Follow Your Heart

With Valentine’s Day falling on a Friday, lovers and others with intimate attachments can spend the whole weekend finding opportunities to express their heartfelt sentiments.

While flowers, a box of candy and dinner are the traditional ways to tell the beloved “I love you,” there are other possibilities--some eccentric, some free, some extravagant and some even healthful. We offer a handful of options.

Debbie Burd will hit the road Friday, and by 9 p.m. she and other members of her quartet will have made a dozen stops to croon old love songs like “I Don’t Know Why I Love You Like I Do.”

They’ll interrupt romantic dinners in fine restaurants. They’ll create quite a stir at offices. They might even surprise some unsuspecting souls at home who have just slipped into their bathrobes.

It’s all in the name of love, and Friday is the big day--Valentine’s Day.

Burd’s quartet is part of the 102-member Channelaire Chorus, which will split into six or seven quartets Friday that go on the road to deliver singing valentines.

“It’s a very popular thing to do,” said Burd, a marketing manager who lives in Camarillo. Last year her quartet alone delivered 17 of the personalized valentines.

If you’re hooked on old chestnuts, singing valentines come courtesy of the Channelaire women as well as the gents from two barbershop groups in the county: Harmony Oaks Barbershop Chorus and Channel Islands Clippers.

For $35, the women in Burd’s quartet, dressed in matching outfits of fuchsia and purple, will warble two songs in four-part harmony and deliver a balloon bouquet, a rose and a card. “You Made Me Love You” and “As Time Goes By” are the standards, but some quartets have other choices too. The men offer similar deals for about the same price.

“The funniest ones are at the office, especially for men,” Burd said. “They get really embarrassed; their co-workers are watching.”

Sometimes it’s not funny at all. “We’ve had people cry while we’re singing,” she said. “Then we get choked up too.”

They also have to be flexible. Last year they were dispatched to a veterinarian’s office, but the festive occasion had to be postponed several minutes until a distraught woman had said goodbye to her dying dog and left.

Because Valentine’s Day falls on Friday, the Channelaires are offering their singing services Thursday through Sunday. For $15, they’ll deliver their tuneful valentines via telephone. The men are available for the singing gigs Friday and Saturday.

It’s a highly orchestrated event for all three groups. Last year, quartets from the Channel Islands Clippers made nearly 100 valentine stops. The Harmony Oaks group expects to hit 75 or 80 this year. They couldn’t handle it logistically without cell phones, they say.

Not everyone appreciates the romance of it all. Les Reed’s Harmony Oaks quartet--outfitted in black tuxedos, white shirts, red vests and bow ties--dropped in on a Simi Valley elementary school last year to deliver a singing valentine to a teacher, courtesy of her husband.

They launched into a heart-felt rendition of “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” before the astonished students and the delighted teacher.

“The boys looked like they were about to throw up,” Reed said.

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Siren Songs

But maybe you’d rather go to the music instead of having the music come to you. After a tete-a-tete at some out-of-the-way eatery, you can enjoy the serious romance of “Love Songs by Candlelight,” featuring soprano Mary Ann Bosnos in Camarillo.

Bosnos, who sings in five languages, will perform love songs and operatic arias at 8:30 p.m. at Camarillo United Methodist Church, 291 Anacapa Drive. Pianist Paul Fagundes will also perform. Admission is $10.

If your musical tastes are lighter, you might consider the offerings of Carol Chapman. At Borders Books in Thousand Oaks, Chapman will perform torch songs of the ‘30s and ‘40s to the strains of a three-piece backup group. The giant bookstore will turn the lights down low, though presumably not too low for a nice quiet read. Festivities, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., are free.

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Sweet Creations

But perhaps music isn’t quite the food of love you most desire. Maybe you prefer chocolate. At Atelier de Chocolat in downtown Ventura, Bernard Gaffney handcrafts chocolate creations--ornate heart-shaped boxes filled with truffles, airplanes, champagne bottles, even a plaque that says “World’s Best Lover.” He’s been in the chocolate business for 45 years.

An interesting trend: Audrey Gaffney, Bernard’s wife and co-proprietor, reports that more men are yearning for--and receiving--chocolate on Valentine’s Day. The store even has a heart-shaped gift box done up like a pinstriped business shirt with a matching tie.

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Room for Romance

Of course, candy is dandy but a good hotel is . . . well, swell.

Among the hotels offering Valentine’s Day deals, Ventura’s DoubleTree strikes a particularly romantic chord. The $125 package gets you a passel of chocolate-covered strawberries, a chilled bottle of champagne, a basket of lotions, oils and scented candles, and, of course, a room.

The basket could be a real conversation starter--for those who need coaxing. “It doesn’t come with instructions,” said Kent Zittlau, the DoubleTree’s operations manager.

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Height of Passion

Of course, some adventurous couples would rather climb into a basket themselves. For $125 a person, they can do just that with Hot Air Balloon Adventures in Simi Valley.

At a calm sunrise, the balloon lifts off for an hour, offering majestic vistas far above the madding crowd. Once back on terra firma, the balloon folks uncork a bottle of champagne for the passengers.

Last Valentine’s Day, one young man took his sweetheart aloft to propose to her, according to Hot Air Balloon Adventures’ Eric Drickersen.

“He was really nervous, and he tried to get down on one knee in the basket, but that didn’t work well,” Drickersen said. “He pulled out a ring. She was totally caught off guard. She was beside herself.”

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Love on the Run

For those with more earthbound tastes, February is appropriately singled out as “heart” month by the American Heart Assn., and the slate of festivities includes a scenic run/walk in downtown Ojai on Saturday.

Starting out from Sarzotti Park, the 5K runners hit the pavement at 8 a.m., followed by the 10K event at 8:45 a.m. and a one-mile family run at 8:55 a.m. Cost is $20 per event ($12 for kids under 18 and seniors over 62). The workout will get you a T-shirt, and you can stick around afterward for free munchies. (For information, call 445-7050.)

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Enchantment in the Air

For something less strenuous, a glimpse of enchantment is yours at the Peter Strauss Ranch near Agoura Hills. On Saturday, a docent will lead a 1 1/2-mile stroll around the grounds of the lush, long-closed resort, also known as Lake Enchanto. The Sierra Club event starts at 10 a.m. and runs two hours. Bring a picnic lunch and make a day of it. (For information, call [818] 707-8540.)

In its heyday more than half a century ago, the oak-canopied spread was a weekend playground for Southlanders. They danced under the stars to big band music. The swimming pool--once touted as the biggest west of the Rockies--was drained long ago. All in all, it’s a taste of faded glory--a romantic nod to a romantic past.

“It is enchanting,” said Daphne Elliott, who leads tours at the picturesque site. “We promise wildflowers. What more could you ask for on Valentine’s weekend?”

BE THERE

Call ahead--For information on singing valentines, call these three groups:

Channelaire Chorus, 487-0974; Harmony Oaks Barbershop Chorus, 526-1204; or the Ventura Chapter of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America, also known as the Channel Islands Clippers, 650-8879.