Valentine's Day ❤️ 14th Feb

“You've gotta dance like there's nobody watching,

Love like you'll never be hurt,

Sing like there's nobody listening,

And live like it's heaven on earth.”

― William W. Purkey

INTRODUCTION

Before embarking on this week's CST activities, a reminder to know your individual group members well. Their lives, loves and losses, as far as is possible and appropriate to ask in any biographical assessment. Adjust the questions and discussion points below accordingly. Start this week's activities with a glass of sparking wine, strawberries and chocolates, to get everyone in the mood for discussing 'Valentines Day'.

You could also pass around a bowl of ‘Love Heart’ sweets and ask everyone to read out their message. You could then give everyone a red rose, after checking for thorns, and ask people to comment on the smell and feel of their flower and the memories it evokes.

Discussion questions could focus on:

- Members' first kisses?

- Do people believe in love at first sight?

- Has anyone ever been on a blind date? - What were female member’s bridal gowns like? - What colour boquets and kind of flowers did members have? - What about the first dance, can people remember their song? - Where did people go on honeymoon?

- What were members' most recent anniversaries?

- How did they celebrate?

- Look at members' wedding rings

IDIOMS & PROVERBS

Next, ask members to complete (some of) these idioms (as a group 'shout out') ...

Have a change of - HEART A heart of - GOLD Having a heart-to-heart - TALK My heart skipped a - BEAT Home is where the - HEART - is Love at first - SIGHT A labour of - LOVE From the bottom of my - HEART No love - LOST Puppy - LOVE Blind - DATE Fall head over - HEELS - in love All you need is - LOVE All's fair in love and - WAR Cupboard - LOVE Love - RAT For the love of - PETE It's a love / hate - RELATIONSHIP Love is - BLIND No love lost - BETWEEN - them Love conquers - ALL Not for love nor - MONEY Tough - LOVE Love is a - DRUG Love is a many - SPLENDOURED THING First - LOVE Out of sight out of - MIND Absence makes the heart grow - FONDER The way to a man's heart is through his - STOMACH Beauty is only skin - DEEP Actions speak louder than - WORDS My love is like a red red - ROSE All good things must come to - AN END Better to have loved and lost than never - LOVED AT ALL

MUSIC & PICTURE QUIZ We then moved on to some questions about Valentines Day, to get the discussion going.

ROUND 1. BE MY VALENTINE

1. What date is Valentine's Day?

As well as being patron saint of lovers, which other two groups of people does he 'look after'?

a. people with epilepsy and beekeepers

b. people with heart disease and florists

c. people with skin problems and dentists

2. Who is said to be the Welsh Saint Valentine (Welsh patron saint of lovers)?

What does the Welsh word 'cwtch' mean?

3. What does the word Valentine mean?

4. What is the original meaning of an 'X' on a Valentine's card?

5. Who is the Greek goddess of love?

6. Who is the Roman goddess of love?

7. Where is the statue of Cupid in London?

8. Which famous building in America lights up a red heart each St Valentine's Day?

9. True or false: Swans mate for life?

SONG. 'Love Is In The Air', John Paul Young - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNC0kIzM1Fo

10. Plus or minus 100 years, what date was the first recorded Valentine Card sent?

ROUND 2. SYMBOLS OF LOVE

11. Finish this well known phrase, "She loves me, ......"?

12. If you’re quick to show your feelings, where do you wear your heart?

13. If a red rose is a symbol of love, what are Rosemary and White Lily emblems for?

14. Roses are red, violets are blue... What comes next traditionally?

15. What does S.W.A.L.K. mean on a Valentine's Day card envelope?

16. Nowadays we give chocolates, cards or flowers on Valentine's Day. What was given as a gift before these modern day traditions?

