FULL-TIME STAFF

 

Owner-Manager Joyce Nicandri Sinicropi:

 

Joyce is a native of Seneca Falls, a graduate of Mynderse Academy and SUNY at Albany, B.S. cum laude and M.S. Before becoming involved in the florist business, she taught business education classes for 18 years at Mynderse, Corning Community College, Rush-Henrietta Central School, and Romulus Central School.

 

Learning the floral business and design function from Vito's Uncle Tony, she has managed the shop since 1980. Numerous workshops, classes, and training have provided her with floral design experience, and she has earned a certificate of Teleflora Professional Bridal Consultant. Duties include general supervision, customer service, marketing, advertising, purchasing, designing, bookkeeping and accounting, and computer support person.

 

She has extensive service to the community over the past 30 years serving on the board of directors of United Way, Chase-Manhattan Bank, Seneca Falls Historical Society, Seneca Falls Historic District Commission, Seneca County Chamber of Commerce, Seneca Falls Kiwanis, Seneca Falls ad hoc Economic Development Committee, Catholic Charities of the Finger Lakes, the Stewardship Council for the Bishop of Rochester, Mynderse Academy Alumni Association, and the Mynderse Academy Community Advisory Board.

 

She has also enjoyed membership and leadership roles in the Seneca Falls Business and Professional Women’s Organization, Delta Kappa Gamma, Seneca Falls Business Association, Seneca Falls Kiwanis Club, and has served St. Patrick’s parish in positions of trustee, lector, Eucharistic minister, and member of many committees, including Parish Council, Finance, Stewardship, Festival, and Guild and Altar Society.

 

She is married to Vito, has three cats--Skutch, Whiskers, and Junior--all strays who have found comfort at 15 Cuddeback St. Her hobbies include gardening--both floral and vegetable--and community and church service.

 

Designer Betty Birdsall Shaffer

 

While Betty lived her early years in Walton, NY, she moved to the Canoga area as a youngster and was graduated from Mynderse Academy. While there, she attended Wayne-Finger Lakes BOCES and completed a two-year ornamental horticulture course. She jokes that her dad just thought she took the course to get out of math class—Betty assures us that was not the case!! We agree with Betty for she is a very talented floral designer.

 

Before joining our design staff in 1985, Betty was chef, waitress, and event coordinator at Geneva on the Lake from 1981 – 1985, where her duties also included cooking, setting up events, and maintaining a fresh picking garden. (Talk about multitasking!!!)

 

Betty attended the prestigious Hixson School of Floral Design in Lakewood, Ohio, completing a very intensive floral design course. She has also attended many classes and workshops and has earned the certificate of Teleflora Professional Bridal Consultant.

 

Betty continues to multitask because her duties are many!! She is our most experienced designer, "straw bosses" the shop in Joyce's absence, is responsible for purchasing the fresh product and oversees the total design and delivery function. Her quality and design standards are as high as Joyce's and that leads as closely to perfection as is humanly possible.

 

She and her husband Mike have two beautiful children, Nicholas and Sarah. Her hobbies include crafts, gardening, and supporting activities of her children. She has also been extremely active in supporting Relay for Life, earning a special award this year for achieving over $2,500 in contributions with her total team achieving over $4,500.

 

Designer Michael Ameele

 

Michael comes to us from Newark, NY, where he was graduated from Newark High School. His college experience includes fashion design at Cazenovia College and he was graduated from SUNY at Morrisville in 2007 with a degree in ornamental horticulture with honors, with a specialization in landscape and floral design.

 

His interest in flowers and gardening began when he was 5 and his love for the outdoors continues through his involvement in hiking through nature. His previous experience while in college included floral shops in Bainbridge and Oneida before joining our staff in June of 2007. Our customers love him for his helpfulness, friendliness, creative abilities and wonderful sense of humor. Besides, he’s “easy on the eyes”! Well, actually, all the staff is "easy on the eyes"!

 

He has a background in fashion and has an eye for all types of design. Passersby are enjoying his talents through our window displays. He draws, paints, and does ceramics and photography. He also loves to sing and dance and enjoys traveling too! We are so glad to have this talented young man on our staff.

 

PART-TIME STAFF

 

Designer Rachel Serefine Liseno

 

Rachel was raised in Hall, NY, and was graduated from Marcus Whitman. She is a 1996 graduate of SUNY at Cobleskill where she earned an associate degree in Plant Science. While attending school, she placed 2nd in the Capitol District Flower Show for a garden design in the "Windows of World" Division.

