The weather this week broke in time for the business of love.
Curbside Valentine’s Day gift sellers popped up as fast as a spring fling in Columbus on Thursday. Most offer goodies in baskets wrapped in clear plastic. What goodies? The ones that signal affection, which is what we do today. This holiday began as a Christian tribute to a martyred saint named Valentinus. Now we use it to pay homage to our loved ones, often with gifts of teddy bears and chocolates, cheap perfumes and candies, balloons and plastic hearts. And that’s what these curbside entrepreneurs peddle.
There is one on Highway 45 North in front of a Asian restaurant. Another is on Main Street near the Salvation Army offices. One is set up on Highway 50 near Gardner Boulevard. On Alabama Street, there are two side-by-side near Wendy’s. One of those is run by Edna Ussery of Steens.
This is her fourth year to set up in that parking lot.
Among her inventory, displayed on two tables under a tent, are 200 goodie packages for sale. Prices begin at $5. Ussery’s baskets have it all, from sweets to toys to board games and cards.
Ussery opened shop at 6 a.m. Thursday and stayed 12 hours. This morning she got there at 6 and won’t leave until it’s all gone.
Sure, it’s a way to make a little money in February, but it’s a 12-month enterprise for Ussery, who buys items for her baskets year-round. She began assembling the baskets alone in her home in November, giving herself a three-month head start.
“That way I can take my time,” she said. “I’m not going to kill myself with a rush. It’s not an easy deal.”
Tonight when it’s over and the last basket has been sold, what will she give her husband, who she has been married to for two decades?
“Just a hug and kiss,” she said.
And what will he get her?
“Every year,” she said with a wide smile, “I get a steak from Old Hickory Steak House.”
William Browning was managing editor for The Dispatch until June 2016.
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