After many years of proudly serving the Galion community, Pat and Ron Roston decided to retire earlier this summer and sell their well-known local business.

Toni’s Flower Shop, located on South Market Street, was owned by the couple for many years and has a family legacy going back decades.

Russell Roston and his wife, Toni, opened the original store in 1958 and operated the business until 1985, when their daughter, Sandra Chramek, and her husband, Clyde, took over.

About 15 years later, Pat and Ron Roston took the helm. All in all, Toni’s lasted 65 years within the family.

And it truly became a family affair. Ron Roston’s brother, Dan, began as a designer back in 1970. Siblings Terry, Linda, Rick, and Marcia also all worked at the shop.

Some of their fondest memories came “working together at holiday time.”

“If we were busy, everyone all chipped in and helped,” Pat Roston told the Inquirer. “It definitely was a family thing.”

The new owners are familiar with the industry, too. Ayesha Manley worked several years for the Rostons. She and her boyfriend, Ethan Ackerman, recently bought Toni’s and have renamed it Blossoms and Gifts. A ribbon-cutting occurred in July.

A staple in the Galion community, the original shop owners supported the Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce and local schools, among other entities.

“We kind of fell into it at first, and the next thing you know, we are buying a business,” Pat Roston, a Galion native, explained. “We appreciate all the people who kept us going. If not for them, we wouldn’t have kept going. They’re good customers, and we wanted to thank our customers.”

In retirement, the couple will enjoy time with their grandkids and also plans to travel to places like Las Vegas and Niagara Falls.

A.J. Kaufman is a correspondent for the Galion Inquirer.