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The fragrant smell of flowers kissed the air like flower petals touching the skin Monday morning at Designs by John in Newton as country music wafted in the background.
Here, workers and owner John Back were busy preparing flowers to be delivered as tokens of love.
Yes, it was Valentine’s Day, a day where love reigns and flower shops are quite busy.
Back agreed it’s their busiest day of the year.
“This has been a crazy year,” Back said while preparing a rose bouquet ordered by a man stationed in Iraq. “We’ve sold a lot more mixed bouquets than ever.”
Mixed bouquets, like the name implies, can contain a variety of flowers, such as roses, lilies and carnations — whatever the customers want. A lot of their business this Valentine’s Day has come from orders off the Internet.
“We’ve done a lot of Web site stuff,” Back said, adding the store has two Web sites.
The store was prepared for the rush.
“We worked all day yesterday to get ahead, which is a good deal,” he said.
The store typically fills several hundred orders and goes through a couple thousand roses and other flowers on Valentine’s Day, Back said.
“(We have) seven vans out there running today (making deliveries),” Back said.
Flower shop workers aren’t the only ones busy on this annual holiday. A variety of groups, including Sound of the Heartland Chorus, a women’s a cappella group, were out delivering singing Valentine grams. At about 11:45 a.m. Monday, four members of Sound of the Heartland made a stop at Newton Medical Center, singing at the entrance of the cafeteria.
“We’re just trying to create some ambiance here,” member Rachel Newell said.
They sang one song near the Case Management Caring Closet table, which was selling Valentine’s Day heart-shaped sugar cookies for a donation for the Closet, while medical employees looked on, smiling and clapping.
“(The Caring Closet) operates by donation only and is portioned out based on an emergent need that cannot be met by other charitable organizations,” a Caring Closet poster stated.
“With this fund, we help patients with medication, food and clothing (and) some minimal utility assist,” said Robyn Kitterman, secretary for the Case Management Department at Newton Medical Center.
On Monday, some people donated money to the Caring Closet while others brought clothing, Kitterman said.
After one song, Sound of the Heartland was on to their next gig.
“We’re going to schools ... retirement homes ... individual homes ... physician offices,” Newell said.
In addition to doing singing Valentine grams, Sound of the Heartland does this for another occasions, such as anniversaries and birthdays. For more information, call the chorus phone line at (316) 683-1812 or visit www.soundoftheheartland.com.
The fragrant smell of flowers kissed the air like flower petals touching the skin Monday morning at Designs by John in Newton as country music wafted in the background.
Here, workers and owner John Back were busy preparing flowers to be delivered as tokens of love.
Yes, it was Valentine’s Day, a day where love reigns and flower shops are quite busy.
Back agreed it’s their busiest day of the year.
“This has been a crazy year,” Back said while preparing a rose bouquet ordered by a man stationed in Iraq. “We’ve sold a lot more mixed bouquets than ever.”
Mixed bouquets, like the name implies, can contain a variety of flowers, such as roses, lilies and carnations — whatever the customers want. A lot of their business this Valentine’s Day has come from orders off the Internet.
“We’ve done a lot of Web site stuff,” Back said, adding the store has two Web sites.
The store was prepared for the rush.
“We worked all day yesterday to get ahead, which is a good deal,” he said.
The store typically fills several hundred orders and goes through a couple thousand roses and other flowers on Valentine’s Day, Back said.
“(We have) seven vans out there running today (making deliveries),” Back said.
Flower shop workers aren’t the only ones busy on this annual holiday. A variety of groups, including Sound of the Heartland Chorus, a women’s a cappella group, were out delivering singing Valentine grams. At about 11:45 a.m. Monday, four members of Sound of the Heartland made a stop at Newton Medical Center, singing at the entrance of the cafeteria.
“We’re just trying to create some ambiance here,” member Rachel Newell said.
They sang one song near the Case Management Caring Closet table, which was selling Valentine’s Day heart-shaped sugar cookies for a donation for the Closet, while medical employees looked on, smiling and clapping.
“(The Caring Closet) operates by donation only and is portioned out based on an emergent need that cannot be met by other charitable organizations,” a Caring Closet poster stated.
“With this fund, we help patients with medication, food and clothing (and) some minimal utility assist,” said Robyn Kitterman, secretary for the Case Management Department at Newton Medical Center.
On Monday, some people donated money to the Caring Closet while others brought clothing, Kitterman said.
After one song, Sound of the Heartland was on to their next gig.
“We’re going to schools ... retirement homes ... individual homes ... physician offices,” Newell said.
In addition to doing singing Valentine grams, Sound of the Heartland does this for another occasions, such as anniversaries and birthdays. For more information, call the chorus phone line at (316) 683-1812 or visit www.soundoftheheartland.com.
