A woman peruses the herb section of the sale late Saturday afternoon.
By James Kinneen
Hometown Weekly Reporter
On Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., any Walpole resident smart enough to be on the lookout for Mother’s Day flowers, plants, and strawberry shortcake swung by the Epiphany Parish’s Mother’s Day Plant and Strawberry Shortcake Kit Sale. With the money going to outreach for the church, there was a steady stream of customers looking for everything from flowers to vegetables and herbs. In fact, according to Jan Nuzzolo, the potted plants were such a hit the parish sold out of them three times.
“We generally have large potted mix plants, geraniums, and we have a lot of hanging plants. We do sell individual potted plants as well for people to do containers with, and vegetables and herbs. I think our biggest seller are the hanging plants. We sell a lot of those. In fact, we’ve sold out of thise three times today. So they’re very popular for mothers, especially with tomorrow being Mother’s Day.”
While the pumpkins from the parish’s Pumpkin Patch came from a Navajo reservation in Farmington, New Mexico, the plants for the Mother’s Day event came from a farm in North Walpole. This was the third year working with that specific farm, with Nuzzolo noting they are trying to keep things local.
But while flowers and plants are Mother’s Day staples, the strawberry shortcake kits might seem like an odd addition. However, while not a very well-known Mother’s Day treat, they are a very well known part of Epiphany Parish. Noting they would add “a taste of summer” to the holiday, Nuzzolo explained the addition of the strawberry shortcakes was also due to the uncertainty over whether the Epiphany Parish’s marquee summer event will be taking place.
“The church is known for selling strawberry shortcake at The Village Fair," she explained, “which is typically in June, and which we weren’t able to have last year because of COVID. We’re not sure what that’s going to look like this year. It’s probably something that might not happen again this year. But we’re known for the strawberry shortcake, so it’s a big draw for people. And we decided to do it also because it’s a kit, and it’s a simple thing to put together when you get home. You get a cup of strawberries and a cup of whipped cream and a biscuit. Anyone can put it together for mom or for their special loved one.”
