STORY TIME!!!
A few weeks ago we celebrated our 27th Flower Shop Birthday! We reminisced and thought about all the magic from the last 27 years and honestly it was such a blast and you all seemed to love it, right?
Since we had so much fun, we wanted to use this opportunity to share more stories!
We have the perfect place start... Larry Button! He is the perfect kick off to my story telling because in a way he was a big kick off for my business! Mr. Larry Button was the Catering Director at the Benson when I met him and let me tell you... he's a big deal! He has an old school service style that is rarely seen these days. He always answered the phone with "A Very Good Day to you, This is Larry Button of The Benson, how can I be at your service?" in the most soft, professional, service oriented tone. He seemed conservative but actually had a wild side and loved punk rock music. He was known for taking a taxi to and from work each day and always had a soundtrack of train whistles playing in his office!
When I first moved into the U.S. Bancorp Tower I stared at the beautiful Benson Hotel everyday on my way to work. It's so magical, so classy and I had to find a way to get my flowers inside! So, I made a super special bouquet from my own personal garden using white garden roses and lavender and delivered them straight to Larry Button. And you guessed, Larry loved this quirky, young blonde flower girl from down the street and hired me, and my flowers have graced The Benson ever since!
My favorite story with Larry was when he called me at 5 pm in a panic, okay not a panic because Larry was very put together, but he had a flower emergency! He said I really need your help... Shaquille O'Neill (basketball superstar) and Al Gore (who was running for President at the time), are both at the hotel and they BOTH want the presidential suite, yikes! In additional to scrambling for Lava Cake and the best cut of steak for Mr. O'Neill, Larry called me up and said I need flowers for all of them stat! So I whipped out flowers as fast as I could and rushed them over! This story is such a testament of Larry, an excellent problem solver!
In 2005, Larry had a pretty serious stroke. It took him many years to gain speech back, and even now he can only speak slowly, but he can sing! He actually worked in the flower shop on and off for about 6 years and would always sing "The Yellow Rose of Texas" to me!
Larry and his amazing wife Gretchen love to spend time at their home in Cannon Beach. Larry Button is a legacy in hospitality and at The Benson and for me personally, I love him to so much!
Xoxo,
Kim