Spreading goodwill one petal at a time

Fairfield - Flowers often have a special meaning letting recipients know the purpose of the gift. Red roses are associated with love. Chrysanthemums can mean cheerfulness. But for Kathy Ecklund, owner of Fairfield Flower and More, the flowers she hands out to the community brings bittersweet memories.

Ecklund has been running her flower shop for two years and since gifted more than 2,000 stems of flowers to Fairfield residents. On Thursday, Nov. 21, Ecklund's shop, and more specifically her delivery driver, Don Rude, were spreading goodwill and smiles as several Fairfield businesses received free bouquet of flowers.

For Ecklund, it's a practical way for her to show goodwill and cheer to her community while making sure no flowers are needlessly thrown out.

'We don't want to see anything go to waste,” she said.

Helping share this goodwill was 75 year-old Rude, who has been delivering everything from mail to milk since his younger days. In his 70s, Rude now brings happiness to his neighbors one flower and a time.

'People love it,” Rude said en route to his next delivery.

But more than just promotion for the shop, for Ecklund, sharing flowers to the community is a subtle way of remembering her mother whom she recently lost.

'I don't have parents anymore so it's like hearing from my mom,” Ecklund said reminiscing of times when she heard back from the elderly living in Sunnybrook. '[My mother] was a resident there.”

Nicky Guehring, Ecklund's mother, was a resident at Sunnybrook until her death in February 2017.

Though Christmas is weeks away, in Fairfield the season of giving is year-round.

Besides her monthly flower sharing, Ecklund also has open houses and other community events at her shop for residents to come learn more about designing and taking care of the flowers.