BOWLING GREEN - Ali Thompson was busy in her family and consumer science class at Bowling Green High School, with students who were making cupcakes with white frosting and sprinkles and hearts for Valentine’s Day.

Then Jon Bell, J.P. Miller, and C.C. Snyder and his 16-year-old son Chase, dressed in dark suits with purple-striped ties, interrupted the lesson plan, handing her a rose and a card. 

And they began to sing.

Harmony is desired in any relationship, whether romantic, familial, or just general good feelings toward your fellow human — or pet. Drew Haslinger chose four-part harmony to add fuel to the fire of his love for Ms. Thompson, his fiancee. He hired the Voices of Harmony of Northwest Ohio to deliver a singing valentine on Tuesday.  

And so the the four men sang “Let me Call You Sweetheart” to the shocked teacher as students snapped photos with their phones. 

What will Ms. Thompson give to her fiance? Cupcakes, perhaps?

Voices of Harmony has been heading out on Valentine’s Day for 16 years, said Mr. Miller, the secretary of the chapter in Bowling Green. Teams of four have gone as far north as Temperance, as far west as Napoleon, east to Fremont, and as far south as Findlay, all in the name of love.

The in-person singing valentine cost $50, which this year included one song, a single red rose, and a personalized card. A singing valentine by phone cost $15. New this year were cupcakes, one champagne and strawberry and the other peanut butter chocolate.  

Of the 50 cupcakes, said Mr. Bell, the publicity director, 30 were made by Mr. Snyder’s wife, Chrissy.

Quartets have been sent to schools and retirement homes and hospitals, factories, banks, and many other places.

“We were sent to a veterinarian who just came out of surgery, and she still had bloody scrubs on,” Mr. Miller said.

Mr. Snyder, the director, recalled going to a warehouse. “Everyone had to wear hardhats,” he said.

The supervisor who let them into that facility wasn’t pleased, he said, until they told him they were there to serenade an employee. Some venues are informed that something unusual is going to happen; other employers are just as surprised as the recipient.

That was the case for the office staff at Bowling Green High School, and for another recipient there, Cara Maxey, a marketing instructor and adviser to DECA, formerly the Distributive Education Clubs of America.

She was in the cafeteria when, she said, “all I saw was four men in dark suits.” Her first thought was that there was some kind of trouble, given the high level of alert teachers are on these days. She didn’t notice their matching striped ties.

Then they handed her a rose and a card, and sang a second rendition of “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” as she was supposed to be in the shared classroom with Ms. Thompson. 

Ms. Maxey’s husband, Kirk, sent the message.

“We dated in high school, in Bowling Green High School. So I needed to come full circle,” she said.

Shawn Frick couldn’t tell you what song the Voices of Harmony team sang for him.

“I was completely overwhelmed,” Mr. Frick said during a phone interview. “It very beautiful and had lots of I love yous. But all I saw were these four men in matching suits.”

Mr. Frick, the assistant to the provost for career design at the Bowling Green State University McFall Center, said he could see the men outside his office and went to meet them, telling them that “I’m completely underdressed for this occasion.”

Mr. Frick said he was surprised to receive the song, the rose, the note, and a cupcake from his wife, Davida, because they had agreed not to do anything fancy for Valentine’s Day. But he was happy that she sent the Voices of Harmony to give him such a sweet surprise.

Barbara Blake, music educator at Lake Local Schools, thought perhaps her husband had forgotten her this year, as he had given her back-to-back singing valentines. But Mark Blake is a member of the chorus and was the lead of the 1996 International Barbershop Harmony Society champion quartet Yesteryear. He was not going to forget the group’s annual fund-raiser.

She used the opportunity to point out the various vocal parts of a barbershop quartet and gracefully received her rose, note, and cupcake, as the quartet sang “Heart of My Heart” and “Let me Call you Sweetheart.”

Bonnie Corder, teacher of those with hearing impairments at Oakdale Elementary School in Toledo, received her annual message from her mother and stepfather in her classroom. While the quartet sang “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” and “Heart of My Heart,” she signed the songs to her students.

Because Ms. Corder’s mom and stepfather live in California, Ms. Corder is going to give her mother what every mom yearns for: a phone call.

Love poems and songs have moved hearts for centuries. But, Mr. Miller said, it isn’t about the music.

“This takes a lot of thought and planning; it’s not going to the store and picking up a card,” Mr. Miller said.

“It’s the thought that counts.”

First Published February 14, 2023, 10:14 p.m.