Each month, at the Resident Association Council meeting, VP Helen Lauck highlights the work of one of our activity Committees. This month it was the Collington Flower Committee, and this was her very-to-the-point report.
This very active and very visible committee brings joy to residents, staff and visitors alike. The Flower Committee is devoted to providing fresh flower arrangements throughout the main building. There are currently more than 40 active participants in this endeavor. And it doesn’t stop at fresh flowers in public areas on every floor – the Flower Committee provides flowers for marketing events, new resident gift flowers, private parties, memorial gatherings, special parties such as New Year’s and the spring dinner event, weekly fresh flowers on each table in the dining room, fresh flowers for the 4th floor dining room and special requests by residents. Holidays such as Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas bring special challenges and the committee works with dining services to plan for these events. For these special occasions the committee holds workshops where it is all hands on deck. Just a personal aside – I hope we never use fresh pumpkins again!!
We get our fresh flowers from various places – we order flowers from a well known flower vendor in Silver Spring, we receive donated flowers from funeral homes, and we have been fortunate this past year or so to receive almost weekly donations of flowers from Trader Joe’s that are ‘past the sell by date’, and last but certainly not least in the late summer and well into fall we get many flowers from our Collington Hilltop gardens.
The Flower committee also gives flower arranging demonstrations and classes for residents who are interested in working in this area. There are all levels of experience on this committee and it is a wonderful chance to learn new skills. All are welcome.
Lately I have been attending lots of activity committee meetings and am very impressed with the dedication and hard work. Most of Collington committee work is done behind the scenes – the Flower Committee is somewhat of an exception to that as so much of their work is visible to so many. If you want to brighten a gloomy, rainy Monday morning try pushing a cart full of fresh flower arrangements throughout the halls of Collington. It will make your day.
Martha Wilder is chair of this committee.