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Connells Maple Lee donates $1,830 to Mid-Ohio Food Collective

From left, Craig Truax, director of corporate partnerships, Mid-Ohio Food Collective, and Andrew Royer, vice president of Ohio operations, Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts.

Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts has donated $1,830 to the Mid-Ohio Food Collective, which operates the largest food bank in Ohio.

Family-owned Connells Maple Lee earmarks $10 from each sale of its Admiration arrangement for charitable donations.

The Food Collective, which is based at 3960 Brookham Drive, Grove City, serves 20 counties.

“Mid-Ohio Food Collective distributes enough food daily to provide more than 182,000 meals,” said Craig Truax, director of corporate partnerships. “We wouldn’t be able to do this critical work without the support of our community and amazing partners like Connells Maple Lee.”

Tom Royer, CEO of Connells Maple Lee, noted that his company has enjoyed a long-time relationship with the Food Collective.

“We have great respect for the Food Collective’s mission and creative solutions toward ending hunger and building healthier communities,” Royer said. “We all benefit from those efforts, which is why we are honored to be associated with them.”

Connells Maple Lee invites public to name new fall arrangement

If hot summer weather doesn’t make you yearn for fall, then Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts’ annual name-the-arrangement contest surely will.

The new all-around arrangement features an autumnal color palette: lavender glass vase, orange rose and orange carnations, purple statice, red alstroemeria, sunflower. It measures 14 inches high and 11 inches wide.

The arrangement has a product number, but Connells Maple Lee is asking for help with a name.

One winner and one runner-up will be selected from entries received by Connells Maple Lee and its sister company in Pennsylvania. Both the winner and runner-up will receive the arrangement (retail value $34.99) as their prize.

The arrangement will debut this fall and will be available in all stores and as part of Connells Maple Lee’s direct-ship program serving the Lower 48 states.

To view the arrangement and enter the contest, visit cmlflowers.com/contest. Limit one entry daily per email address, through Aug. 5.

Family-owned Connells Maple Lee (cmlflowers.com) has stores at 3014 E. Broad St., Bexley; 2033 Stringtown Road, Grove City; and 8573 Owenfield Drive, Powell. 

Connells Maple Lee Kids Club hosting free St. Patrick’s Day event March 11 in all stores

Participants will make this arrangement featuring daisy poms.

For the first time since the pandemic began, Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts will host a free kids club event in all stores at 2 p.m. March 11.

Children ages 5 to 12 will have an opportunity to make a St. Patrick’s Day arrangement with white and yellow daisy pom pons, leatherleaf fern, baby’s breath and a glitter shamrock stick-in.

Registration is required by contacting your nearest store: 3014 E. Broad St., Bexley, 614-237-8653; 2033 Stringtown Road, Grove City, 614-539-4000; and 8573 Owenfield Drive, Powell, 740-548-4082.

One child will win a flower delivery in Connells Maple Lee’s birthday card contest

Last year’s winning entry

Just in time for summer vacation, Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts has a challenge for children ages 5 to 12.
The Connells Maple Lee Kids Club is looking for its next birthday card design, one that all kids club members will receive in the year ahead.
As a reward, the designer of the winning entry will receive a free bouquet delivery on his or her birthday.
To enter the contest, download an entry form here or pick up one at your nearest Connells Maple Lee store: 3014 E. Broad St., Bexley; 2033 Stringtown Road, Grove City; and 8573 Owenfield Drive, Powell.
Entries must be dropped off at a Connells Maple Lee store by July 15.
Good luck to everyone!

Purchasing these arrangements supports local animal shelters


The needs of animal shelters are diverse, from pet food to cleaning supplies, toys to towels. And they are costly to address, especially for non-profit organizations.
To help, Connells Maple Lee donates a portion of the profits from the sale of its Puppy in a Basket and Kitten in a Basket arrangements to animal shelters in its seven-county market area.
To kick off the program in 2021, Connells Maple Lee sent $100 checks to four area animal organizations: CHA Animal Shelter, Franklin County Dog Shelter & Adoption Center, Columbus Humane and Pets Without Parents.
“Plants and pets bring great joy to our lives and add warmth to our homes,” said Tom Royer, CEO of family-owned Connells Maple Lee. “We’re eager to support local animal shelters and the great service they provide in our communities.”
Available year-round, the arrangements comprise a seven-inch plush dog or cat surrounded by a three-quarter round arrangement in a basket with carnations, daisy and button poms, statice and babies breath.
Each of the arrangements is 10 inches high and 10 inches wide and retails for $44.99.
 
 

Connells Maple Lee donates to four area animal shelters

Plants and animals just go together.
Consider the former that are named after the latter, from cattails to hound’s tongue, elephant ear to bird of paradise, rattlesnake orchids to zebra grass.
Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts even offers arrangements featuring plush animals, including Kitten in a Basket and Puppy in a Basket. Under a new program, Connells Maple Lee is donating a portion of the proceeds from the sale of those two arrangements to area animal shelter and rescue efforts.
For the first awards, family-owned Connells Maple Lee sent $100 checks to four area animal organizations:
CHA Animal Shelter, Franklin County Dog Shelter & Adoption Center, Columbus Humane and Pets Without Parents.
“On behalf of the Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts family, please accept this gift in support of the love and care your organization provides to animals,” wrote Tom Royer, president and CEO of Connells Maple Lee, in a letter accompanying each donation.
The Kitten in a Basket and Puppy in a Basket arrangements are available year-round.

