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10 couples get chance to dine with Cupid at Corner Stop Eatery
Cupid in Ripon  page 4
Cupid, Christopher Arends, 7, and his mom Carley of the Corner Stop Eatery restaurant in Ripon are ready for their Valentines Eve dinner on Thursday, Feb. 13. Couples are going to get a chance to have a photograph with Cupid before they leave the restaurant. - photo by GLENN KAHL/The 209

Imagine a real live Cupid having dinner with you and your love at a special Valentine’s Dinner Thursday night at a Ripon restaurant.

It’s a dinner, by the way, limited to 10 couples.

Cupid is the 7-year-old son of Mike and Carley Arends of the Corner Stop Eatery in downtown Ripon.

A sea of red balloons will cover the floor as diners walk in the door at 7 p.m.  The Corner Four Barbershop Quartet led by Chuck Roots has been retained to provide early evening entertainment for the crowd believed to be in the 40s to 70s age groups.

There will be photo ops with Cupid in one corner of the restaurant with a gratis color print offered to the customers.  Following the barbershop quartets’ presentations, music will be provided for the remainder of the evening.

The menu starts off with homemade minestrone soup followed by a main course of homemade raviolis with ricotta cheese.  The dessert is going to be a welcomed surprise.   The cost is $16 per person a portion of which is going toward the Second Harvest Food Bank in Manteca.

Adding a little more depth to the evening, each person will be given a sheet of paper and asked to write a brief recollection of how the two of them met with some of the more exciting details.  From those wishing to participate, the letters representing the 10 couples will be read to the diners and voted upon by others for the most romantic story choice. 

Carley has been an enthusiastic event planner since she was very young.

 “My grandma and I did tea parties since I was six or seven years old.  It all started with aunts and grandmothers and then I got to invite a friend,” she said.  “One year we did a theme of all purple and silver with silver poinsettias.  Later we did a polka dot theme at Christmas.”

Since the restaurant opened in August she has presented a number of special teas and dinners with her husband Mike, the latest being “Beat Winter Blues Away” celebrating National Tea Month.  A Valentine Tea today celebrates the American Heart Association’s need for support.  It will offer teas, finger foods and treats at $12 per person.

On Feb. 17, the restaurant recognizes the National Random Acts of Kindness Day when they will ask their clientele to treat a friend or a stranger to dinner.

Since the restaurant opened six months ago, it has hosted numerous women’s groups for their special gatherings during the evening hours when they are normally closed.

The restaurant is located at 102 W. Main St. in Ripon. For reservations call 599-5104.