High Five

5 Hallmark Movie Plots That Should Totally Happen in the Valley

the Chippewa Valley is basically made for a Hallmark movie ...

Rebecca Mennecke |

Photo courtesy of Creative Commons
Photo: Creative Commons

TEASING AT A TREE FARM. If you’ve seen even one (1) Hallmark movie, you know that tree farms appear in Every. Single. Film. And here in the Chippewa Valley, we have no shortage of cute lil’ tree farms: Pleasant Valley, Lowes Creek, Conklin, and more. Hey, even your neighbors probably have a cool tree in their backyard. I’m not saying get an axe and go at it Clark Griswold-style, but …


Photo courtesy of Noël Productions in Osseo
Photo: Noël Productions

RED-NOSED WITH REINDEER. Most Hallmark movies have that iconic snowy scene in which a shiny new carriage pulled by full-on Clydesdale horses appear out of nowhere. Because that totally happens in real life. But you know what does make sense? Reindeer. In a holiday rom-com. And why not cast people who actually know what they’re talking about, like Noël Productions in Osseo, who have been raising reindeer their whole dang lives?


Photo courtesy of Andrea Paulseth
Photo: Andrea Paulseth

COZY UP IN A COFFEE SHOP. Every Hallmark movie has a side character who works at a coffee shop and knows all the tea. (No pun intended.) That’s cool and all, except nowhere has cool coffee shops quite like the Valley. Couldn’t you picture it in Racy’s or even Kahvi Coffee House? C’mon, with a name like “The Raw Deal,” you’re just asking for a Hallmark script.


Photo courtesy of Andrea Paulseth
Photo: Andrea Paulseth

GET THE PUN GAME GOING. Mingle All the Way. Love At First Bark. Fir Crazy. These are just a few of the (absolutely awful) titles of actual Hallmark movies. Have you ever read a Volume One article? We’re masters of the pun game: A-glaze-ing Creations. Let it Dough. Ale in a Day’s Work. Not that we could do it better, but we could totally pull off a better title. How about Cozy at the Confluence? Has a nice ring to it, eh?


Photo courtesy of Andrea Paulseth
Photo: Andrea Paulseth

LOVEBIRDS AT THE LOCAL STORE. Oh come on, you know it would be the perfect setup: your favorite ’90s actress you almost forgot existed, a local author (probably B.J. Hollars) perusing the book aisle, flickering locally made candles, and – wait a minute, the doorbell chimes: in waltzes in a handsome thirty-something right into the arms of your favorite V1 staffer/contributor!