Connells Maple Lee Flowers saluting veterans Nov. 11 with free red, white and blue bouquets

Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts will honor veterans with free patriotic bouquets on Nov. 11.
The bouquets – featuring a red carnation, a white carnation and a blue bow – will be available in-store only at any of Connells Maple Lee’s stores: 3014 E. Broad St., Bexley; 2033 Stringtown Road, Grove City; and 8573 Owenfield Drive, Powell.
“This is one of our favorite annual traditions,” said Tom Royer, president and CEO of family-owned Connells Maple Lee. “These men and women, along with their families, make great sacrifices while serving our country. It’s our privilege to honor our veterans.”
Non-veterans may purchase the bouquet for $2.10 each.

Brighten up your back yard with rugged outdoor canvas art


Sue Pappas needed a name for her business that was free of any potential trademark issues.
She settled on West of the Wind.
“I don’t know why, and it’s a very odd name,” she allowed, but it was one she thought no one else in her industry would have.
Winds of change would blow, however. Within months of the 2007 launch of the Durant, Okla.-based company, Pappas and her two partners at the time realized that the market for indoor wall décor was saturated.
Turning their gazes outward, literally, they saw a void in the outdoor décor realm. They sought to fill it by offering giclee canvas prints for outdoor use.
Beginning with one size and 50 images in 2008, West of the Wind now wholesales more than 550 images that are available among three canvas sizes.
The pandemic has kept Americans in their own back yards, prompting a consumer splurge on outdoor decor. Seizing on that, Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts began carrying the vibrant, high-quality West of the Wind products this year.

Protection from UV rays and water

Connells Maple Lee offers the canvases in two sizes – 24 by 24 inches and 30 by 40 inches – for $99.99 and $199.99, respectively. They can be purchased in-store or online.
Approximately 80 percent of the designs are based on paintings, with photographs comprising the other 20 percent, Pappas said. West of the Wind has licenses with the artists, who provide digital files to the company from high-resolution scans of their original artwork.
Pappas’ team then crops or makes any other necessary changes before sending the files for printing. Giant Epson inkjet printers (giclee is a French word meaning “to spray or to squirt with a nozzle”) transfer the design onto canvas. A proprietary lacquer is applied to the front and back to protect the canvas from harmful UV rays and water damage.
The canvas is gallery wrapped, meaning that the image appears on the sides of the frame as well as the front. The canvas is attached to vinyl stretcher bars that aren’t affected by moisture, cold or heat. Stainless steel staples, which can’t corrode, attach the stretched canvas to the stretcher bars.
Each print comes with hardware for outdoor installation. Two L-shaped hooks can be screwed into stone, stucco, brick, wood or aluminum. Brackets on the back of the canvas slide over the hooks. The hanging system is designed to withstand 60 mph winds.
West of the Wind guarantees its products for two years. But in these uncertain times, perhaps the best the outdoor canvases can do is help you do a better job of living in the moment.
 

CONNELLS MAPLE LEE FUNDS 13,500 MEALS WITH $3,000 DONATION TO MID-OHIO FOOD COLLECTIVE

From left, Craig Truax, corporate engagement manager, Mid-Ohio Food Collective, and Andrew Royer, vice president of Ohio operations, Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts.

Every dollar donated to the Mid-Ohio Food Collective can provide up to $9.50 in groceries or enough food for up to 4.5 meals to a family in need.
By those measures, Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts’ $3,000 donation to the Food Collective will fund $28,500 worth of groceries or 13,500 meals.
Connells Maple Lee’s stores are at 3014 E. Broad St., Bexley; 2033 Stringtown Road, Grove City; and 8573 Owenfield Drive, Powell.
Tom Royer, president and CEO of family-owned Connells Maple Lee, said the donations reflect the company’s gratitude for the support it has received during the pandemic.
“We had to reinvent our company, and at times it was a painful process,” Royer said, “but we’ve become more agile and more successful. Thanks to the unwavering loyalty of our customers, we’re able to give back to our communities and help families that are struggling to put food on the table. It’s our privilege to do this.”
Mike Habash is president and CEO of the Food Collective, which is based at 3960 Brookham Drive, Grove City, and serves 20 counties.
“This donation comes right at a time when many of our neighbors are still bravely navigating through this pandemic,” Habash said. “We are so thankful to have a wonderful partner such as Connells Maple Lee that is helping us continue our work toward ending hunger.”
For more information about the Food Collective, visit mofcollective.org.

Connells Maple Lee saluting veterans with free red, white and blue bouquets Nov. 11


Connells Maple Lee Flowers & Gifts will continue an annual tradition when it honors veterans with free patriotic bouquets on Nov. 11.
The bouquets – featuring a red carnation, a white carnation and a blue bow – will be available in-store only at any of Connells Maple Lee’s stores: 3014 E. Broad St., Bexley; 2033 Stringtown Road, Grove City; and 8573 Owenfield Drive, Powell.
Connells Maple Lee employees and customers are required to wear masks for their safety as part of the effort to combat COVID-19.
“We always look forward to Veterans Day and the opportunity to show our appreciation for the men and women who have selflessly served our country,” said Tom Royer, CEO of Connells Maple Lee.
Non-veterans may purchase the bouquet for $1.90.