by Carolyn Frost

Bear Necessities Flower Shop brought Valentine’s Day spirit to Oakdale by hosting a Rose Sale this year. From February 6th to 12th, Mrs. Sarah Welty’s Horticulture class held a fundraiser and sold roses during lunch for students to purchase for delivery on Valentine’s Day.

Students had multiple options of what they could purchase. They could buy 1, 2, 6, or 12 roses, for $5, $8, $25, or $40 respectively. The bouquet of roses also included accent plants such as baby’s breath and tree fern, and water tubes to help preserve each rose.

Additionally, students could choose from two styles of cards, on which they could write a greeting of their choice, to be delivered along with the roses. The purchaser could choose for the flowers and card to be delivered directly to the recipient during SET or lunch, or the purchaser could receive the roses to deliver them in person.

“I bought a rose because I like that kind of cheesy romantic stuff,” said junior Max Kasten, who had a rose and card delivered to his girlfriend during SET.

Junior Alicia Bolli also purchased a rose and card to be delivered to the person that she likes, “It’s a nice gesture that can really make somebody’s day.”

Oakdale’s horticulture class sold roses in order to raise money for their class so they would have funds for future projects and supplies. When asked why they picked a rose sale, Welty stated, “As an ag. teacher, it’s just something I have always done.”

Their goal was to sell around 150 roses. They were not as successful as they hoped; however, they still sold upwards of 75 roses. “Were we successful in getting the word out? Yes, but sales have been slow,” explained Mrs. Welty.

Multiple students have said that they thought the rose sale was a great idea, but they wish they had known about it a little bit sooner, since some of the packages, especially those with over half a dozen roses, were somewhat costly for a school sale. They felt they did not have that much money to spontaneously pay out of pocket, despite the prices being a good deal for roses.