17. If you are engaged to a person, how do you refer to them?

18. Complete this phrase ... "Something old, something new ..."?

19. What do you call it when ...

- Someone elopes to get married - A ******* WEDDING

- Someone gets married because they are pregnant - A ******* WEDDING

- Someone gets married to a person of their parent's choice - AN ******** WEDDING

SONG. 'Love And Marriage', Frank Sinatra - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srKQvgI4RkQ

20. What are the anniversary symbols or gifts for 1 year married, 10 years, 25 years, 30 years, 50 years and 60 years?

ROUND 3. HISTORY

21. Who was the legendary Benedictine monk who invented champagne in 1679?

22. What was the name of the renowned 18th Century womaniser (some say he was a great lover) who lived in Venice? (He liked to take part in masked balls!)

23. In Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet', what are the lovers' surnames?

24. Name the leader of the Chicago gangsters responsible for the St Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929?

25. How many times did Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor marry?

26. Who was the host of the ITV dating show 'Blind Date'?

27. Which Channel 4 TV series does Fred Sirieux host (he is the maitre d)?

28. What was the name of the 1989 film starring Pauline Collins where she used to talk to the wall and then went to Greece on holiday and ended up staying?

29. What year did Same Sex Marriage become legal in the UK?

SONG. 'I'm A Believer', The Monkees - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcnsao7Y0gk

30. Who were the four members of 'The Monkees'?

ROUND 4. NAME THE MOVIE

Identify the movie from the picture, year, names of actors and quotes

31. 1940

Starring Clarke Gable & Vivien Leigh

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!"

32. 1957

Starring Carry Grant & Deborah Kerr

"Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories... we've already missed the spring!"

33. 1961

Starring Audrey Hepburn & George Peppard

“You call yourself a free spirit, a "wild thing," and you're terrified somebody's gonna stick you in a cage."

34. 1971 Starring Ryan O'Neal & Ali McGraw

"Love means never having to say you're sorry."

35. - 1989 Billy Crystal & Meg Ryan

"I'll have what she's having!"

36. - 1989

Richard Gere & Julia Roberts

"I appreciate this whole seduction thing you've got going on here, but let me give you a tip: I'm a sure thing."

37. - 1993 Starring Tom Hanks & Meg Ryan

"I knew it the first time I saw her. It was like coming home, only to no home I'd ever known. I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was...magic."

38. - 1994 Starring Hugh Grant & Andie MacDowell

"Gareth used to prefer funerals to weddings. He said it was easier to get enthusiastic about a ceremony one had an outside chance of eventually being involved in."

39. - 2005 Starring Jake Gyllenhaal & Heath Ledger "I wish I knew how to quit you!"

40. Name this 1987 romantic thriller, where a love affair ends in disaster?

Starring Glenn Close & Michael Douglas

"Look, Alex, I like you. And maybe if I wasn't with somebody else, I'd be with you. But I am."

ROUND 5. MY TOP 10 MOVIE LOVE SONGS

Guess the love song from each movie, before listening to them ...

41. 'Casablanca', 1942

Dooley Wilson song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vThuwa5RZU&t=52s

42. 'An Officer And A Gentleman', 1982

Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVkHXGt-vzg&t=65s

43. 'Top Gun', 1986

'Berlin' song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUis9yny_lI

44. 'Dirty Dancing', 1987

Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpmILPAcRQo

45. 'Ghost', 1990

'Righteous Brothers' song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGtamMJTsew

46. 'Robin Hood, Prince Of Thieves', 1991

Bryan Adams song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7yCEyFeE6c

47. 'The Bodyguard', 1992

Dolly Parton song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JWTaaS7LdU&t=28s

48. 'Titanic', 1997

Celine Dion song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gK_2XdjOdY&t=177s

49. 'Notting Hill', 1999

Elvis Costello song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWoJsiy26gc

50. 'Bridget Jones's Diary', 2001

Eric Carmen song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8iTZm8-mbA&t=43s

Members should all be feeling the love after that playlist. Together, make a heart shape with our fingers and thumbs, close our eyes and blow a kiss to our special someone.

PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES

Make collage Valentines Day Cards. Print off old Victorian cards from the internet and cut them up to reuse and refashion them. Make origami hearts. Instruction video here https://youtu.be/CN4oPm9bCWE Make origami roses. Instruction video here https://youtu.be/jm_4hFPFAOU

SINGALONG