A Ride To Remember – Event Details

Join the Alzheimer’s Association and ISU Football Coach Paul Rhoads, on Sunday, June 3, 2012, as he hosts his 3^rd annual A Ride to Remember motorcycle event to raise money for those affected by Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia. A meet & greet as well as registration will take place at Jack Trice Stadium. Coach will lead riders as they make their way around Central Iowa.

The Ride to Remember Route will leave Cyclone Stadium in Ames at 2 p.m. and wind North to Dolliver State Park in Lehigh. Then take another route back South to Ames’ Inis Grove Park at 2500 Duff in North-Ames. Enjoy a nice meal before you head home.

Des Moines Area Bikers, Join the Boesens in The Ride TO The Ride that morning!

Why not start the fun early and ride as a group to the event in Ames? Join the Boesen family at their Boesen the Florist location on Beaver in Des Moines at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning for The Ride TO the Ride!

Ride TO the Ride route will be North from Beaverdale. Along the East edge of Ankeny, Cut over to Highway 69 at Alleman and North up 69 to Ames – 30 Miles.

Registration

A registration fee of $25 per person includes: meet & greet with Coach, BBQ tailgate, and event t-shirt.

**PLEASE NOTE IF YOU ARE REGISTERING MORE THEN ONE PERSON, YOU WILL NEED TO COMPLETE THE BILLING INFORMATION FIRST, THEN YOU WILL BE PROMPTED TO COMPLETE THE NAME AND SHIRT SIZE FOR THE OTHER REGISTRANT.**

Click to register now!

To register by phone or if you have questions, contact Tanya.Dunn@alz.org or 515.440.6383 x107.

Sunday, June 3, 2012 – When AT Jack Trice Stadium

Additional Information:

Inis Grove Park (click for information)

Watch A Video of Last Year’s Ride (click for link)

Link to Photos of Last year’s ride

Mother’s Day is traditionally a beautiful Spring Sunday when we take the time to focus on Mom, taking her out for a nice brunch or dinner, giving her gifts and flowers, and letting her “take it easy” for the day.  But in the over 40 foreign countries who also observe some sort of “Mother’s Day”, the traditions can be very different!

• Argentina – While “Dia de la Madre” is observed in most of South America in May, it’s celebrated the second Sunday of October in this southern-hemisphere country, most likely so it coincides with the traditional springtime ‘motherhood’ festivities.  Argentinian mothers are lavished with dinners, cards poems written in school by the children, and a day of their husbands cleaning, cooking and looking after the family.
• Japan – “Haha no hi” was very popular by the 1930′s in Japan, but was banned during World War II, along with most every western custom.  In about 1949 that the celebration started again, mostly to comfort those who had lost their sons in the War.  Children entered drawings of their mothers into a contest.  Today, Mother’s Day is held the second Sunday of May, with children giving their moms red carnations, scarves, handbags and handkerchiefs, and making traditional dishes their mothers taught them to cook.
• Yugoslavia – Mother’s Day here is tied to a three-day series of holidays for the whole family.  Children’s Day (Dechiyi Dan) is the first, three days before Christmas.  The Sunday after this holiday is Mother’s Day (Materitse) and the Sunday following that is Father’s Day (Ochichi).  While these sound like sweet holidays, on each day the “honoree” is bound until they provide something; the children must promise to be good, the mother must give the family treats and candy, and the father much promise more lavish gifts and clothing that are usually the family’s Christmas gifts.
• France – With the birthrate at an alarmingly low rate in the late 1800s and early 1900s, France implemented La Fete de Meres on December 19, 1920.  Medals were awarded to mothers of large families, with the coveted gold medal going to those with 8 or more children!  Inspired by American soldiers in World War II and their immense outpouring of love – and letters! – for their Mother’s Day, the government established the National Day of Mothers on May 25, 1945.  Today, traditional gifts include flower-shaped cakes, candies, perfumes, cards and flowers.

