Amos Flower Shop News
New Urban Farm Brings Cheer to Deserving Community
Tuesday, August 14, 2018Purviance said.To supply those people who deserve flowers, What Cheer Flower Farm has partnered with Amos House, the Ronald McDonald House of Providence, and Meals on Wheels of Rhode Island. The women deliver bouquets and buckets of cut flowers to these institutions and other partners.About 90 percent of the flowers currently being grown at the farm were started from seed by Purviance in her kitchen and in a friend’s basement. The rest of the plants were donated by Green Animals Topiary Garden in Portsmouth.The farm doesn’t plan on growing vegetables, because it doesn’t want to compete with Southside Community Land Trust and other urban farmers.Besides brightening people’s lives with free flowers — 1,000 have so far been donated — the nonprofit’s mission also includes reversing urban blight, creating a job training center for Rhode Island residents to help them enter the state’s $2.5 billion “green” economy, and making Providence famous for urban flower farming.Chicken manure from Scratch Farm and horse manure from a gentleman farmer in Rehoboth, Mass., have been used to build soil. The property’s 70,000-square-foot monstrosity will be dealt with after another raised flower bed is installed. The farm rents a meter from Providence Water, which allows it to use a fire hydrant for watering. The water is stored in donated tanks of various sizes.Where the dilapidated building now stands, the co-founders envision a barn, classroom space, an office, and space for lease. The footprint won’t be anything near the building's current 70,000 square feet.What Cheer Flower Farm has applied for a brownfield remediation grant with the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. An ongoing inventory assessment didn’t find elevated levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The owners have worked with the National Resources Conservation Service and David Foss of Wilcox & Barton Inc., a Vermont-based environmental consulting firm.The property is in better toxic shape than the new owners predicted, but there’s still much work to be done. Much of that work will revolve around fundraising. As a 501(c)(3), the organization will rely on grants, donations, volunteers, and kindness. They also plan to host fee-based workshops for hobby gardeners and amateurs. https://www.ecori.org/smart-growth/2018/8/3/new-urban-farm-gives-back-to-community-literally
Deep field set for Bridge of Flowers 40th anniversary
Tuesday, August 14, 2018Scott Mindel, of Burlington, Vermont, also returns.Rop is a member of the Western Mass. Distance Project, and will have four teammates joining him. One of those is Amos Sang, of Chicopee, who won the 2014 Bridge of Flowers. Sang won the New England 5-mile championship this season with a time of 24:36.Northampton’s Ben Groleau, another Western Mass. Distance Project runner, is the UMass record-holder in the mile with a time of 4:01. Groleau was fourth at the New England 5-mile championships in 25:27. Dennis Roche, of Springfield, another WMDP runner, finished fifth last year at the Bridge of Flowers.The women’s field will be just as deep. Last year’s champion, Holly Rees, of Cambridge, is returning. Rees ran an average of just under 6 minutes a mile in winning the women’s crown in 37:05.Rees will be challenged by Semehar Tesfaye, of West Roxbury. Tesfaye won the Bridge of Flowers in 2016 in 39:03.Another major challenger is newcomer Aisling Cuffee, who graduated from Stanford but now lives in North Grafton and runs for Saucony under coach Ray Treacy. Cuffee has a 15:11 personal record in a 5K.The third, fourth and fifth-place finishers from a year ago also return in the women’s field. Apryl Sabadosa, of Westfield, took third. Karen Bertasso, of Albany, New York, is a two-time Bridge of Flowers winner. She was fourth last year. The fifth-place finisher from a year ago was Jenna Giglioti, of Northampton, who joins Sabadosa as two of the top female runners in the Western Mass. Distance Project.Another person to keep an eye on is newcomer Kim Nedeau, of Leverett, who is a top hill runner in New England and placed second at the Mount Washington Road Race in 2016.Ashley Krauss, of Easthampton, recently placed eighth at the James Joyce 10K in Dedham, which served as the U.S. championship for the Master’s (ages 40-49) Division. Sidney Letendre, of Florence, returns after running an 8:11 pace on the course last season at the age of 62. https://www.gazettenet.com/Bridge-of-Flowers-19387803
Sang, Cuffe rule Bridge of Flowers
