Dona Bonnett

Countdown to Valentine’s Day so there’s just one day left to purchase that special gift and card for your sweetheart. Here are some local ideas to help you with your shopping. If you’re looking for fresh flowers and chocolate, Mum & Me Mercantile is the perfect place. Little Cahaba Chocolates will be there this afternoon until 6:00 p.m. with their incredible handmade chocolate truffles. Valentine truffles this year include White Chocolate Raspberry, Rose Petals and Cardamom (white), Milk Chocolate Cherry, Milk Chocolate Biscotti, French Raspberry (dark) and Dark Hazelnut Espresso. These magnificent truffles are only available at holidays or special occasions. That’s a perfect mix with fresh flowers and gifts from Mum & Me for that special someone plus they have greeting cards! Mum has large glass vase arrangements, long stem roses as well as specialty arrangements. Their special Valentine’s Last-Minute Open House will be open until 6:00 p.m. tonight that includes beverages, special drawings, door prizes and gift wrapping. There’s also plenty of other shopping choices with the Shops of Grand River, LA Flowers & Boutique, the Pants Store and more. Hope you have a fabulous Valentine’s Day!

Earlier this week, we celebrated Clean Out Your Computer Day. I definitely can benefit from this, because I tend to save everything on my computer. This is a good time to delete old e-blasts and email that I no longer need and archive old emails from my Outlook profile that I want to keep. It’s also a good time to make sure that backups have been made of all your important information that needs to be kept indefinitely against loss and to delete old files that are no longer relevant or needed. This regular process not only keeps our computers and work more organized, but our devices should work more efficiently without a lot of unnecessary junk.

Please remember that the Woman’s Literary Club of Leeds is collecting gently used or new books for Preschool through second grade readers to benefit the students of Leeds Primary School now through the end of Apr. The goal is for each student to receive a book to take home for summer reading along with other reading resources. Please clean out those book shelves, closets and bring your donated books to drop off boxes located in Leeds Library, Millennial Bank lobby, Regions Bank lobby and Leeds Family Eye Care. Woman’s Literary Club of Leeds member can be reached at 205-903-8346

Leeds Alzheimer’s Dementia Monthly Support Group will meet at 6:30 p.m. tonight, Feb. 13 at The Episcopal Church of the Epiphany hosted by Lakeside Hospice.

Join St. Theresa Catholic Church of Leeds for a Valentine Dinner and Dance tomorrow night, Feb. 14 from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. This event, catered by Savoie, is open to the public and is sure to be a crowd pleaser. There will be live music by The Second Chance Band and party attire is suggested. For ticket information, call (205) 542-0671 or (205) 602-8451. Tickets are $45 each, and any profit from this event will be donated to The Red Barn, an organization that helps children with disabilities through equestrian services.

The Leeds Arts Council presents The Women, a comedy play, by Clare Boothe Luce with performances beginning tomorrow night, Feb. 14 and will continue through Sunday, Feb. 23. Three Broadway productions and two movies have been based on this play with community theater productions too numerous to count. Director Suellen Wilkins has been in four of them herself! For reservations, call (205) 699-1892 and tickets are $10 each.

Leeds Arts Council will conduct auditions for Sherlock Holmes Saturday through Tuesday, Feb. 15-18. Roles for 7 men, 5 women, plus extras. Ages 8 years through adult. Come prepared to read from the script. Performances of this play are scheduled for Apr. 2-4. For information, call (205) 699-1892.

Bethel Baptist Church will host a Daddy Daughter Date Night this Sunday, Feb. 16 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. The cost is $10 per person and includes dinner, dessert, crafts, photos and memories! Register at bethelnet.com/events.

Mosaic Chapel is a new church opening this Sunday, Feb. 16 at Leeds Elementary School and they look forward to meeting you and your family. If you would like to be on the ground level of starting something new in Leeds, you will not want to miss this event. Service begins at 10:00 a.m. For more information, visit www.mosaicchapel.net.

Men, join the First Baptist Church of Leeds for a great night of Cajun food and fellowship, and, also, hear from Five-Time State Championship Coach Keith Etheredge! Everything is free of charge but a ticket is required. Tickets are available in the church office or from any FBC Leeds church member. Get your free ticket today and attend this Sunday, Feb. 16 at 5:00 p.m.

Monday, Feb. 17, we will celebrate Presidents Day. This day was originally established in the 1800’s to honor President George Washington and evolved in a holiday to celebrate all Presidents. We are very proud of our current President Donald Trump and all of his accomplishments to bring our country forward. Whether you like him or not and whether you believe it or not, he has done so much to bring prosperity back to America. I’m proud to call him our President.

Moody Lions Club will meet at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 17 at White’s Chapel.

Moody Kiwanis Club is scheduled for Noon on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at Moody City Hall.

Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce Corporate Ambassadors will meet at Noon on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at Leeds First United Methodist Church Family Life Center. Lunch is $10 and RSVP to Sandra McGuire at (205) 965.9392.

Breakfast for the Brave will be served at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20 at Eden Westside Baptist Church River Campus for all first responders including area police, fire and city workers. Come by for a free breakfast.

Leeds Area Chamber of Commerce is proud to present Tax Law Changes with the SECURE Act with speaker, Karen Moore with Pearce, Bevill, Leesburg, Moore, P.C., on at 11:45 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 20 at St. Theresa Catholic Church Parrish Life Center. Lunch is $12 with RSVP and $15 without RSVP and non-members. Call (205) 965.9392 to reserve your seat to receive vital information that can impact your personal and business tax returns.

Join Leeds Jane Culbreth Library at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Mar. 1 as they discuss Elton John’s first and only official autobiography. Music icon Elton John reveals the truth about his extraordinary life from his rollercoaster lifestyle as shown in the film Rocketman to becoming a living legend. For more information on this and many other events hosted by the library, please call (205) 699-6952

Thought for the Week: The harder you work for something, the greater you will feel when you achieve it.

I thoroughly enjoy sharing information, news and calendar items with you each week and I thank you for reading my column. Please remember to send any news to me at leedsmoodynews@gmail.com and have a great week!