8 Feb. 8, 2018

Find Valentine’s gifts in the heart of Manitou SpringsBy Rhonda Van Pelt

Valentine’s Day is fast approach-ing, so you’re running out of time to decide what you’re doing for and with your special someone.

Manitou Springs offers many ways to share the love, whether it’s an experience or a gift.

The Smokebrush Foundation’s Living Arts program is hosting a “Celebration of Love & Life,” featuring music, dance, poetry and love stories. The star of the evening: Roma Ransom, a duo spreading “love, light and high vibrations through psychedelic folk jazz.”

Living Arts coordinator Judy Piazza, who created the event last year, will perform music. Adriana Rincon will dance to Roma Ransom’s “psychedelic folk jazz”; Luke Cissell and Jeremy Tackett will offer poetry and readings; and Kat Tudor will lead guests in yogic movement centered on

love, accompanied by Bob Tudor’s music.

“This is meant to welcome singles as well as couples,” Piazza said. “It is to encourage a community of love. Bring friends, bring family, bring lovers.”

The event takes place 6:30-9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, at Red Crags Arts and Agriculture House, 302 El Paso Blvd. The $22 cost per person includes wine, hors d’oeuvres from Create Café, Bliss Booch Kombucha and chocolate from Patsy’s.

Reservations are due Feb. 11; parking is limited, so guests are encouraged to carpool, bike or walk. Information: Smokebrush.org or smokebrushlivingarts@gmail.com.

The Briarhurst Manor Estate, 404 Manitou Ave., is hosting a six-course meal on Valentine’s Day that includes Oysters Rockefeller, wild game meatballs, frog’s legs, cheeses, osso bucco, scallops and lobster and a passion bombe (a white chocolate passion fruit mousse in a dark Belgian chocolate shell).

If your beloved loves mysteries, the Briarhurst is presenting a five-course Murder Mystery Dinner Theater on Sunday, Feb. 11, and promises lots of laughs and great food and drink. Both Briarhurst events tend to sell out early, so make reservations and check details on www.briarhurst.

com or call 685-1864.Mona Lisa Fondue Restaurant,

733 Manitou Ave., is offering lovebirds five evenings, Saturday, Feb. 10, through Wednesday, Feb. 14. Reservations are encouraged via monalisafondue.com or 685-0277.

The Manitou Springs Library will host a children’s card-making session, with local artist and teacher Roxanne Lingle sharing her Valentine skills

with kids in kindergarten through fifth grade. The free program is 10-11:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 10 at the library, 701 Manitou Ave. Register at ppld.org, 685-5206 or at the library; each child should be registered individually.

If you’d rather wrap up a gift for your lovey-dovey, downtown Manitou shops offer plenty of options.

Jewelry, of course, is always in fashion this time of year. Lane Mitchell Jewelers, 737 Manitou Ave., offers pieces you won’t see anywhere else.

“Everything in here is unique. And whether you’re buying a

See VALENTINE’S/page 9

Courtesy image

Roma Ransom — Gordon Lewis and Grace Easley — will perform at the “Celebration of Love & Life.”

It is to encourage a community of love.

— Judy Piazza

The Glassblowers of Manitou Springs shop has a variety of love-themed pieces.

Photos by Rhonda Van Pelt

Besides sweet treats, the Candy Bar stocks cuddly stuffed animals perfect for Valentine’s Day.

9Feb. 8, 2018

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$35 per person by advance reservation only.

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& MANITOU SPRINGSHISTORICAL SOCIETY

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Valentine’s DayValentine’s Day

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VALENTINE’S/from page 8

Celebrate love at SunMountain CenterSunMountain Center, 323 El Paso Blvd., will help you celebrate your

unique love in a location that’s just as special as the relationship between you and your partner.

Reconnect at SunMountain, and when you book an overnight stay at one of the center’s historic properties, you can enjoy a relaxing two-hour mineral soak, along with a complimentary organic and vegetarian breakfast the next morning.

SunMountain also is offering Valentine’s Day specials. They are:

• The Love Package, $75, which includes two long-stemmed roses, an assortment of six raw chocolates and one bottle of red/white or sparkling wine;

• The Romance Package, $100, which includes a dozen roses, an assortment of six raw chocolates and a bottle of red/

white or sparkling wine; and• The Deluxe Romance

Package, $125, which includes two dozen roses, an assortment of six raw chocolates, one bottle of red/white or sparkling wine and a keepsake corkscrew.

The packages are available through February. Information and reservations: sunwellness.net or 205-8516.

first-time Valentine’s Day gift or popping the question, we’ve got you covered. We have everything from $12 toe rings to 1-carat engagement rings and more,” co-owner L’Aura Montgomery Williams said.

She and her husband, Lane, have noticed that couples are becoming more interested in the unique, vintage pieces they offer.

“You walk in a mall store and you pick out something. As soon as you walk out, they put exactly the same thing in the slot. So there could be thousands of people with your engagement ring,” L’Aura Williams said.

“But if you have an engagement ring that was made in the 1920s and it’s lasted for almost 100 years, there’s probably no one else around who has one like it.”

If you’d rather give flowers, check out the beauties at Glassblowers of Manitou Springs, 4 Cañon Ave. Besides artfully fashioned red roses, the shop offers glass pieces with

“Love” written in script and “kisses” (think Hershey’s, but not edible) with heart-decorated ribbons.

Mountains West, 732 Manitou Ave., stocks snuggly pajamas and robes if you’re planning to cuddle up with your honey.

For the sweetheart with a sweet tooth, the Candy Bar, 740 Manitou Ave., offers a cornucopia of sugary delights including chocolate in various sizes, shapes and additional flavors, not to mention stuffed animals.

Is your loved one an art lover? Green Horse Gallery, 729 Manitou Ave., features the distinctively depicted lovers that Ken and Tina Riesterer create from clay and glaze. Or try one of Liz McCombs’ mixed-media hearts.

The Vault, 814 Manitou Ave., stocks greeting cards with hearts, brides and other figures formed by quilling, the art of rolling colored paper.

The store also sells attractive dichroic glass frames just right for

Photo by Rhonda Van Pelt

L’Aura Montgomery Williams of Lane Mitchell Jewelers holds a vintage pin that can be converted to a bar necklace.

Hearty greetings

Photo by Rhonda Van Pelt

Laura Hensley of the Poppy Seed ties Valentine messages to the fence between Fountain Creek and the shop, 123 Cañon Ave. She has construction-paper hearts and other supplies, and is inviting residents and visitors to stop by and express their sentiments about the Cañon Avenue bridge.

special photos, and gift cards in case you just can’t decide.

LeGrande Accents Boutique, 743 Manitou Ave., is selling tiny

heart-shaped ornaments and a variety of beautiful clothing for women.

So really, you have no excuse to be empty-handed on Valentine’s Day.

Photo by Rhonda Van Pelt

Lane Mitchell Jewelers offers vintage engagement rings.