Kaitlynn Balmer-Brown has been dancing since age 3, studying jazz, tap and ballet. She also expresses herself through art, drawing graffiti-like designs on paper.
“She was good in art class,” said her stepmother, Emily Brown.
And she was plenty good enough to win the Royer’s Kids Club birthday card design contest.
The Lower Paxton Township sixth-grader’s drawing of a flower and balloons graces the electronic card that Royer’s Kids Club members will receive on their birthdays in the coming year. For Kaitlynn’s effort, she will receive a flower delivery on her next birthday.
The Royer’s Kids Club is free to ages 5 to 12. With parental permission, children may register for the kids club at any Royer’s store or online at www.royers.com/kidsclub.
Category: Community involvement
Candace visits Cornwall Manor
Candace Oliver, a designer at Royer’s flagship store in Lebanon, said she enjoys making people laugh and smile and loves teaching.
She delivered on each of those counts with her June 22 visit to Cornwall Manor, an active senior living community in Lebanon County. Candace presented a flower-arranging class to Cornwall Manor residents.
“I love doing stuff like that,” Candace said. “Love it, love it, love it.”
She showed the residents how to tape a vase, creating a grid that keeps flowers standing up. Step by step, she guided them in adding greens, selecting flowers and completing their arrangements.
A Lebanon resident since age 7, Candace graduated from Lebanon High School in 1998. In November, she will celebrate her fourth anniversary with Royer’s.
Meanwhile, Cornwall Manor is celebrating her visit.
Stacia Layser, Cornwall Manor’s public relations, development and volunteer coordinator, wrote in an email to Candace:
“Your attention to detail, energy and compassion were what made this a great event for our residents. Many of them are still talking about how much fun they had and the beautiful arrangements they made.”
Power of Pink: Royer’s donates $2,000 to PA Breast Cancer Coalition
With proceeds from the sale of our Power of Pink bouquet, Royer’s recently donated $2,000 to the Pennsylvania Breast Cancer Coalition.
Ten dollars from each bouquet sold is earmarked for breast cancer groups. The bouquet is available year-round.
Based in Lebanon, the PA Breast Cancer Coalition represents, supports and serves breast cancer survivors and their families in Pennsylvania through educational programming, legislative advocacy and breast cancer research grants.
Photo, Jennifer Pensinger, executive director, PA Breast Cancer Coalition, is flanked by Royer’s Barry Spengler, vice president of operations, left, and Tom Royer, senior vice president.
Royer’s donates $2,000 to nonprofit Feel Your Boobies Foundation
Royer’s recently donated $2,000 to the Feel Your Boobies Foundation.
The donation reflects proceeds from the sale of our Power of Pink bouquet, which is available year-round. With every bouquet sold, Royer’s earmarks $10 to breast cancer organizations.
A Middletown-based nonprofit, Feel Your Boobies promotes proactive breast health in young women. The foundation’s college outreach program provides free breast health education materials to nearly 200 college health centers in 38 states.
Photo from left: Barry Spengler, vice president of operations, Royer’s; Leigh Hurst, founder/president, Feel Your Boobies Foundation; Tom Royer, senior vice president, Royer’s.
Watch Fox 43’s Amy Lutz make an arrangement in less than a minute
For someone who claims not to have a green thumb, Fox 43 Morning News’ Amy Lutz got the hang of floral arranging pretty quickly.
“How do you know where to put them?” she asked Barry Spengler, Royer’s vice president of operations, as he handed her cut carnations, daisies and roses.
“Well, that’s the beauty of it,” Barry said. “There is no right or wrong to it.”
Barry returned to Fox 43 to talk about Royer’s fifth annual “Stems Hunger” food drive to benefit the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and the Greater Berks Food Bank. A Royer’s Kids Club event will help to kick off the food drive, which runs June 20-27.
Children ages 5 to 12 will get to do what Lutz did: make a floral arrangement in an empty food can.
She wasn’t entirely satisfied with her work, but Barry insisted that once she placed a flower in the can, she had to leave it.
“What if it doesn’t fit right?” she said.
