Methodist Church brings back annual Memorial Day flower sale

by Charles Gerian

Memorial Day is coming up, and the First United Methodist Church is hosting its annual sale of recycled and repurposed flowers in anticipation of the holiday weekend.

When entering the church at 524 W. Coolidge Ave., visitors can see signs decorating the hallway that guide patrons to the church’s gymnasium. There, hundreds of artificial flower arrangements are on display. All were washed, cleaned, repaired and remade from previously used artificial flowers.

Thurra Wynn, one of the church members overseeing the annual event, said buying flowers from the church is more affordable than shopping for them at retail stores.

She added that the proceeds from the sale go back to the church and to the community.

“The sale is always such a huge success,” Wynn said. “Last year, we had almost nothing left just before Memorial Day, which is great to see. People really come out and support this so that they can honor the men and women at the cemetery during that weekend.”

The sale of washed and repurposed flowers came about in 2017 and has been going strong since, Wynn said.

“If we didn’t take these flowers with us, they would just be thrown away,” Wynn said. “This is a year-long effort we put into making these arrangements, and we do it to help not only our church, but Blackwell as well.”

The arrangements are laid out across tables in the church’s gymnasium, where they are sorted by price and size.

“The creations you can buy here for $20, you would be spending double on elsewhere,” Wynn said. “These take a lot of time to wash, cut and sort out, and I couldn’t do it without the incredible women that help me here. We have flowers for baby land, veterans and so much more.”

Arrangements include boots, infant sets, miniatures, stakes, crosses, vases and fences, sprays and saddles ranging from $3 to $25.

Flowers can be purchased from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.