 

She began her floral career with us in 1995 just prior to her college graduation and continued here until 2001, at which time she left to be a full-time mom. She occasionally helped during holidays but returned to us in November 2008 as a regular part-time employee. She says she's happy to be back because she missed floral so much! We are pleased to have her back too because she is a speedy and talented designer, friendly and very knowledgeable too! She is the gal who orders and cares for our in-store plants, keeps our coolers fresh and appealing and assists customers in placing orders.

 

She lives in Auburn with her husband Jeramie and 3 children--Leah, Mason, and Rowan. She enjoys crafting and gardening in her spare time!

 

Floral Prep Judi Ludwig

 

Judi joined our staff in November 2004 in the capacity of floral receiving and cooler preparation and now services one of our major commercial plant accounts.

 

She has an Associate degree in Applied Science from Virginia Technical Community College with a degree in landscape and growing. She and her husband John operate Stark Street Gardens during the May-June planting season, during which time Judi is on leave from our shop. Her nursery work spans over 20 years and includes experience in Airlie, VA; Blacksburg, VA; Newark, NY; and as grower and operator at Stark St. Gardens, Waterloo, NY.

 

She and John have six children and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere of the Finger Lakes and the communities and people surrounding them.

 

Buyer Bev Benassi Wheeler:

 

Bev is another native of Seneca Falls (and also Joyce's first cousin; Bev's Dad and Joyce's Mom were brother and sister) and is also a graduate of Mynderse Academy.

 

While Bev has extensive retail experience, she actually started her working career in banking. She soon switched to retail, starting at Rose Francis Dress Shop, and later at Crayton Drug in the cosmetics and gift departments. She then became a merchandiser for J C Penney Co., leaving that position to own and operate the Klopfer’s Book and Stationery Store in Geneva from 1981-1987. After selling her business, she became a merchandiser for a gift and greeting card company and then became an independent sales rep for several gift companies. She sold real estate for a while with late husband Al Farney and worked at a Christian book and gift shop in Henderson, NC.

 

Bev started part-time at our shop in 1996 and remained with us until she moved to North Carolina in 2002. When she returned “home” from the south, we welcomed her back to our staff. Although she works part time, she has taken on the responsibility for most of the gift purchasing and merchandising within the store. She is most helpful to our customers because she knows where all those gift items might be!

 

In her spare time, she enjoys golfing, swimming, gardening and taking care of abandoned or injured critters.

 

She has 3 grown daughters--Mary Lou, Cindy, and Jackie.

 

Bookkeeper Ann Ferrara Passifione

 

Ann was born and raised in Seneca Falls and is a graduate of Mynderse Academy. Her early work career was in the service professions of Dr. Milton Schulman, Dr. Augie Sinicropi, Dr. Paul Masuicca, and Drs. Fred Riegel and Bruce Birchenough.

 

She came to us in June 2007 and has taken much of the office burden off of Joyce's shoulders. She mostly works part time but is able to put in those extra holiday hours when needed (except when she is off to Florida for the winter) J She is well organized, professional and helpful to our customers.

 

She and husband Ed have 4 grown children, Eddie, Missy, Jennifer, and Liz and are proud to have 8 grandchildren who occupy most of her "spare" time. She also enjoys gardening and playing cards.

 

Service Rep Cherie Clark

 

Cherie grew up in the Romulus/Ovid area, and is a graduate of SUNY Brockport with a B.S. in History/Recreation/Parks with a Sociology Minor. She worked at Willard Psychiatric Center and Newark DDSO for over 36 years.

 

Cherie has worked for us for about 6 years, filling in with deliveries and servicing two of our corporate maintenance accounts. She also helps us with prep work when we are busy during holidays.

 

Cherie and her husband Jim live in Seneca Falls and have two grown children—Kiersten, a graduate of Clarkson University and who is the Director of Operations for Permatech; she is married and lives in North Carolina—and Jase, a 2008 graduate of Bucknell University, who is presently in dental school.

 

Cherie likes to read, bird watch, kayak, and snowshoe in her spare time.

 

DRIVERS

 

Our drivers are retirees Cherry Lind, Joe Dombrowski, and Gary Young. They do a terrific job getting your orders delivered in a timely and safe manner. They are dependable, friendly, intelligent, and besides all that, they know where almost everyone lives and/or works!!! You may also notice that all three gentlemen have served our country through their service in our armed forces. We are truly proud and grateful to them and to all our men and women who unselfishly serve to protect our rights and lives. THANK YOU!!!

