By Misty Cryer
As many know, the Loving Post Office has long participated in a Valentine re-mailing program that allows people from everywhere to have Valentines with a postmark from a Valentine-named post office delivered to their sweethearts. But this year was special.
This year, the Valentine Village experienced an “over the top” expression of love prompted by Lonnie Anderson, who has been recognized by numerous news outlets due to his extravagant gestures to express his appreciation and love for his wife, Anne Bolger Witherspoon. As part of Lonnie’s surprise to his Valentine, two Loving couples celebrating 65 years of marriage this year were honored by the Albuquerque couple and Loving Mayor Rick Fuentes at Village of Loving City Hall on February 12.
The decorated hall was filled with community members and families of the honored couples, with Valentine’s treats lining the refreshment table. Mayor Fuentes opened the ceremony by offering thanks to Lonnie and Anne for wanting the village to be involved in “this tradition of theirs that they’ve started for Valentines.” He highlighted Valentine’s gestures the couple has been involved in “all over the world,” which can be discovered by internet search. “It’s just really neat,” he said.
Mayor Fuentes also thanked Robbie Chacon and Janice Rodriguez for being instrumental, and the girls who helped to facilitate the celebration, saying they always do a great job. “It’s all about the love that I have for this community,” he said, “It kind of falls in line with this.”
Lonnie took the stage and expressed his honor in visiting Loving. “I’m going to cry because you all are so wonderful,” he said. He shared a bit of background, saying he’s originally from the village of Wagon Mound. He spent time in an orphanage in Denver and was raised in foster homes in Wyoming. Later in life, he was able to reconnect with his grandmother in Wagon Mound. “The small towns that we’re raised in, they are a blessing,” he said, explaining that he graduated with a class of about 10 people. “They taught us everything. They taught us our values, they taught to love, they taught us everything that we need to know to go out in the world,” he said.
“I look today, and I think, oh my gosh, 65 years,” Lonnie said about the couples being honored. He introduced his wife, Anne, saying, “I have done Valentines for her all over the world. I had 80 countries from China, Russia, and Japan, and everywhere. Everybody held up signs that said, ‘I love Anne.’”
Anne said she and Lonnie had been together for about 25 years. “That means 25-plus Valentines. Each one is special, and they somehow keep getting bigger and bigger. He talks about Valentines around the world; I think it is just as special to be here,” she said. She shared that she wrote a report about the things she liked about New Mexico when she was a child. In the report, it says, “New Mexico has a town named Loving.” She thanked the audience for welcoming them to the village.
Mayor Fuentes said, “We will be honoring two of the couples from the community that live in the village or have been members of the village for some time and been married for 65 years,” which he said is unheard of. “I want to present you with this plaque on behalf of the Village of Loving, and I want to say may God bless you with many more years,” he said.
The couples honored in the “Celebration of Love and Community” were Frank and Nickey Chacon and Pablo and Maria Hernandez. Mayor Fuentes said it is a blessing to have couples like these in the community setting an example.
He said, “As part of the festivities today with regards to Lonnie and Anne, on behalf of the Village of Loving, with me as your mayor, I want to present Anne with the Key to the Village.” In addition to presenting the key, a street was temporarily renamed “I Love Anne Road.”
