For the third year, The University of Alabama’s theater honor society Alpha Psi Omega is providing its Valentine-O-Gram service from Feb. 6 to Feb. 20.

Those interested can pay $10 for the performers of APO to deliver a gesture completely tailored to the client’s request. Satisfaction is guaranteed or the client gets their 10 dollars back, no questions asked. The funds raised from the Valentine-O-Grams will benefit The West Alabama AIDS Outreach nonprofit organization.

Patrick Croce, a senior majoring in Spanish and theatre, is helping to organize the Valentine-O-Grams.

“You pay $10, and you’ll get one of us [APO members] to go anywhere on campus to sing any song you want, recite any kind of poem you want, or do something silly for any person or group of people you want,” Croce said. “It’s all up to what you want.”

This year APO aims to increase their client satisfaction by venturing off-campus as well, for a higher fee for travel expenses. Prices will be adjusted based on how far the client’s preferred location is, Croce explained.

“It’s double the normal amount because we have to drive and all that stuff. That’s where the negotiable part comes in,” Croce said. “If there’s somebody in Northport in the middle of nowhere that says ‘Hey, I’d like one of these,’ it would naturally need to be at least a little bit more than ‘Hey, we’re at Moe’s.’ We could say negotiable $20 just to make it simple and flexible and easy.”

With the performances left completely to the decision of the customer, the actors and actresses involved with the Valentine-O-Grams anxiously await orders of songs, sonnets and silly acts to perform.

“I’m hoping to put a few love sonnets under my belt,” Samuel Hardy, a sophomore majoring in theater, said. “I love Valentine’s Day and in our culture today there’s a severe lack of Valentine’s Day spirit. There’s actually a lot of animosity, and I think that with the Valentine-O-Grams we’re spreading the message that by doing these sometimes really kooky things you don’t have to be bitter about Valentine’s Day.”

(See also “APO ends year with original production”)

The performers of APO are not shocked to see their Valentine-O-Grams are not only a hit with significant others, but are a trend with siblings and friends as well.

Gerard Jones, a sophomore majoring in Spanish and musical theatre, said for those not interested in Valentine’s Day at all, the Valentine-O-Grams can have an appeal.

“There’s something fun about it. It’s something different that you can look forward to because you have random people running around campus singing and reading poetry,” Jones said. “And even if you aren’t into Valentine’s and you don’t want to do a serious love song, you could do something different. Or you could be really weird and send one to somebody who knows you don’t like them.”

Growing in popularity, the Valentine-O-Grams program has several customer requests pending from students, faculty and staff and others.

“No one is safe from the love,” Croce said.

For Valentine-O-Gram requests, contact APO at [email protected].

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