 

Harold “Cherry” Lind was born in Junius and educated in the Seneca Falls school system. His nickname “Cherry” was placed upon him during elementary school by an old Seneca Falls character and he is more known by that name than by Harold!

 

After being graduated from Mynderse Academy, he followed his two brothers by enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Corps as an aviation cadet, graduating as a Pilot 2^nd Lt. He was assigned as pilot crew member on B-17 flying fortress bombers. He still is actively involved with airplanes; every Friday he and other aviation enthusiasts work on restoring a single engine aircraft.

 

After he was honorably discharged, he began his career employment with Goulds Pumps, first becoming a national sales representative in the Eastern/Central states of the country. While in sales training, he met his future wife Ruth Guthrie. (He says he knew she would be his wife the first time he saw her! How about that!?!?!) They were married in 1948 and have two grown children, Steven and Patricia, one granddaughter and one step great granddaughter.

 

When they moved back to Seneca Falls, Cherry became Traffic Manager at Goulds and he held that position for over 30 years, working for EPD Division after the division split.

 

After retirement he delivered for Flower Fashions until they closed. We were so fortunate to have him come to us. He says he “enjoys this work and especially the interaction with the personable staff.”

 

Cherry’s other interests include golf and singing in his church choir and in the Seneca Seniors. He also performs during the Seneca Falls Historical Society’s Senior Follies.

 

William Gary Young was born in Waterloo but has lived in Seneca Falls since the age of 4. He too is a graduate of Mynderse Academy. His working career started at Crayton Drug at the young age of 16 and then at Sylvania Electric at 18. Gary proudly served in the US Army during the Korean War from 1954-1956. Back in Seneca Falls, he returned to work at Sylvania until 1962. He then worked at Crayton Drug as Merchandising Manager for their three stores. He later owned and operated Sullivan Cigar Store for 13 years and then became a rural mail carrier for the Seneca Falls Post Office, retiring in 2000. He came to work for us in 2005.

 

Gary and his wife Bettylou (Millis) have three grown children—Bill, Cheryl and Cindi—and 1 granddaughter Amanda. Bettylou is a travel agent so Gary and she especially enjoy cruising each year and traveling with their children.

 

Gary has been active in our community for many years. He coached and was commissioner of the Seneca Falls Little League, Past President of the Seneca Falls Kiwanis Club, and was a former Seneca Falls JC member. He presently is a member of the Seneca Falls Elks Lodge #992, where he and Bettylou have many years of active service. He also enjoys baseball, college basketball and playing golf.

 

Joe Dombrowski was born and raised in Seneca Falls and was graduated from Mynderse Academy in 1948, at which time he promptly enlisted in the U.S. Air Force. After several months of tech training (radio and Russian language), he became a member of Air Force Intelligence and spent four years in Japan and Korea. Upon discharge in 1954, he joined the New York State Troopers for two and a half years.

He later went to work for Goulds Pumps and retired in 1993 as Traffic Manager for the Water Systems Division. He joined our staff in December of 2005.

 

His interests and hobbies include fishing (stream fly fishing), hunting, an occasional round of golf, gardening and walking his dog Midnight. He is somewhat of a gourmet chef and baker, having compiled his own cookbook with approximately 200 of his favorite recipes--some from family, friends, and several of his own originals.

 

He and his wife Faye (Coleman) have four children--Ricky, JoAnn, Tommy and Randy, 14 grandchildren, and 2 great grandsons.

 

 

 

TEMPORARY STAFF

 

We are so fortunate to have a group of temporary, occasional employees that we can call upon when the holidays or workloads call for extra help. They are:

 

Designer Annie Giovannini

 

Annie was born and raised in Seneca Falls and was graduated from Mynderse Academy in 1978 at which time she began a career as a legal secretary.

 

She came to us in 1996 and was trained in floral design at the prestigious Hixson School of Floral Design. She began Flowers by Belhurst in Geneva and operated her own shop, Sweet Annies Flower Market in Ithaca, NY.

 

She fills in as needed and is always willing to share her ideas and vast experience. Attention to detail is very important to her and she will go the extra distance to meet customer needs. Annie is a very talented designer and has lots of great ideas!

 

She is the proud mother of two grown young ladies, Nikki (who is training to be a nurse) and Abby (who has just been graduated from Duquesne College in Pittsburgh, PA, with a B.S. degree in music therapy.