However you choose to honor your mother, let Boesen the Florist be part of your Mother’s Day celebrations!

Your Mother:  The woman who soothed your nightmares, washed your smelly socks, baked you a cake for your birthday, and eased you through your traumatic teenage years.  Buying her flowers and taking her out for brunch never seems sufficient – and yet, she’s perfectly tickled and happy with that show of affection!

Where did Mother’s Day start?  Originally, “Mother’s Day” wasn’t focused on human mothers, but rather was a celebration of goddesses. The earliest historical record of worshiping a “mother” deity is the Egyptian goddess Isis, who was considered the mother of all pharaohs.

Europe adopted a different kind of observation in later years.  The fourth Sunday of Lent honored “Mother Church”, or the church in which one was baptized.  By a clerical decree in the 1600s, England included mothers in the observance, calling it “Mothering Day.”  Household servants and track workers got to go home to visit their families, giving all a one-day reprieve from Lenten fasting, as it was traditional to have a family feast with Mom as the guest of honor.  She was showered with cakes and flowers with all of her children around her.

The first traditional American Mother’s Day was celebrated May 10, 1908, in Grafton, West Virginia.  Anna M. Jarvis was carrying on the work of her mother, who used Mother’s Day as a way to reunite families and neighbors who had been estranged by the Civil War.  Carnations were handed out to all the mothers attending the 1908 celebration, and even today white carnations are used to honor deceased mothers, while pink or red ones pay tribute to those still living.

No matter what type of flower you give or how you honor YOUR mother this Mother’s Day, Boesen the Florist has a design that will truly make Mom feel your love and appreciation!

Join us here at Boesen the Florist as we partner with Iowa State Football Coach Paul Rhoads to support the Alzheimer’s Association of Greater Iowa for the 3rd annual A Ride to Remember on Sunday, June 3, 2012. This event will raise money for those affected by Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia. Meet us at the Boesen shop on Beaverdale on June 3, 2012 at 11:00 and we will make the trek up to Ames together for the ride. Registration as well as a meet & greet will take place at Jack Trice Stadium when we arrive. For more information visit the registration site here and don’t forget to ask us about upgrading to VIP status for the event!

Did you know?

One in eight older Americans has Alzheimer’s disease. 5.4 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease and payments for care are estimated to be $200 billion in the United States for 2012.

The giving and receiving of flowers has been a tradition for many generations.  It used to be that your local florist knew your name, your wife’s name, and her favorite flower – so YOU didn’t have to worry about remembering!  But as time has progressed, local brick-and-mortar flower shops have become more and more scarce.  People are turning, instead, to 1-800 and online “warehouse” ordering to send flowers to their loved ones.

The lure of what seems to be a larger selection is what sucks people in to these call centers.  They think they are calling a HUGE floral warehouse with dozens of people standing around, just waiting for their order to come in so they can build it and send it immediately!

The reality, of course, is much different.  When you call these “warehouse” florists, you are getting a call center.  ONLY a call center.  There is no flower warehouse.  Just lines of cubicles filled with people answering the phone all day.  Most of them probably couldn’t tell you the difference between a daffodil and a daisy.  Once they get your order and your money, whoever you spoke with has nothing to do with you or your order again.

What happens when that order doesn’t get to the right place or at the right time?  What if that order gets lost in the shuffle and doesn’t end up anywhere?  Who carries the responsibility to make it right?

When you call your local florist, you KNOW you are talking to a knowledgeable person who knows plants and flowers and values YOU, the customer!  If you aren’t sure what type to send or what colors to use or what’s in season, you can rest assured that the person on the other end of the line will have the perfect suggestion!  Your local florist is just that – a florist who cares about your satisfaction!  A florist who recirculates your dollar in your community 8 times as opposed to only a possible 4 times with a call center.  YOUR money goes back to work in YOUR community to help keep other local businesses – run by your friends, family, and neighbors – in business!

