Sunflower festival spreads joy even after the event
Beth Scott | Beacon
Justina Luce, Zay Carroll, and Brittany Amore were some of the volunteers who helped arrange sunflowers to give to people in the community on Monday, Aug. 19. Beth Scott | Beacon
COSHOCTON – Acres of sunflowers both large and small greeted visitors to the Sunflower Festival held Aug. 16-18 at Coshocton KOA.
“We’ve had a really good turnout and have definitely surpassed our numbers from last year,” said Hannah Shriver, assistant manager and special events coordinator. “We had a lot of people on Friday (Aug. 16) and everyone was super happy. On Saturday (Aug. 17) we had a little bit of rain but people were troopers and today (Aug. 18) has been steady.”
This was the second year for the festival which Shriver said grew in the number and variety of sunflowers. Last year featured three acres of sunflowers and this year there were four acres filled with 40 varieties of sunflowers compared to last year’s 20.
“We also brought in a new band called Broken Child, added kettle corn and we as a business expanded what we offered,” Shriver said. “We did hand dipped ice cream and did the lemon shake ups instead of outsourcing those.”
She added that they also changed the way the wagon delivered guests to the field of sunflowers.
“The wagon took everyone to the back of the field so you could see the sunflowers facing you,” Shriver said. “You then had the option to get off and walk through the sunflower fields or stay on and be dropped off at the main entrance to the fields.”
They also added more props in the sunflower fields for people to take pictures with.
“Ryan’s grandpa’s VW is out there and people love it,” Shriver said. “Our Instagram is blowing up.”
After the festival, the Coshocton Rotary Club decided to spread the sunshine from the flowers throughout Coshocton. The group met at the sunflower fields early Monday morning, Aug. 19 to gather the remaining sunflowers to give to people throughout the community.
About 300 sunflowers were picked and then assembled into arrangements in the gymnasium at the RHDD building on Chestnut Street. Club members as well as people at RHDD helped to arrange the flowers into vases that were donated to the club, which were then given to area nursing homes, the hospital, RHDD facilities, and the senior center, all in the hopes to brighten someone’s day.
“We’re just spreading joy in the community,” said Amy Hasseman. “Ryan and Camille McPeek were super gracious to donate the flowers. I offered to pay for them, but they said no.”
This is the first year the Coshocton Rotary Club has given the remaining sunflowers to people in the community and they hope to continue the gesture next year.
Editor’s note: Josie Sellers and Beth Scott contributed to this story.
Category: Arts & Entertainment, Multimedia, Photo Galleries
