey’s sweet, and so are you.

Thou art my love and I am thine;

I drew thee to my Valentine.

The lot was cast and then I drew,

A fortune said it shou’d be you.
 

The OMOTM may not be Spenser or Shakespeare, but how could a fair maiden resist when asked to be an OF’s Valentine and go for a ride in a 1925 Model T Ford Roadster built for two?

It didn’t matter that they had been married since that car’s factory warranty was still in place (just kidding). Of course, she accepted. It also helps that they were in Florida on Feb. 14, 2024.

Up here in the Hilltowns, there are many examples of the spirit of Saint Valentine that are front and center every day of the year. One of these places is the Rock Road Chapel, the pastor of which is a member of the OMOTM.

If you happen to be in his neighborhood on a Wednesday morning, stop by for breakfast. One year when Valentine’s Day fell on Wednesday, a person who had breakfast at the Rock Road Chapel was moved to write a little poem of heartfelt appreciation, which now occupies a special spot on the wall in the kitchen.

It is out of view of everybody except for those working to prepare the food for the folks who may stop by for breakfast. Again, this was not written by a world famous poet; it was written in appreciation and with a little love thrown in, to the ladies working out of sight, behind the scenes, in the kitchen of the Rock Road Chapel. It reads like this:
 

To the Sisters of the Spatula

The Lord looks down from up above

Upon this food prepared with love

For the hungry folks who are just itchin’

For the savory delights from the Rock Road kitchen.

From succulent sausage to perfect pancakes

The girls in the kitchen have got what it takes

And there’s perfect cooked eggs, real syrup, and butter

That kind of good food gets our taste buds aflutter.

So this Valentine’s Day, to show that we care

We offer this poem, at which you can stare

As we fervently hope you’ll consider it handy

As a good substitute for flowers and candy.
 

So, from the Old Men of the Mountain, we extend our very best wishes to all the young lovers out there, and especially the old lovers up here in the mountains — do yourself, and all of us, a favor and hug someone today.

Next week, the OMOTM shall meet at the Chuck Wagon Diner in Duanesburg. This week, the following met at Gibby’s Diner for good food and fellowship: Harold Guest, Wally Guest, Ted Feurer, Wayne Gaul, Russ Pokorny, Warren Willsey, Joe Rack, Mark Traver, Glenn Patterson, Roger Shafer, George Washburn, Jake Herzog, William Lichliter, Marty Herzog, Ed Goff, Frank Fuss, Miner Stevens, Paul Guiton, John Dab, Lou Schenck, Jack Norray, Gerry Cross, Herb Bahrmann, Bob Donnelly, Elwood Vanderbilt, Michael Kruzinsk, Rev Jay Francis and me.