KARIN - if you are "lurking around" please DO NOT read this thread...

Thank You!
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ok all, as some of you may already know, and for information to the "newbies"; for the last two years, i have organized "the great flower conspiracy" for the taft show. the goal is to purchase as many flowers as possible to surprise karin (it may be harder this year, but we're gonna try), both for the show and her birthday. last year we had twenty-five dozen white roses placed on the stage prior to OtR's set, it was beautiful. i think anyone attending the show and saw and heard karin's reaction will agree that this was a worthwhile effort on our part. twenty-five dozen roses are an awesome sight, they were everywhere...can we top that this year? i hope so. also, if you attend you will get to see the flowers be a part of this night, if you are unable to attend, it is a great way for you to still be a part of this beautiful evening. for the last two years it was a complete and staggering surprise for karin (linford was in on it along with us) she was almost in tears, but in a good way.

i will try to briefly explain; the goal is for everyone interested in contributing to a flower fund to send their donation to me. i will buy the flowers/vases etc in bulk (where we get much more "bang for the buck") and deliver them to the taft before the show where they can be set up on stage for OtR's set that night. also, last year, we had quite the "flower assembly line" going on saturday morning at kylie's, if you are interested in helping assemble the flowers, drop me an e-mail or pm along w/your donation amount and i'll follow-up with you.

like in the past, there is no minimum and no maximum donation, all is appreciated. i ask/encourage anyone sending a donation to also send a note or card to K&L, i will give the cards/notes to them in an envelope or box after the show so they know who was a part of the "conspiracy". they will not know (nor will anyone but me) what amounts were donated by whom, this is truly intended to be an equal communial gift from their fans. last year, most contributions were in the $5-$20 range, with a few higher in the $50 range...again, all donations are accepted and appreciated.

the way it works,
- copy & paste your name & e-mail info (much like we do on vines), PLEASE DO NOT POST YOUR CONTRIBUTION AMOUNT!
- PM or e-mail me the amount of your contribution asap
- i will reply w/my mailing address to send the contribution to, please send checks or money orders or via paypal (bivester@yahoo.com) if possible. cash in the mail scares me.
- i will deposit the checks in early december and begin negotiating for the best deal i can find on roses, i will attempt to buy all white roses for the show this year
- i will update the amount committed on a regular basis, but please if you commit, send the funds asap.
- PLEASE INFORM ME OF ALL CONTRIBUTION AMOUNTS & MAIL ALL CHECKS ON OR BEFORE SUNDAY 12.04

*as a side note, each year there are comments/suggestions regarding taking this money and doing other things with it, like charitable contributions, gifts for K&L, etc. and while that is commendable & understandable, please understand one is not exclusive of the other. if you would like to do something on your own, so be it, but please take it to another thread. please don't rain on this parade, so to speak. this is intended to be a gift on their biggest performance/show of the year, a show of appreciation and support from us, their fans and also to allow everyone (in attendence or not) to participate in the show in a personal way (it also has linford's assistance, blessing & endorsement). and besides, karin likes flowers.

feel free to contact me with any questions. thanks in advance.

CONTRIBUTORS to THE GREAT FLOWER CONSPIRACY:
- bill - bivester@yahoo.com
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CONTRIBUTORS to THE GREAT FLOWER CONSPIRACY:
- bill - bivester@yahoo.com
- trudes - ortrudes@comcast.net
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CONTRIBUTORS to THE GREAT FLOWER CONSPIRACY:
- bill - bivester@yahoo.com
- trudes - ortrudes@comcast.net
- shawn
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CONTRIBUTORS to THE GREAT FLOWER CONSPIRACY:
- bill - bivester@yahoo.com
- trudes - ortrudes@comcast.net
- shawn
- keith
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CONTRIBUTORS to THE GREAT FLOWER CONSPIRACY:
- bill - bivester@yahoo.com
- trudes - ortrudes@comcast.net
- shawn
- keith
-chica - pm me please
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CONTRIBUTORS to THE GREAT FLOWER CONSPIRACY:
- bill - bivester@yahoo.com
- trudes - ortrudes@comcast.net
- shawn
- keith
-chica - pm me please
-dannyboy

CONTRIBUTORS to THE GREAT FLOWER CONSPIRACY:
- bill - bivester@yahoo.com
- trudes - ortrudes@comcast.net
- shawn
- keith
-chica - pm me please
-dannyboy
-Jeanne

CONTRIBUTORS to THE GREAT FLOWER CONSPIRACY:
- bill - bivester@yahoo.com
- trudes - ortrudes@comcast.net
- shawn
- keith
-chica - pm me please
-dannyboy
-Jeanne
- Becky (will send PM with e-mail)

CONTRIBUTORS to THE GREAT FLOWER CONSPIRACY:
- bill - bivester@yahoo.com
- trudes - ortrudes@comcast.net
- shawn
- keith
-chica - pm me please
-dannyboy
-Jeanne
- Becky (will send PM with e-mail)
- christina a.k.a. the flower nazi (was there even a question?)

CONTRIBUTORS to THE GREAT FLOWER CONSPIRACY:
- bill - bivester@yahoo.com
- trudes - ortrudes@comcast.net
- shawn
- keith
-chica - pm me please
-dannyboy
-Jeanne
- Becky (will send PM with e-mail)
- christina a.k.a. the flower nazi (was there even a question?)
- stivmc, amanda, and paige

*bump*

CONTRIBUTORS to THE GREAT FLOWER CONSPIRACY:
- bill - bivester@yahoo.com
- trudes - ortrudes@comcast.net
- shawn
- keith
-chica - pm me please
-dannyboy
-Jeanne
- Becky (will send PM with e-mail)
- christina a.k.a. the flower nazi (was there even a question?)
- stivmc, amanda, and paige
- michelle [i'll give you $$ in OH next week]*


*that's right, i said NEXT WEEK! MUAHAHAHA!

