City honors 6-year-old Valentine star

BY Ariana Shah

Six-year-old Hadlee Card was just trying to exchange Valentine’s cards with other Canyon Lake kids when the effort exploded and became a Canyon Lake event. The City of Canyon Lake noticed. Hadlee was recognized as Canyon Lake’s Citizen of the Month for March.

“I was so shocked to get the award, I didn’t know that I did something special,” Hadlee said afterward. “I’m happy I made everyone happy.”

Hadlee Card holds her Citizen of the Month certificate after the Canyon Lake City Council meeting last week.

With the help of her mother, Sarah Card, and Facebook, Hadlee was able to create a mass exchange of Valentine’s Day cards in the community. The Facebook group expanded to over 200 children.

Participants were asked to place a box on their porch so that the exchange could be done while following social distance measures. Many children decorated their own porch boxes. Participants delivered their cards between Feb. 12 and Feb. 14.

“I really wanted to send Valentines to the kids at school, but with COVID-19, my school was shut down,” Hadlee said. “But when we made this group, my friends kept on sharing with friends, and the group became huge. I’m just so happy.”

City of Canyon Lake Mayor Kasey Castillo presents Hadlee Card with the city’s March Citizen of the Month Award at the city council meeting last week. Photos by Sarah Card

Sarah created the Facebook group one night and when she woke up the next morning group had taken off.

“I really thought it was just going to be our friends in the group…like 40-some people,” she said. “Not 200!”

The Canyon Lake City Council wanted to acknowledge Hadlee’s effort to bring the community’s children together at Valentine’s Day.

Sarah credits all of the work to her daughter.

“Besides the typing, Hadlee did a lot of this and it was her idea as well,” Sarah said. “I’m just so proud of her. What made this special was that she didn’t realize she was doing something special. It just came from the kindness of her heart.”

Sarah and Hadlee are hoping to organize another Facebook group for Easter next month.