Flourish Ladies Luncheon

By admin Published April 24, 2023 Community Event

On Saturday April 22 we held our Flourish Ladies Luncheon in the banquet room of the Piqua Center. It was an amazing afternoon filled with new friendships, delicious food, and a reminder of the impact the environment has on us. The room was filled with color and beauty, thanks to the donated centerpieces on each table.

We began with lunch from Montage Cafe in Greenville, OH, and everyone had the opportunity to pre-order their favorite sandwiches. To go along with the sandwiches, we also had Garlic Fettuccini salad, Dill Macaroni, and Black Bean & Rice salad. For dessert, we had cupcakes that had been generously donated by Sam’s Club on Miller Lane, as well as some gluten free cupcakes from Dobo’s Bake Shop in Piqua. Sweet tea, unsweet tea, and lemonade were provided by Chick-Fil-A in Troy.

After eating and spending some time socializing, we heard from our Keynote Speaker, US Mrs. American Buckeye State Rachel Castle. Rachel is an Arcanum native and a veteran wife. She spoke of growing up on her family’s farm, now in it’s 5th generation of operation. Spending her time surrounded by the abundance of the earth, but never really appreciating the beauty of it until she left home. From the window of her small bedroom she watched planes fly through the sky, not imagining that her future lie in the defense industry, working on Wright Patterson Air Force base. Rachel spoke passionately about the simple changes that we can all make to ensure that we help to lower our impact on the planet. She encouraged us to recycle, sharing the shocking statistic that about 75% of the items that end up in a landfill are actually recyclable. While not everyone has access to municipal recycling services, it is certainly worth the effort to transport your recycling to a facility, whether that is a once a week or once a month trip. She also motivated us to look for ways to lessen our dependence on ‘single use’ items, perhaps by purchasing a washable (and therefore reusable) water or coffee cup or by switching to refillable K-cups for our single cup coffee brewers. She left us with this quote by Wendell Berry. “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, but borrowed it from our children.”

Rachel Castle with OVCS Director Valerie Mullikin and President Kayleen West

After Rachel’s speech, we moved into our next activity. Kristin from The Hive Collective in Greenville brought out their first ever mobile succulent planting bar! This item is a staple in their storefront, but when Kristin heard about what we were planning with Flourish (before the event really even had a name) she was 100% on board with bringing this planting bar to these women. The setup was so professional, no one would’ve guessed they hadn’t done this a million times before. Special thank you to Girl Scout Troop 855 in Easton, MD who spent weeks gathering teacups and silver platters for not only our planting activity but also for decorating the space. The cups gathered were beautiful, had a great variety of designs and there was certainly something for everyone! There were a lot of conversations sparked by the cups, with ladies reminiscing on how certain pieces reminded them of family china or special occasions in their lives. Each tea cup was planted with some pebbles in the bottom for drainage and a special plant hand picked by each woman in attendance-the variety was amazing. Kristin even brought little signs for each planter that read “All things grow with love”. You can check out The Hive Collective and all they have to offer here!

After all the succulents had been planted, it was time to announce our door prize winners. We were blessed with several generous donations, and we want to take a minute to thank Arbogast Buick GMC, City Barbeque, Market St Hair Company, Olive Oasis, and Wertz Hardware for their donations. We were then able to announce the takeaway for each attendee, gardening supplies that had been generously donated by The Caregiver Co-Op LLC with potting soil donated by Family Farm & Home in Piqua. There was such an abundance and variety of seeds, and we know that they will be put to good use! Each lady was also encouraged to take home a journal, homemade soap, and their choice of beauty masks.

We had an amazing time at this luncheon, and we hope all the women who attended did too! It was so exciting to hear the conversations between new friends, old friends who had travelled to attend together, and feel the love and laughter fill the room. Thank you to all those who came together to make this event possible, community events like this don’t happen without your help!