Tag: Valentine’s Day Gifts

CHICAGO (WLS) — People were out and about celebrating Valentine’s Day in the Chicago area on Saturday.

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For those celebrating Valentine’s Day, Navy Pier has you covered. There will be a fireworks show at 9 p.m. Saturday.

Before that, visitors could experience a romantic ride on the Centennial Wheel. It was lit with colors for Valentine’s Day.

Love was in the air, along with romantic reds and passionate pinks with the fireworks show in Valentine’s colors complementing the hues of the city’s skyline.

Whether they were coupled up or looking for love, it was party time at Shedd Aquarium. The first-ever Heartbeat House Party featured house music, food and drink, and plenty of deep-sea surprises. Mated penguins were among the guests of honor.

“I’m a big animal person, so I thought this seemed like the perfect opportunity for us to do something a little bit different than like just the usual dinner date,” attendee Finn Hamilton said.

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“My sister told us about the tickets, and so we’re meeting her and her husband here and just spending the night hanging out with loved-ones,” attendee Diana Sharpe said.

And what’s Valentine’s Day without a bouquet for your betrothed? At Fleurish Chicago in Bronzeville, where demand for orders began weeks ago, almost all the display vases were empty.

“We’ve refilled that about four, almost five times today,” said Shavon Francis with Fleurish Chicago. “Everyone is coming in and pouring back into their partners, significant others, so it’s been great.”

Red roses are always a favorite, but peach and other non-traditional colors were also selling well.

We’ve made every recipe, every arrangement from scratch,” Francis said. Nothing was done without thought and care, so it’s been very rewarding to be able to create, see people smile, see that sigh of relief on some gentleman’s face once they’re able to find the perfect arrangement.”

It’s estimated that people will spend a record $29 billion on their Valentines this year.

The Shedd Aquarium also had an event for people feeling more rage than romance this Valentine’s Day. They were invited to Bob Mann Woods in LaGrange Park for “Nature’s Rage Room.”

People could blow off steam by cutting down and burning invasive European Buckthorn. It was a great way to work off frustration and show some love for the great outdoors.

Getting rid of the invasive European buckthorn will make room for native flora and fauna to grow, the Shedd says, and create better living conditions for toads, frogs and salamanders.

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South Chicago neighbors and veterans are remembering fallen soldiers this Valentine’s Day.

They gathered at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on Saturday to make Valentines card honoring 12 men from the parish who lost their lives in the Vietnam War.

The event was part of efforts to restore the parish’s Vietnam Veterans Memorial Mural, which features portraits of the men.