**bump**

ok, we are getting close. i thought i'd bump this again for any last minute contributions.

looks like we are right on target to match or slightly exceed last year. here's hoping for at least 25 dozen (we did 24 last yr) white roses this year.

thanks to all those that have contributed to this point...

ps: i haven't received many cards to give to K&L as of yet from the contributors. you guys may wanna get these to me asap...

CONTRIBUTORS to THE GREAT FLOWER CONSPIRACY:
- bill - bivester@yahoo.com
- trudes - ortrudes@comcast.net
- shawn
- keith
-chica - pm me please
-dannyboy
-Jeanne
- Becky (will send PM with e-mail)
- christina a.k.a. the flower nazi (was there even a question?)
- stivmc, amanda, and paige
- michelle [i'll give you $$ in OH next week]*
- captsomer - destinyyacht@fuse.net

Um, I can't remember... did I do this?

yep. you did @ cst.

thanks for askin', how you doin'?

i was just informed by the distributor that there is a shortage of white roses, some sort of recent "blight" and we may not be able to get enough white roses (26 dzn ordered). if we can't get all 26 dzn in white, i have substituted red. i don't want to mix them.

drag, i really love the look of the white ones on stage, but red will still be pretty.

I like red better. I am just sad I won't be there to see them. Take plenty of pictures.

Oh, I think red roses will be very pretty on stage.

Just sayin'.

from sunday's enquirer, "things to do in cincinnati over the holidays"

Sunday, December 11, 2005
Over the Rhine and White Roses

Karin Bergquist and Linford Detweiler play their Christmas show at the Taft Theatre on Saturday.

The annual Christmas show by Over the Rhine at the Taft Theatre on Saturday is not only one of the year's most popular concerts, it may also be the most fragrant.

This year for the third time, fans are planning a "flower conspiracy" to fill the Taft stage with white roses for the husband-and-wife duo of Karin Berquist and Linford Detweiler, and to mark Berquist's birthday on Dec. 13. This is the 11th year for the holiday show, and the sixth at the Taft.

The fans' aim is to best last year's total of 24 dozen flowers by "one more rose" at least, said Bill Ivester of Louisville, the organizer of the floral tribute.

"It's a show of appreciation and support from us, their fans," said Ivester, who gave his age as "nearly 50."

"Besides," he said, "Karin likes flowers."

"It's awfully sweet of them," Detweiler said of the flower conspirators. "They just sort of flood the stage and make Karin feel like she won the lottery. It's beautiful and it does make the show feel special."

This year, concert sponsor WNKU-FM is throwing a benefit for itself by offering a dinner-and-show package that will include a brief visit from the evening's stars.

The package, at $75 per ticket, includes a center floor seat for the show and a pre-show buffet dinner from Cahill's Catering served in the downstairs ballroom of the Taft. The highlight of the dinner will be a drop-in visit from Berquist and Detweiler, as well as guest artists Amy Rigby and Kim Taylor.

Detweiler said the holiday show "for us has a lot to do with survival, celebrating the fact that we are still doing this."

"We did our first show at Sudsy (Malone's) 15 years ago to about 20 people," he said. "I don't know that we ever imagined we would be playing the Taft 15 years later."

Tickets to the benefit dinner and Over the Rhine show at the Taft Theatre, 317 E. Fifth St., are $75; (859) 572-6500. Tickets to the show only are $18 (plus $5.90 service charge and other fees), through Ticketmaster.com.

Margaret A. McGurk

Cool. I guees the secret is out.

thanks to all of those who participated. there were flowers everyhere, the entire front of the stage was covered, end-to-end. they were around the monitors, around karin's mic stand. everywhere. it was beautiful (smelled nice too).

we re-used the flowers tonight at the st. elizabeth's show. the old church was beautiful, with much work done but much left to do. brandon's wife (i'm sorry, i suck with names) and drew and wendy did a great job on the set-up and the roses were the perfect finishing touch. after the show karin kept several dozen and gave the rest to fans since they were heading out to nashville rather than going home tonight as expected. it was nice to see the flowers enjoyed and shared multiple times this year.

below is a pic (swiped) from hometown boy dave's website:
http://www.daverohman.com/taft2005/roses.jpg
there were still far more than it looks like here, a total of 26 dozen white roses and one big poinsettia.

after the show, i gave karin all of the cards and letters that were sent and a list of everyone that participated. she was very touched and appreciative. thanks again, anybody up for GFC v.4.0?

They were gorgeous. I now have a vase of them on top of my entertainment center. Thanks to Karin, Bill and the folks who assembled the roses into the vases Saturday morning.

(I'm up for next year. )

I am up for helping with the flower arranging for next year as well. I love a good flower arranging party!

They looked great Bill! Thanks for organizing, it was great being a small part of it. Sorry I wasn't able to get a card to you, I included one with my gift, they'll get it eventually I suppose

We have one single rose in our kitchen to remember the event. Thanks Zayne!

i agree -- the flowers were beautiful. and thank you, bill and karin, for letting us take a vase home. the roses look very pretty on the dining room table.

and bill, i think the poinsetta was a GORGEOUS touch!