Next time you need to send flowers, call your local Boesen the Florist!  Local florists work and live in your community and CARE about the reason you’re sending the flowers in the first place!  You can rest assured that if anything goes wrong and you aren’t completely satisfied with the quality of your order, Tom Boesen will stand behind his work and will do everything in his power to make it right for you!

It’s Prom season!  Undoubtedly, your teen (especially teen daughter) has been thinking about and planning for Prom since, oh, the day after Homecoming!  Most boys will have a date already lined up and most girls already have a dress picked out, if not hanging in their closets.

Boesen the Florist has teamed up with The Bloomin’ Blog to answer some important and frequently-asked questions regarding Prom corsages and boutonnieres!

1. What is a prom corsage?  The corsage is a small floral design typically worn by a girl on her wrist or close to her collar as an accessory to accent or match her prom dress.  The girl’s date will usually bring the flowers for her and there is much production around the pinning on or placement of the arrangement.
2. What is a boutonniere?  This is the small flower arrangement worn by the guys on the lapel of their tuxedo or suit coat.  Again, his date usually will get the boutonniere for him and it typically matches the style and colors of the girl’s corsage.
3. Do the corsage and boutonniere have to match?  Not necessarily.  Although it is common practice for the guy’s tie and/or cummerbund to match his date’s dress, there is no rule about this.  Usually the couple will match colors and styles, as it looks more stylish and put-together that way.
4. What wrist do you wear your corsage on?  Like wearing a watch, it’s commonly recognized as proper etiquette to wear it on the left wrist, although comfort is most important.
5. When do I need to order my prom flowers?  You can order your flowers any time!  It’s probably the best idea to order earlier rather than later, to make sure you will get what you really want.  Common practice – and courtesy – says at least two weeks before the event.
6. What do I need before I visit my local florist?  First – and most important – is a picture of your dress.  You can try to describe the color and style, but it’s best just to show it to your florist.  Be sure to bring along any pictures from the internet or magazines of styles you like and would like to use.

Your LOCAL florists at Boesen’s will work with you, personally, to create the perfect flower arrangement for your personality, your dress, your dancing style, and your dreams!  Call today to talk to one of our consultants!

A friend or loved one is under the weather.  You want to do something to make them feel better, but feel that there’s nothing you can do.  But that’s not necessarily true!

Sending flowers to an ailing sweetie has long been common practice, although you may think there’s no point and that it won’t help.  But think again!  While the thoughtfulness and beauty of flowers can be enough to uplift us, each flower has its own unique “energy” that can truly heal.  There is growing evidence that chromotherapy, the therapeutic use of color, actually affects people physiologically, mentally and emotionally.

So when you want to help someone feel better, what color should you send for the best results?  An article in The Bloomin’ Blog helped Boesen the Florist lay it out for you!

• Red – promotes feelings of energy and excitement, and gives a sense of protection.  The color red can pump your adrenaline, raise your blood pressure and heart rate, and make you want to MOVE.
• Orange – stimulates appetite and energizes nerves.  This color can encourage feelings of eagerness and happiness – and we all want that!
• Yellow – activates memory, purifies the body.  Sunshiny yellow brings on feelings of warmth and uplifts the spirit.
• Green – relieves tension, lowers blood pressure, helps alleviate depression. Green soothes and relaxes, brings on feelings of harmony and self-control.
• Blue – slows respiration and heart rate.  Blue promotes feelings of security, calm and soothing.
• Purple – encourages creativity and calms the mind and nerves.  Encourages feelings of spirituality and luxury.
• Brown – invokes a sense of order.  This color is earthy, wholesome and dependable.
• White – encourages mental clarity, purity, peace and enables fresh beginnings.
• Black – invokes a sense of potential and feelings of power, elegance and mystery.

Go ahead and send get well flowers!  Think of the situation or illness and what you want to bestow on your loved one, using this handy guide before you make your choice.  And for best results and satisfaction, call Boesen the Florist, your LOCAL florist!

