The Kiwanis Club of Galion can help folks looking for gifts for Mother’s Day, which falls on Sunday, May 9 this year.
The club is once again hosting its annual Mother’s Day Rose Sale. Club President Miranda Jones said area residents can purchase a dozen roses for $20 from any Kiwanis Club member between now and Monday, May 3. The roses will be ready for pick-up on Wednesday, May 5.
The Flower Cart Florist, 531 Harding Way West in Galion, supplies the roses for the sale and club members annually engage in a good-hearted game of one-upmanship to raise the most money from the sale, Jones noted.
“(Flower Cart owner) Lisa Dye Hoffman has been amazing to us through the years,” Jones said. “Our Kiwanis members have a friendly competition to see who can sell the most roses in the community. For years it was Lonnie Eagle (who led in sales). He would go to the fire department where his son worked and hit up all of the city employees and get them to purchase them. Now it’s (former Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce director) Joe Kleinknecht. Joe sells anywhere from 40 to 60 dozen roses to community members. But we’re each challenged to sell five dozen. The money that we raise goes back to supporting the youth programs that we do.”
Jones said rose sale helps to fund the following youth initiatives that the Kiwanis Club sponsors: Kiwanis Kids Toy Drive, Safety Town, children participating in the Crawford County Fair, and two $1,000 scholarships presented annually to Galion High School graduating seniors.
Most years, red roses are the main color provided and sold, but Jones said sometimes other colors have been made available.
“We predominantly get red roses in, but we also get yellow and peach and white,” she said. “When people order them they can list a preference if they want, but we can’t always guarantee that because we’re buying them from the wholesaler and we don’t know they’re going to be able to give us.”
Jones said the roses will be distributed between 4 and 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 5 at the Galion-Crestline Area Chamber of Commerce office, 138 Harding Way West, Galion. People who order roses can pick them up at the side door of the building located on North Union Street facing the Wendy’s restaurant. People can also ask their Kiwanis sales representative to have the roses delivered to them.
For information about purchasing roses from the Kiwanis Club of Galion, contact the club at 419-468-7737 or send a message through the club’s Facebook page Galion Kiwanis.