Tuesday, August 14, 2018Saturday’s race. He moved into the lead heading up the daunting 1-kilometer Crittenden Hill, pushed the pace and broke free from a pack of five runners. That’s when Chicopee’s Amos Sang came charging, however. Sang, the 2014 champion, closed the gap on the downhill portion following the summit, and eventually took the lead as he and Leibold turned onto the brief spell of Route 112 just before Mile 4. It was tight down the stretch, with the pair swapping spots twice, before Sang broke free late and crossed with his second Bridge of Flowers title in 25:13. Leibold settled for second place, nine seconds back in 25:22.“Today was more about conserving speed,” began Sang of the race. “After (Crittenden Hill), it’s a gradual downhill so I was able to pick up momentum and speed. I didn’t want to do anything crazy the first mile and a half. Just keep (Leibold) in sight and try and reel him in later in the race.”Leibold, who starred at Georgetown and was eventually an All-American at Stanford, said his strategy was to make a move on the uphill portion of the race. Growing up in Virginia, he said Crittenden Hill reminded him of jaunts through the Shenandoah Valley near his grandparents’ house.“(Crittenden) was longer and steeper though,” he said with a laugh. “I used it as a place to go for the win. I was trying to get away on the hill and keep pressing down the hill. I was able to get some momentum and open up the pack a bit. (Sang) kept the pressure on.”Indeed, Sang’s closing speed in the final mile-plus was the difference. The 29-year-old 2014 champion is part of the Western Mass. Distance Project, and he’s fresh off a New England 5-mile championship back in June.“I really made a point of having that closing speed,” explained Sang. “I was able to pick it up around Mile 3 and then that fifth mile, it was a sprint.”Framingham’s Benjamin Groleau finished third overall in 25:37, as he was in the lead pack for much of the first half of the race before Sang and Leibold separated themselves. Two-time champion Glarius Rop of Agawam was fourth in 26:03, followed in fifth place by Teague O’Connor of Burlington, Vt. (26:10). Sh... https://www.recorder.com/Bridge-of-Flowers-19415790
'Utter chaos': ICE arrests 114 workers in immigration raid at Ohio gardening company
Tuesday, July 03, 2018And everyone was just crying. It makes me really sad knowing that they’re going to take some people away,” she told the TV station, weeping. Rosa Ramos, whose stepfather was taken into custody, shared with WNWO a text exchange with her stepfather, who sent a picture of himself as he rode an ICE bus headed to Michigan. “Are they going to take away your cellphone now?” Ramos asked her stepfather in Spanish. “No, but it will run out of battery,” he responded. “Okay, I love you,” she said. “Me too,” he replied. The 114 people arrested Tuesday were taken to detention facilities in St. Clair County, Michigan; Seneca County, Oh... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/06/06/utter-chaos-ice-arrests-114-workers-in-immigration-raid-at-ohio-gardening-company/
Havana florist and doll shops are among businesses prohibited for American shoppers - Miami Herald
Wednesday, March 14, 2018GAESA and the hotels and restaurants became part of the Gaviota Tourism Group, which belongs to the military. Habaguanex, GAESA and Gaviota are all on the restricted list.Orlando Ramos Blanco, the president of the San Cristobal Tourism Agency, said the stores shouldn’t be on the list. They remained with the Office of the Historian, which is directed by historian and preservationist Eusebio Leal, he said. San Cristobal is the Historian Office’s tourism agency that emphasizes sustainable historical, cultural and heritage tourism in Havana and nine other Cuban cities.“We were on the list in the old configuration but now the Habaguanex brand no longer exists. It’s now part of Gaviota and the little stores belong to the Office of the Historian. We have kept them,’’ Ramos said. “This is a lack of knowledge.”What’s more, San Cristobal was never on the list. “I will say that with capital letters,” said Ramos. “We have communicated this to our clients.” In response to a query from the Miami Herald, a State Department spokesperson said: “The Department intends to update the Cuba Restricted List periodically and will consider relevant information, as applicable, on a case-by-case basis.” No changes have been made in the restricted list since it was published last November.A Gaviota flag flies outside the Hotel Ambos Mundos where Ernest Hemingway used to write. Mimi Whitefield mwhitefield@MiamiHerald.com Among the nearly two dozen Habaguanex hotels that were transferred to Gaviota are the pink-hued Hotel Ambos Mundos, where Ernest Hemingway used to stay in the 1930s and where it is said that he began writing For Whom the Bell Tolls; the Palacio del Marque´s de San Felipe y Santiago de Bejucal and the Hotel Conde de Villanueva, a favorite of artists and intellectuals.These clearly fall under the Gaviota umbrella. A Gaviota flag flies outside the Ambos Mundos, and the staff at both of the latter hotels say they really haven’t seen any American groups since November when their hotels were added to the restricted list.“French, Russian, Canadian, Swedish visitors, yes,” said the front desk clerk at the Palacio, “but we haven’t seen the Americans since the list came out.”