“It looks wonderful,” he said. “It’s in the eye of the beholder.”
You can view the full segment here:
Royer’s Kids Club birthday card design contest runs now through July 17
We’re looking for budding artists to enter our annual birthday card design contest.
The winning design will adorn the Royer’s Kids Club birthday card, which will be emailed to all kids club members on their birthdays. (You can see last year’s winning card to the left.)
The artist will receive free flowers on his or her birthday.
The contest is open to children ages 5 to 12. The deadline to enter is July 17.
The entry form may be downloaded at www.royers.com/kidsclub and dropped off at the nearest Royer’s.
Royer’s Kids Club event June 20 to kick off annual ‘Stems Hunger’ food drive
Royer’s Flowers & Gifts’ annual food drive – Royer’s Stems Hunger – will take place June 20-27 to benefit the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and the Greater Berks Food Bank.
Royer’s Kids Club will help out with a special event on June 20 for children ages 5 to 12. They are asked to donate a non-perishable food item as the price of admission and to bring an empty food can to fill with flowers and take home.
Participants also will have an opportunity to enter the kids club’s birthday card design contest and to create a Father’s Day card.
Time slots are available at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. at each of Royer’s 16 stores in Berks, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties.
Registration is required by calling your nearest Royer’s store.
Royer’s Stems Hunger benefits the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and the Greater Berks Food Bank.
Royer’s food drive back for fifth year, June 20-27
Royer’s Stems Hunger, our annual food drive, will return June 20-27 to benefit the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank and the Greater Berks Food Bank.
Customers who donate a non-perishable food item during the event will receive a free carnation, up to six flowers per family per visit.
The food drive will be the theme of our June 20 Royer’s Kids Club event; more details to come on that in the days ahead.
Our friends at Drayer Physical Therapy Institute will be helping us again this year, collecting food at the company’s outpatient physical therapy centers in Camp Hill, Carlisle, Colonial Park, Enola, Harrisburg and Mechanicsburg.
Royer’s Kids Club spring reading list
Every November, Royer’s holds a weeklong children’s-book drive to benefit area public libraries. To encourage the reading habit, we include a reading list in each quarterly issue of our Royer’s Kids Club newsletter, Buds.
Many baby animals arrive in spring, which is the focus of our latest reading list, courtesy of Heather Smith, youth services librarian at ELANCO Library in Lancaster County:
“Little White Rabbit” by Kevin Henkes
This story about a bunny exploring a garden in the springtime is a perfect read-aloud.
“Smick!” by Doreen Cronin
Can a big dog be friends with a little chick? Find out in the newest book by the author of “Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type.”
“Animal Babies” by Harry McNaught
Readers will learn the names of 20 different baby animals in this beautifully illustrated classic.
“Deep in the Swamp” by Donna M. Bateman
This counting book features animal families that live in the Okefenokee Swamp.
“I Hatched!” by Jill Esbaum
A baby killdeer chick pecks its way out of its shell and discovers a wondrous world.
“Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White
Older children will love reading about a baby pig who starts out as the runt of the litter but grows up to become friends with a savvy spider.
The Royer’s Kids Club is free to children ages 5 to 12. Membership benefits include a membership card, Web site activities, giveaways, contests, member-only events and the Buds newsletter. Click here to register.
Photos from another egg-cellent kids club event
Things really got hopping at our March 14 Royer’s Kids Club event, as evidenced by these photos from our West York store.
We had a great turnout as the kids made carnation Easter bunnies.
We certainly had a terrific time, and we look forward to more fun down the bunny trail as we have three more kids club events this year:
- June 20: Help us kick off our annual food drive, “Royer’s Stems Hunger,” and enter our kids club birthday card design contest.
- Aug. 22: Summer vacation is coming to an end, so we’re going to help ease you back to school.
- Oct. 31: It’s Halloween, so be sure to wear your costume as we celebrate the holiday and kick off our annual “Bouquets for Books” children’s book drive to benefit area public libraries.
We’ll share more details closer to each event, of course.
In the meantime, we wish you and your family a Happy Easter!