DAYTON CLUB AT SCHMIDT HOME

Valentine Party Held at Residence of Prominent Couple – Many Novel Features Introduced.

            Mr. and Mrs. Henry Schmidt gave a valentine party Wednesday evening to the Dayton Homemakers’ Circle and their families, numbering about sixty. Their home was like a fairy bower, each room being most artistically festooned in green and white, with red hearts hanging daintily about. Each guest was presented with a festal cap, the gentlemen wearing the high-pointed tasseled ones, and the ladies turbans of many hues. They were very picturesque and added great merriment to the entire evening. All these decorations were the work of the skillful hands of Mrs. Schmidt.

            Miss Marie Schmidt played a very pretty piano solo, after which the time was devoted to merry making.

            All were requested to write a sentence, each word beginning with the successive letters in the word heart. The ladies prize was won by Miss Lillian Arentsen and the gentleman’s by Mr. Louis Belrose. Broken hearts which were mended, formed the words of some familiar songs and the holders of the fragments were required to sing the songs together. This brought to notice many voices that had never been before the footlights, conspicuously among them the rich tenor of Frank Beach as it rose and fell with feeling in “The Old Camp Ground.”

            The men’s contest in heart dice was won by Paul Schmidt, who made the entire word with one toss. His unusual skill is attributed to the military training of the Ottawa high school.

            The grab-bag created a search for the bleeding heart, which was found by Miss Olmstead, and her reward was a box of candy.

            To test the memory of the married man, the left hand of his one-time bride was held beneath a white curtain, where he might recognize the wedding ring. Only one man was equal to the task and he was quite newly wed.

            In the dining room hung the great cushioned heart covered with valentine hearts and each lady was taken before this blindfolded and given an arrow with which to pierce a heart. This bore the name of a man who came bravely forward, read the beautiful sentiment inscribed therein and claimed the lady for his Valentine, to share with him the feast which followed. Here nothing was omitted, from chicken salad to ice cream hearts. And amidst it all one heard the voice of Henry Schnidt as he softly whispered the motto on his candy heart.

            The cheer of the occasion made the old grow young, and even Charles Olmstead was heard to express the pleasure he had received from the companionship of youth.

            The Dayton Homemakers thank Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt for the royal manner in which they were entertained and the evening of February 14, 1917, will be one of the memories which never fade.