Women’s Forum holds monthly meeting

The Woman’s Forum met for their normal meeting Tuesday, Jan. 22 and had special guest speaker Krista Wilcox, who is owner of The Bouquet and has formed a partnership with Michelle Simmonds, who has the Pixie Dust Rentals.

Wilcox is an event planner and a florist, who can put an event together for 50 or 250 people or a wedding completely planned or partially planned depending on the people involved.

Wilcox is a former English teacher at Breckenridge High School, who did the Coronation her last four years on the faculty. She decided that if she could do that event successfully then she could plan any event.›After she left teaching at BHS, Wilcox opened her flower shop, known as ‘The Bouquet’ and found success, but decided she could do it from her home. Simmonds joined her and the two women put their collective heads together and came up with the new design for ‘The Bouquet,’ as well as a new idea for a partnership that included a rental place for any event they planned.

As a result, The Bouquet got a face lift and a new purpose as a rental, event-planning floral shop. It now has a versatile approach using the individual talents of both women to plan weddings locally, rent the needed support materials and do the floral arrangements, which Wilcox does in the back of her shop. It may not be a wedding event but whatever event it is, the women can plan it and supply all the materials.

Additionally, The Bouquet periodically brings in other local entrepreneurs who are running their own businesses›from their homes and hosts a combined event to show off the individual entrepreneurs who are right here in Breckenridge. An example includes Leslie Blackerby and her online clothing and homemade jewelry, as well as other artistic endeavors, including her stained glass items on the side. At Christmas, as part of the Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Mingle Jingle’ event downtown, The Bouquet had several local girls share their expertise in a combined event.

Earlier in the morning, Forum members came together to play Bridge and Liverpool Rummy and then stopped for lunch catered by Ernie’s Spanish Kitchen.

The hostess chair was Pat Knight and co-chair was Mary Thompson along with their committee of Lisa Echols, Sharon Wimberley, Annette Thompson and Ann Miller.

The high score in Bridge was won by Diana Fambro and the low score winner for Liverpool Rummy was Jaclyn Morehart. The ‘Door Prize’ was provided by Ann Miller and won by Cassie Griffith.

The main focus of the morning announcements was the Community Service project led by Mona Craig, which had collected stuffed animals to be distributed to the Stephens County Sheriff’s office, Breckenridge Police Department, Sacred Heart Ambulance Service and EMTs at Stephens Memorial Hospital. There were at least four sacks of stuffed animals that went out the door today in support of that project.

Next month will be support for Meals-on-Wheels, which usually has 65 members, with 25 of them who are diabetic and homebound. Those meals are cooked at the Senior Center and delivered by volunteers twice a week through the Meals-on-Wheels program. The other three days meals are provided by Stephens Memorial Hospital. Meals-on-Wheels also accepts donations to help pay for their meals, which costs $4 a day.

Another event was announced to benefit Virginia’s House in Graham and Dr. Goodall’s House in Breckenridge and is set for Thursday, Jan. 7, at the Young County Arena, ‘Bingo for Bags.’› Designer or vintage hand bags can be donated. This event is slated to raise funds in support of the needs of abused, neglected and traumatized children through their combined advocacy programs.