Donna Spencer and Tracy Pruitt believe there isn’t a day more romantic or special than Valentine’s Day.

In the past three years, 66 couples made Valentine’s Day their wedding day by saying “I do” at the Register of Deeds office in Catawba County.

"People began calling us in December to find out if we were going to offer it again,"  said Catawba County Register of Deeds, Donna Spencer.

The elves filled their sacks in Santa's House, a circa-early 1900s home that is Santa's headquarters in Newton, where Santa Claus will be in residence for the next two Fridays.

For four years, Unifour families  enjoyed Santa Central, a Christmas tradition in downtown Newton.

In 2007,  organizers who helped create that event for Downtown Newton Development Association, decided to continue the holiday event in a new setting after DNDA moved away from sponsoring festivals like Santa Central.

Adrian Rice and Alyn Mearns – ‘The Belfast Boys’ – were born and raised in Belfast but didn't meet each other until 2005.

Rice and his wife, Molly, were browsing through the poetry section at Barnes & Noble. Occasionally, they exchanged comments. One aisle over, Alyn Mearns browsed through the books to find Rice's latest release.     “My dad gave me some dosh [Irish for money] to buy Adrian's book, The Mason’s Tongue,” Mearns said. “I knew he was from Northern Ireland and his poetry addressed Northern Irish issues I could relate to.”

Mearns heard Rice talking, walked up to him and said, “You're from Belfast.”

more about adrian rice

In 1999, as recipient of the U.S./Ireland Residency Exchange Bursary, Adrian Rice was Poet-in Residence at Lenoir-Rhyne College. With his charming Irish brogue, Rice explained that he thought he was coming to Harvard or Princeton. “I got word that I was going to Hickory,” he said. “All my friends slagged me off,” he said. “They asked me where Hickory is and started joking with me about Dolly Parton and cowboy poetry.” Schools, colleges and organizations were encouraged to book Adrian for poetry readings.