Boesen the Florist wants to extend a great big THANK YOU for voting us “BEST LOCAL FLOWER SHOP” by Cityview readers once again!  Tom and Frank Boesen and the team at Boesen the Florist are very proud and humbled to have won this honor for 20 years running!  It means the most because it’s voted on by YOU, the people of Des Moines.

When words can’t say it, flowers often can, and our readers realize that.  When searching for the words, they continue to choose Boesen year after year.  This is a local shop with national accolades, as well as a wall full of Best Of awards.
~ Cityview

Boesen the Florist has been a family-owned and -operated flower shop in Beaverdale since 1923, with love of the business being passed down through FOUR Generations of Boesens.  The shops, expanded to include locations on Ingersoll and in the Downtown skywalk, are run by employees who are trusted as family and who care as much about the business and customer satisfaction as any one of the Boesens.

Throughout its operation, Boesen The Florist has always, and continues to invest in the most advanced technology available to the floral industry. Currently, a state-of-the-art floral online order entry and customer service system is in place to insure order accuracy. Boesen’s houses a 22-line call center, so customers can call and speak directly with a Boesen employee actually in the flower shop, rather than a faceless order-taker who isn’t even in our city.  Boesen’s stands behind its satisfaction guarantee – if you ever have a question, don’t hesitate to call the shop and speak directly with Tom Boesen himself and he will make it right for you.

In addition, Boesen’s is one of a handful of florists utilizing the most recent revelation in CO2 technology, the FloralKeeper™, to enhance respiration, refrigeration, bacteria control and ethylene displacement in all their floral coolers, increasing flower longevity and performance. As a result, Boesen the Florist is as well equipped as any florist in the nation to give customers the best possible product.

So thank you, Des Moines, for bestowing your trust in Boesen the Florist once again!  We hope to serve your flower and garden needs for generations to come!

Springtime brings the penultimate event for teenagers nationwide: PROM!  Girls and boys alike look forward to this season all year, where they get the chance to dress up and party down with their friends one last time before graduation and summer break.  The Bloomin’ Blog shares some great designs and fun ideas to get just the right corsage for you or your date!

•  Have FUN with it!  Prom is the perfect time to show your own style and, unlike weddings, pretty much anything goes! Take your favorite flower and make it into something fun and flirty – talk with a designer at Boesen’s about possible colors and decorations like glitter or gems.
• Play with color accents!  Your corsage doesn’t have to match your dress – why not use it as an embellishment and use complimentary colors to really make your dress POP!  Bring a picture of your dress into Boesen’s and let one of our designers work with you to make a brilliant corsage or boutonniere to really show you off!
• Bring a taste of the tropics to the Midwest!  Tropical flowers are bright colors and eye-catching shapes and just the right amount of ‘bling’ to accent any dress.  Whether you’re wearing fuschia, yellow or even black, there’s a gorgeous blossom to go along with it.  Let Boesen get creative and make a set of decorations including a corsage, boutonniere, and hair clip!

With Prom flowers, NOTHING is out of the question!  Whether you want to stand out and go bright and wild or you’d rather go with a classic and demure floral style, Boesen the Florist can make your Prom flowers the perfect look for your style!

Corsage photos courtesy of Bloomin’ Blog

While most people send flowers for happy occasions – a birthday, an anniversary, Valentine’s Day, a new job – many also send condolence arrangements when a loved one has passed.  But Bloomin’ Blog shares the story of similar circumstances that you might not think of as a reason to send flowers.

Those of us who own pets know that, while others may think it’s “only” a dog or “only” a cat, we know our pets are so much more than that.  For the owners whose pets greet them at the door every day with happy faces and purrs and wagging tails and many kisses, the loss of a pet is devastating.  Dogs and cats are our closest confidants, our best friends, and the ones who love us unconditionally.

While flowers can’t fill the hole left by the loss of a loved one, they can offer a bit of comfort.  Much like a hug, they don’t take the pain away, but they do lessen the heartache a bit.  Let Boesen the Florist help you show how much you care.