"Send Gayle a Valentine" Winners 
by Gayle Haarr

We recently held a "Send Gayle a Valentine" contest. This was a short contest: it started the Friday before Valentine's Day and it ended five days later. I would like to thank everybody who sent me a Valentine. Before I announce the winners, let me explain why we, actually Andrew and Cajun, decided to have this contest. 

All this began because I had received a few nice pieces of mail from men who have been browsing our web pages and decided to drop me a line. I am referring to the men who were not requesting pinup pictures. They were nice men telling me not to give into these piggish requests. The spark that actually ignited Cajun and Andrew was one very nice note that I received the week before Valentine's day. This gentleman was telling me to ignore these guys, Andrew and Cajun that is. He referred to them as dogs. He even went on to tell me that I shouldn't conform to the stereotypical supermodel expectations that are placed on today's women. They thought this man was sucking up, but I felt it was just a polite person sharing his opinion and saying "Hello." Heck, why wouldn't I like this guy? He put me on a pedestal and called my co-workers canines. This got Andrew and Cajun thinking that it might be fun to see what kind of other interesting mail I would get. And that is how the "Send Gayle a Valentine" contest was created. 

The winners were pretty easy to pick. I guess that is because I didn't get that many Valentines. Also, none of the others really struck me as memorable. I had my choice of three ninth graders who are telling me not to tell their girlfriends that they are sending Valentines to others women. Then there was the guy imitating Beavis and Butthead. Also, there were a couple of rude Valentines (you know, indecent stuff). Well, I can tell you guys that is not exactly the way to win over a girl's heart on Valentine's Day -- at least not this girl. 

I did get a few very nice plain and simple hello's from guys just wishing me a happy Valentine's day. One guy told me he liked my shoes, and another guy told me to say "Hi" to my dog for him. Lastly, I got a guy who told me I should not have to deal with Cajun and Andrew ridiculing me on the web. Thanks to all of you guys! 

Third Place

The third place winner was Dave. He sent me just a really sweet little note. Watch out women he seems like the smooth talking type. Thanks Dave! 

       Dear Gayle,

       How does one begin? The first sight I ever had of you and you looed right into my heart...
       I could never send you a valentine that could equal that.

       -- Dave.... 

Second Place

The second place Valentine came from Rover the Wonder dog. He found my soft spot, dogs. Especially now that I have a puppy of my very own, I am a sucker. I applaud Rocky for his Rover the Wonder dog poem. What more could a girl ask for on Valentine's Day than a man to spend a few minutes to write and send her a poem? How romantic!!! Thank you, Rover or Rocky, or whatever you want to call yourself. 

       Dear Valentine, 

       My name is Rocky and if you'll be my beauty...I'll be your beast. 

       My eyes are brown and understanding. My hair is soft and clean.
       I'd love to snuggle and nibble your ears, if you'd be my Queen. 

       -- Rocky 

After I checked out this guys web page I discover that Rocky is not a man after all, he's a pet raccoon! Well, you are certainly one smart little raccoon, Rocky. That is the first a Valentine I've ever received from from a raccoon. I am now a little confused as to the Rover the Wonderdog thing, but it was cute. Thanks for the Valentine! 

First Place

Well, here we go, the moment you have all been waiting for. The top Valentine's Day winner is Andrew A Radin. Coincidentally, he is a fellow Rochesterian! No, I have never met him so this is not a rigged contest. He won because he created me my very own web page for Valentine's Day. He sent me an e-mail stating that he had created it a few days before Valentine's day, and to check it out. He also told me that it was going to be a secret until the big day because it was password protected. This definitely piqued my curiosity because I made a many unsuccessful attempts at guessing the password. So, I was unable to sneak a peak before Valentine's Day. The other nice thing about the super secret password was that it only allowed me to read it. 

His interactive Valentine's web page for me consisted of a poem, a song, and a homemade card. The poem was good, but I think he should stick to his web page design. I don't think Hallmark is going to see this work and give him a job offer. ;) It did make me laugh, which is always a good thing. 

Unfortunately, we could not get the song to play! So, those weeks of voice classes were all for nothing. However, when he meets his true Valentine he can sing her a serenade and it will sound beautiful! I would love to know what the song was so if anybody can get it to play can you send me the words? Thanks! 

The card was cute! Simple and right to the point. I still don't think that Hallmark is going to give Andrew Radin a call, unless they need help designing their web pages. I have to admit I have never had my face stuck on a card before. 

Well, thanks Andrew for putting all that effort and time together to send me an interactive Valentine. Congratulations on being our Valentine's Day contest first prize winner. If you would like to check out my Valentine page just click away. http://www.rit.edu/~aar4623/gayle.html The super secret password, if you need it is lovebunny. I decided to share it with all of you. 

I would like to thank everybody who took the time to send me a Valentine. I hope you all had a very nice Valentine's day. 

Ed Note: When Gayle isn't running from all of these guys, she's walking her dog. She always walks the dog. Day in, day out. In the morning, in the evening, and all day on the weekends.