Celebrating friendships: Area women taking part in ‘Galentine’s Day’ activities
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Kathryn’s Victorian Venue in Waynesburg is hosting a Galentine’s Day tea party. The fictional holiday, inspired by an episode of “Parks and Rec,” has caught on and celebrates women’s friendships.
by Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Kathryn’s Victorian Venue in Waynesburg is among the places hosting Galentine’s Day events.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Kathryn’s Victorian Venue is celebrating Galentine’s Day with a tea party and brunch. The “holiday” celebrates gal pals and women’s friendships.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Kathryn’s Victorian Venue readies for its Galentine’s Day tea party. The event, inspired by a “Parks and Rec” episode celebrating women’s friendship, includes a luncheon.
Karen Mansfield/Observer-Reporter
Galentine’s Day, a holiday about “ladies celebrating ladies,” is held on Feb. 13, and Kathryn’s Victorian Venue is hosting a Galentine’s Day event in Waynesburg on Friday and Saturday, in recognition of the occasion.
There’s Valentine’s Day.
And then, there’s Galentine’s Day.
Held Feb. 13, Galentine’s Day is a day that celebrates the joys of female friendships.
The unofficial holiday traces its roots to a 2010 episode of “Parks and Rec,” where the unfailingly optimistic Leslie Knope gathers her gal pals for a breakfast of waffles, frittatas and mimosas to celebrate their sisterhood.
“Every Feb. 13, my ladyfriends and I leave our husbands and our boyfriends at home, and we just come and kick it, breakfast-style. Ladies celebrating ladies,” Knope says in the episode. “It’s like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus frittatas.”
In the years since the episode aired, the fictional holiday has caught on – Galentine’s greeting cards, balloons, banners, confetti clothes are readily available at stores and online.
And, to mark ladies’ friendships, Kathryn’s Victorian Venue in Waynesburg is hosting a Galentine’s Day Tea today and Saturday.
“I just love the concept. I just love the idea that, yes, we should celebrate our female friendships, too,” said owner Pamela Marisa.
Marisa said she hadn’t heard about Galentine’s Day until her two daughters, who live in Philadelphia, suggested she host a Galentine’s Day event.
“I said, ‘What is that?'” said Marisa. “And then I found out what it was and I thought, what an incredible thing to celebrate.”
Greene County residents Linda Madlock and her friend, Marion Berryhill, both retired English teachers, plan to attend the Galentine’s tea Saturday.
“I think friendship is a very important aspect of our lives,” said Madlock, who has been friends with Berryhill for more than 30 years. “I think we turn to our girl friends, as well as our family, at times of happiness or sadness.”
Madlock said her long friendship with Berryhill has been fulfilling, and they enjoy talking about world events, fashions, authors and books.
Madlock also wasn’t familiar with the “holiday,” and at first thought Kathryn’s Victorian Venue had misspelled “Valentine’s Day.”
Southpointe Golf Club, too, is hosting a Galentine’s Day event today, complete with shopping, entertainment, raffles, hors’ oeuvres and a signature cocktail.
But, women don’t have to gather in-person to celebrate their friendships.
Former North Strabane Township resident Andrea Grosso and about 10 of her sorority sisters from Clarion University of Pennsylvania organized a long-distance soiree – a Galentine’s Day Zoom happy hour.
Grosso, too, didn’t know what Galentine’s Day was until this year, but is embracing the event.
“It’s a day to appreciate each other, and reinforce our friendship and appreciate each other,” said Grosso, who is in charge of the plans “We just want to have fun and show our affection.”
The important thing isn’t where girlfriends meet up; what matters is recognizing those friendships.
As Leslie Knope says, “We need to remember what’s important in life: friends, waffles, work. Or waffles, friends, work. Doesn’t matter, but work is third.”