Celebrate Valentines Day: Be a crab or gift a fungus wreath - Norwich Bulletin

Celebrate Valentines Day: Be a crab or gift a fungus wreath - Norwich Bulletin


Celebrate Valentines Day: Be a crab or gift a fungus wreath - Norwich Bulletin

Posted: 13 Feb 2020 12:40 PM PST

Not everyone celebrates Valentine's Day. In fact, many downright despise it.

Who can blame them? The obligation of gift-buying, seeing the unending pink and red displays in store after store, hearing the love songs playing over and over again?

The good thing is there's something for everyone to celebrate the day with – good or bad.

For those who hate the day, you can show some love by being a crab and donating $25 to Mystic Aquarium to become a hero of a horseshoe crab. You'll get a horseshoe crab plush and pin and a crabby Valentine's Day certificate.

The fundraiser highlights a creature whose blood is used to detect bacteria in medical applications such as vaccines and IV solutions, according to the Aquarium.

According to Daniel Pesquera, a media relations rep for the Aquarium, the event will run through Monday or until they run out of plushes. And assuming they aren't sold out, they'll have another promotion for "Singles Appreciation Day" on Saturday.

If you're really not feeling the love for the holiday, the San Antonio Zoo and the El Paso Zoo have both been running campaigns through Valentine's Day to dedicate a cockroach after an ex and have it fed to an animal. Both zoos offer the chance to watch the munching action on their social media streams on Friday.

However, if you're one of the 70% of Americans planning to spend money on their partner according to Bankrate, the National Retail Federation expects the U.S. as a whole to spend $27.4 billion this year for the holiday.

But not everyone will spend money. The Bulletin asked Facebook what the best gift they ever received was and the responses were as varied as Eastern Connecticut.

Several said their children or their own birth was the best gift, another said her wedding ring – celebrating their third anniversary.

Roses, of course, made the list but so did pets, "a book" and "a vacuum" someone bought for themselves about 20 years ago, and an owl necklace.

Ruth Randolph, of Norwich, visiting the Rose City Senior Center on Wednesday, said the best gift she ever got was a cargo bar for her truck from her husband.

There were also the unusual gifts - like the ones that come as a surprise.

Emily Mayotte, of Norwich, responded that she got "a wreath made of fungus. The card read, 'because you're a science nerd and I'm a fun guy.'"

Mayotte said the fungus wreath came from her husband, Tom, in 2017 while they lived in Surry, Maine.

"I'm a scientist and love collecting curiosities when I can - I have a skull collection," she said. "But I also love vintage lithographs of flora and fauna. We saw (the wreath) at our favorite local discount store and I guess he noticed me looking at it, but leaving it - he went back without me and bought it an hour later under the guise of needing something from Home Depot."

Mayotte said while she wasn't expecting anything for the holiday - she said they don't spend money typically on "corporate" holiday gifts - she was thrilled with it.

"I was confused because I wasn't expecting a card, and certainly not a gift, too, but very excited to see that he picked out something just for me instead of 'us,'" she said.

Foxnews.com reports that a study by OnePoll and Zulily shows 28% plan to celebrate with their pet while 51% plan to celebrate with their children. Fifty-nine percent plan to commemorate the day with their nearest and dearest friends.

The study, foxnews.com says, reported 64% of those surveyed plan on buying gifts while 57% plan to cook a special dinner. A third said they've taken the day off from work to celebrate.

More than 300 respondents to a poll from Surveymonkey.com found that most people are opting for traditional gifts this year. The majority of women plan to pick up a card and/or candy for their Valentine while most men will be picking up flowers, candy and/or jewelry.

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