College students often have limited budgets, so for many, gifts like a dozen red roses, exquisite chocolates and other Valentine’s Day staples might not be possible. However, the Union Program Council’s first ever Value Valentine’s Day event on Feb. 10, students didn’t have to for-go the festivities. The free event featured various activities aimed at providing Valentine’s festivities for busy students on a budget.
“We knew that Valentine’s Day was in the middle of the week, and that often students were busy with classes. We wanted to provide an opportunity for students to have a nice night out, and not necessarily spend a lot of money,” said Hillary L’Ecuyer, sophomore in interior design.
L’Ecuyer served a co-chair of the event along with Austin Narverud, senior in mechanical engineering; Andrew Claeys, junior in mechanical engineering; and Travis Heideman, sophomore in business administration.
The event was held in the William T. Kemper Art Gallery in the K-State Student Union. At the event, students filled out Valentine’s-themed miniature Chinese take-out boxes with a variety of candies, created Valentine’s-themed crafts, sipped hot cider and went for carriage rides around campus.
“We went and bought the candy earlier this week,” L’Ecuyer said. “We spent about five to six hundred dollars, and most of it was gone by the end of the night.”
Although the temperature was below freezing Friday night, L’Ecuyer was optimist that it would not affect the carriage rides.
“I was a little concerned. We hoped it was going to be warmer, but the carriage company brought blankets with them, so it’s alright,” L’Ecuyer said.
Angelique Foye, junior in psychology and family studies, decided to venture through the chilly temperatures to attend Value Valentine’s Day.
“My best friend Megan Canfield told me of the fun festivities here, so I decided to come and check it out,” Foye said.
Foye wasn’t extremely concerned about the chilly temperatures as she waited to ride on the horse-drawn carriage ride with Canfield, graduate student in counseling and student development.
“It might be a little chilly, but we will have hot apple cider and blankets so it will be nice,” Foye said.
Foye had already visited the other stations she wanted before waiting for the carriage ride.
“I collected some candy and saw some girl get serenaded by her boyfriend. That was really cute!” Foye said.
While Foye was looking forward to the horse-drawn carriage ride, it was the entire reason Tara Terkildsen, graduate student in English, decided to attend Value Valentine’s Day.
“I’ve never ridden in a horse and carriage before, so I decided to take advantage of that. I’m just out having a good Valentine’s,” Terklidsen said.
Overall, L’Ecuyer thought the event was successful.
“I thought it went really well,” L’Ecuyer said. “It ended up being a family-friendly event as opposed to a date night. We had something to appeal to all demographics.”