Need a last-minute valentine?

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If four lovely women show up on your doorstep today and begin singing "Cuddle Up a Little Closer, Lovey Mine," one might be Mary Sexton.

The 61-year-old Lancaster Township woman has been singing with Red Rose City Chorus, a chapter of Sweet Adelines International, for nearly 24 years. She's the group's team coordinator.

Each year for the past 10 years, members of the chorus have formed barbershop quartets to deliver singing valentines on Valentine's Day.

They serenade sweethearts, mothers, daughters, husbands, wives, children. They've sung for the mayor and Lancaster city employees. They will travel anywhere in Lancaster County — an office, barn (we will get back to that later), nursing home, house.

"It's been an honor to sing for a lot of people," she said. "I love doing the valentines. I'm not sure there's a better day around."

The chapter charges $50 per visit. The recipient gets two songs, a rose, a card and a digital photo to commemorate the moment. The money goes to support Red Rose City Chorus.

It's not too late to place a last-minute order today.

So far, Sexton said, no one has used the services to propose, but she has witnessed some tender and comedic moments.

In one mammoth office, the quartet — after getting permission from the supervisor, of course — walked to the valentine's cubicle.

"The office is the most embarrassing place to do it," Sexton said.

"We sang 'Cuddle up a Little,' and it was almost like a calliope, or like the Whack the Mole game — heads in the cubbies would pop up and then down," she said.

And when they finished, none of the man's co-workers stood, but the whole room applauded.

Once, they serenaded a man in a milk barn.

When he stood up, she said, the milk stool was still attached to "his butt." He apparently attaches the stool to himself, so he can move swiftly from one cow to the next.

When the ladies finished, he said to them, "Wow, I've never experienced anything like this."

Then he just went on to the next cow.

One of Sexton's favorite moments was singing a valentine to a 90-year-old woman in a nursing home. The woman's daughter, who was in California, arranged the visit.

Sexton gets a little misty-eyed talking about it.

"I'm such a mush," she said.

Most people who receive a singing valentine react in three ways, she said.

First: tears.

Second: "I can't believe you are doing this to me."

And, finally: "absolute delight."

Even the ones whose cheeks turn red wind up loving it.

"Singing soothes the savage beast," Sexton said. "It lifts you up. It makes your heart swell."

Mary, or Mary Catherine as her family calls her, is the ninth of 10 children and was born in the old St. Joe's Hospital in the city. She has faithfully attended St. Mary's Catholic Church at South Prince and West Vine streets her whole life.

It's also where she discovered her singing talent. She began singing when she was a fourth-grader at St. Mary's parochial school.

Sexton and her husband of 41 years, Joe, have four children. Joseph, 40, lives in Lancaster. Julie, 38, lives in Downingtown. They adopted their 14-year-old son, David, when he was 9; and they also have a foster son, Jacob, who is 17.

David jokes that his parents got recycled.

The couple has 10 grandchildren.

Mary, a 1965 graduate of Lancaster Catholic High School, was fortunate, she said, to have been able to stay at home and raise the family.

She takes care of children in her home to supplement the family income. Her husband is a construction inspector for an engineering firm.

But don't think she just sits around. That's not Mary. That's not Mary at all.

The family is certified as an emergency intake home for foster care.

And she sings with the choir at church, at weddings, at funerals.

She was singing at a wedding when a woman heard her voice and invited her to join the Sweet Adelines. The woman was the grandmother of one of the children who Sexton baby-sat.

"She bugged me and bugged me," Sexton said.

Eventually, the very busy Mary was persuaded, and is glad she was.

Sweet Adelines International is a worldwide organization of women singers.

The chorus sings a cappella barbershop four-part harmony; the local chapter has 50 members. The chorus also is for hire for events such as fundraisers and to sing at nursing homes.

Over the years, Sexton has held various group leadership positions, including regent, the leader of Sweet Adeline chapters over a five-state region.

"It's a sisterhood," she said. "I was hooked."

If you'd like to order a last-minute singing valentine, call Mary Jeanne at 392-3204.

The group's Web site is www.redrosecitychorus.org.

E-mail: rmeadows@lnpnews.com or call 481-6025