Wheel of the Year the last month of the old year and the first month of the new year and is followed by eleven days of extended celebration. In Roman traditions additional festivities take place during the six days leading up to Midwinter. As the first cross-quarter day following Midwinter this day falls on the first of February and traditionally marks the first stirrings of spring. It aligns with the contemporary observance of Groundhog Day. It is time for purification and spring cleaning in anticipation of the year's new life. In Rome, it was historically a shepherd's holiday, while the Celts associated it with
The Valentine his collection of art and artifacts, the 1812 John Wickham House and a $50,000 endowment. Their collection of art and artifacts was the foundation of the exhibitions, when the Valentine Museum opened in 1898. Part of the original intent of the founding of the museum was to display these archeological artifacts in perpetuity, after the family was embarrassed by an archeological hoax in North Carolina. When it opened, the Valentine Museum was the first private museum in the City of Richmond Mann S. Valentine II's brother Edward Virginius Valentine also had an interest in history and was a well-known sculptor.