Sisterhood and friendship evident at Rockton Galentine's Day party

Up to 16 businesses in downtown Rockton opened their doors on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025 to a three hour Galentine's Day party celebrating the spirit of "sisterhood, friendship, and ladies celebrating ladies."

The first Rockton Galentine's Day party was held in February 2018, organized by Jodi May, former owner of Sugar Britches. This celebration has remained popular for the past eight years.

The concept of the event originated from an episode of the television show Parks and Recreation.

Frosted Farmhouse proved to be a popular spot where visitors warmed up as they hunted for various gift cards during a scavenger hunt by flashlight. Only secondary lighting guided participants.

“We had such a great time and evening in the shop,” Frosted Farmhouse owner Whitney Frost said. “We had over 100 customers who enjoyed looking for gift cards that were hidden throughout the store. The value of each ranged from $5 to $50.”

In Taylor and Max, all visitors received Jellycat stickers from Jellycat. Kiss Glass uniquely featured a “Seven Days of Love” Valentine's set.

Truly Treasured Gift n Thrift was the place to find novel gifts for Valentine's Day.

After the Vine is hosted a free wine tasting with their marketplace vendor with favorite wines at a discount.

Ric-Rac Embellishments lovingly welcomed ladies to the store and gave out twenty sparkly free gifts.

Rockton Garden Works, Pick-A-Dilly and Ric-Rac had discounts and refreshments.

Dairyhaus made a red velvet cheesecake ice cream in honor of the occasion.

Salli's Slots offered Galentine's themed drinks.

Instead of Sweetheart conversation hearts, shoppers at Sugar Britches discovered snarky chocolate dipped boozy strawberry marshmallow hearts, with messages such as "Next", "Can U Not," and "Nope."

Rockton Inn Pub & Grub gave options of a half price burger and a $5 glass of wine.

Dawn Heavilin, who has been to four of the Galentine's Day parties in Rockton, shares, “My favorite part of Galentine's Day is meeting with friends I haven't visited in a long time. We usually do some shopping in downtown Rockton and end our evening with a meal at the Rockton Inn Pub & Grub.”

DeeDee's Main Street Coffee and Decor welcomed ladies in to try coffee flights, and partnered with Buckets and Blooms for the creation of mini flowers and make n take Valentines.

DeeDee's owner Diana Weiser said, “Groups of gals were dressed up and looking to have fun at this year's Galentine's Day event. We had around 30 ladies who stopped in.”

Jill Rae Finally Art allowed shoppers to create make n take poppy pens or ceramic hearts. An artistic Valentine's themed photo backdrop was the perfect spot for friends to capture memories.

Katie Wagoner has been to three of the Rockton Galentine's parties. “I absolutely love that Rockton does this every year. It is such a great way for people to get together and to spread the love! My friend Kristen and I loved having coffee a DeeDee's and hunting for goodies at Frosted Farmhouse.”

“We also stopped at Rookie's to have dinner beforehand. This is such a fun way to support the local businesses, “Wagoner said.

Inside of Healing Touch Acupuncture & Herbal Medicine, Jena Biermann Channeling was fully booked with healing and Akashic record reading sessions. Biermann defines the Akashic records as "where all the information about our souls is stored, it is essentially an energetic library." Through her process, Biermann claims to tap into spiritual, emotional or physical aspects of someone's life.

Kathy O'Diereno led in mini astrology sessions. Free Tao Heart Chakra Healing cards proved to be an extra bonus. Lynch performed auricular acupuncture and had zodiac cards representing an individual's astrological sign.

Lynch's husband Leo Arce made flan, a sweet Mexican dessert, in different flavors and samples were a huge hit.

Inkwell Books and Threads opened their doors for astrology and Tao readings.

Janel Kuetnerr of Rockford reflected on the evening. “My daughter and I just enjoyed spending time together while doing different activities. We especially loved the crafts.”

Kuetnerr said,

“We started at Healing Touch Acupuncture. Rachel had delicious flan to taste as we made stone bracelets. We used gorgeous card stock to decorate. We loved listening to the tarot readings behind us.”

“We then headed down to Frosted Farmhouse where my daughter's hyper focus found us a gift card during the flashlight scavenger hunt. The adorable spread of pink and red sweets made the hunt even more fun. The store is delightful with an eclectic blend. I found a few little treasures while we were were hunting.”

“At the last minute we ended up sliding into Jill Rae Finally Art. The ladies there were so nice and stayed over so that we could make poppy pens together. My daughter thoroughly enjoyed doing this. They also had frosted Galentine's cookies that were too pretty to eat. We finished with a photo in their Galentine's booth.”

“This is our second time driving up to Rockton for the Galentin'e party and we are planning to come again next year. I love to support my friend Rachel Lynch at her business, along with other small business. This is such a fun event to celebrate the love ladies have with the other special ladies in their life! ”