Treats for loved ones keeps candy shop extra busy

Cupid's candy-making counterparts were busy, busy, busy Friday at Graham's Chocolates in Geneva.

At lunchtime, the customers were lined up 26 deep placing orders for sweets for their sweeties for Valentine's Day. The smell of chocolate permeated the air.

"We always get Graham's Chocolates for special occasions," said Dan Bielenberg of Geneva, ticking off birthdays, anniversaries, good grades and teacher appreciation among the occasions. "They're pretty much the best."

His lucky wife will get truffles and coconut haystacks, handmade at the store.

Graham's, which also has a shop in Wheaton, does accommodate special requests. Last year, someone had an engagement ring placed on a piece of chocolate-covered pretzel rod, which was then propped up in a chocolate box whose interior popped the question.

Earlier this week, a man placed a special order - a plaque-style chocolate bar decorated with hand-formed candy roses, bearing the inscription "Will you marry me?" Word is he intended to propose at the shop today, said Jayni Smith, daughter of the owner and the shop's resident candy calligrapher.

The line moves about twice as slow for Valentine's Day as it does for Christmas, said shop owner Bob Untiedt. At Christmastime, people just buy an assortment, often prepackaged. But for Valentine's Day, "Everyone is buying for someone who has a specific favorite," he said, whether it is nut-laden skalies or a Tahitian vanilla truffle. "How cool that they know the person that well!"