Well, it’s Valentine’s Day, and I am guessing that a number of you are just realizing this right now. No worries. I’ve got you covered — at least if your sweetheart likes tasty drinks, chocolate treats and shopping.

Our CITYVIEW staff has become quite skilled at putting on fun events. You may have been to a few of them in recent years including The Summer Stir events in East Village and Court Avenue; our Wine & Whiskey Walk at West Glen Town Center last fall; the 21 from 2021 event in Windsor Heights in November; the Fire & Ice event in Valley Junction in January; and our Best Of Des Moines event in Altoona just a few weeks ago — just to name a few.

Each of our events has a different theme, but the common goals are to introduce our readers to the products and services of local businesses and to create commerce.

Now back to Valentine’s Day. We created an event a few years ago called the Chocolate Walk as a way to celebrate the lovers’ holiday at West Glen area bars and restaurants. With the support of West Glen retailers, we were able to expand into an evening of chocolate-themed drinks, chocolate treats and some winter-weather shopping. It was a lot of fun, but we learned that the Valentine holiday is busy enough for most establishments and our attendees, too. So, with that mind, we moved the Chocolate Walk a few weeks later. That means you can buy your sweetie tickets to this event as a Valentine’s gift, and then enjoy your night on Feb. 25.

Here’s how it works. Purchase your $20 discounted tickets now at chocolatewalk.dmcityview.com and show up at West Glen Town Center at 5465 Mills Civic Parkway in West Des Moines on Friday, Feb. 25 from 5-9 p.m. Or you can wait and buy your tickets at the door for $30, but why not make this a Valentine’s gift now?

All attendees will receive 10 drink tickets that can be redeemed for sample cocktails at participating venues including BeerStyles, WineStyles, El Fogon, Wellman’s Pub, Club Envy, Anna Dolce, The Irish, and Shotgun Betty’s, as well as chocolate treats at participating retail stores including Hurts Donut and Vero Chiropractic.

If you really want to make a positive impression, make plans for dinner before or after the event, and maybe even stay the night at a nearby hotel. Yes, I’ve got you covered. Order your tickets now at chocolatewalk.dmcityview.com. You can thank me later.

Happy Valentine’s Day, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305

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CITYVIEW announced its 2022 Best Of Des Moines readers' choices Feb.1. You can find all the results from the poll in the February issue of CITYVIEW magazine!

Best Local Museum
1. Des Moines Art Center
2. Science Center of Iowa
3. State Historical Museum of Iowa

Budding romance:
Couples share how their relationships bloomed.

By Darren Tromblay

On top of The Hill
For Jerry and Randall Parkin of Winterset, 1007 E. Grand Ave. in Des Moines is a spectacularly special place.
The historic, golden-domed capitol building rests majestically on top of a hill, and, for the Parkins, it’s more than that — it’s the place where it all began.

Working in the Office For Planning and Programming one day in February of 1974, Jerry walked into one of the myriad offices within the building and happened to catch the eye of a young woman working with the governor’s scheduling and press assistants. Both were smitten. A few months and a handful of dates later, they knew they wanted to spend their lives together as a couple. It was time.

“We really didn’t think about it that much,” Jerry says, “and that’s probably the beauty of it. Things just felt right.”

[...]

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Happy Birthday to these celebrities: Freddie Highmore, Simon Pegg, Danai Gurira, Jake Lacy, Rob Thomas, Drew Bledso, Brett Dier, Jim Kelly, Jim Jefferies, Shane Harper, Teller, Tiffany Thornton

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