Trares
A new creature has taken up residence on our front porch.
He’s gray with wide, ringed eyes, grabby little paws and a charming smile. And bursting from the top of his head is an array of golden yellow blooms.
His name is Bandit, and he was specifically chosen by Anthony to be the centerpiece of our outdoor autumn decorations.
You see, Anthony’s school started advertising in mid-August a fundraising mum sale. The school had partnered flower producer to provide a bevy of potted fall flowers to bring out the festive spirit of your patio.
The options were pretty enticing. You could get potted mums in yellow, orange, red or purple. For a little bit extra, you could get those mums with a decorative character pot — Jack the Pumpkin, Spin the Spider, Harvey the Scarecrow, and of course, Bandit the Raccoon.
At first, I figured we’d just let this fundraiser pass us by. As a parent of an elementary school kid, I understand that it’s our responsibility to pitch in with the various fundraising efforts that come home.
Certainly, the school and its PTO does some great things supporting students such as our son, and we’re happy to do a dine-to-donate every now and then, or buy some Saturday morning doughnuts for the family.
But we didn’t really need more mums; I had some growing in our garden already, just about ready to bloom. We’d be fine to just ignore it, I thought.
Wrong.
Anthony had seen the order form, and he was excited. Not only does he love getting flowers for our outdoor areas, but how could we pass up a friendly little critter like Bandit?
We couldn’t — that was the answer. Figuring it was for a good cause, we placed our order for one yellow mum and one Bandit pot. Then, to maximize the impact, we reached out to the grandparents to see if they wanted to help.
I remember when I was a kid, selling boxed chocolates and wrapping paper to support my school, and hawking candy bars for our baseball team. When all else failed, you could count on grandma and grandpa to go overboard; that’s kind of what grandparents do.
And so it was with Anthony’s grandma, my mom. She was planning on coming down for a visit the day the mums were being delivered anyway, so she went all-in with her order: pots of flowers in red, purple and two yellows, and two jack-o-lantern containers to go with them.
When I loaded them in the car, they took up the entire back seat.
But everyone was happy. My mom had some (admittedly) beautiful flowers to display at her house while supporting her grandson. We also have a nice new decoration brightening our outdoors. Anthony has a fun-faced character greeting him every time he comes home, and his school benefits from a successful fundraiser.
Might just skip the next one, though.
Ryan Trares is a senior reporter and columnist for the Daily Journal. Send comments to [email protected].
