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NEWS RELEASE FOR Royal
Oak Chamber of Commerce
DATE – 4/21/08
FROM Sharlan Douglas, APR at Douglas Communications Group, 248-548-5460;
313-319-4846 cell;
mailto:sdouglas@douglasgroup.biz
FOR RELEASE IMMEDIATELY
MOTHER’S DAY GARDEN FAIR IN ROYAL OAK
IS A RIOT OF COLORS, SCENTS AND TEXTURES
ROYAL OAK, Mich. (April 21, 2008) At Royal Oak in
Bloom, hanging baskets are the top-selling item for Denise Prielipp of
Hilltop Greenhouse and Farm, and tuberous begonias or geraniums are the
most popular options. She says the begonias love the shady environment
cast by Royal Oak’s many tall trees, while the geraniums thrive in the
full-sun environment on the balconies and terraces of downtown lofts,
condos and apartments.
Prielipp will be one of more than 60 vendors at the 15th
annual Mother’s Day sale on May 11 from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the library
parking lot, on the south side of 11 Mile Rd., just east of Main Street.
Prielipp and her husband will fill 11 spaces at Bloom,
where they expect to sell “a couple hundred” hanging baskets and
everything else they bring from their Ann Arbor greenhouses.
“We are unconditionally devoted to Royal Oak,” she
said. Royal Oak in Bloom is the only flower day in which they
participate and they sell at the Farmer’s Market every Saturday from
Easter to Christmas.
Eco-conscious and cost-conscious gardeners are seeing
the zen of rain barrels, making Bloom a sure-fire choice for Sue Wagner
of Michigan Rain Barrel. She sold 35 of her self-made products at the
event last year.
Rain barrels connect to a downspout and collect up to 55
gallons of water. With the barrel on a raised platform, users hook
their hose to a built-in spigot and let gravity fill their watering cans
for container gardens or direct water to ground plantings. During very
rainy times, an overflow spout directs excess water away from the
house’s foundation.
Sellers at Royal Oak in Bloom will offer everything for
the garden and yard. Shoppers can buy vegetable seedlings, perennials,
flats of annuals, shrubs and trees and get information from services
like the master gardeners known as Two Women and a Hoe. Garden Baubles
will sell hanging whimsies with beads and natural materials. J. Robb
Clay Works will offer botanical pottery, including ceramics with
embedded ginko leaves.
Shoppers will park free in any city parking lot that day, the closest
being that at the Farmer’s Market, one block east. Chamber volunteers
in carts will ferry shoppers and their purchases.
“This event fills two primary purposes,” said chamber Executive Director
Bill Allen. “It promotes Royal Oak as a livable, walkable community.
It also raises funds to support the chamber as we
help our members grow their businesses and as we advocate for
business-friendly policies in the city.”
In additional to Royal Oak in Bloom, the
chamber will promote the city with the Clay & Glass Festival June 21 and
22 and the Antique & Garage Sale July 19 and 20. The three events bring
an estimated 80,000 visitors to Royal Oak each year.
The chamber will donate a portion of the net combined profits from five
chamber events, including those listed above plus the golf outing and
the March, 2008 South Oakland Business Expo, to charity.
The Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce helps its nearly 700 members market
their businesses and grow them through educational programs, discounts
and networking. It held 51 public and member events in 2007. The
organization promotes Royal Oak as a destination for visitors and
residents and advocates for business-friendly policies in the city.
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