Somehow I never noticed the flower stand however noticed this sign right away.......
Squamscott Road flower stand closing after 17 years of operation
STRATHAM — Regular commuters of Squamscott Road might notice Hathaways’ flower stand hasn’t planted the first crop of flowers for the season.
Instead, a sign hangs in front of the garden — reverted back to a lawn — explaining why they’re closing after 17 years of operation. The sign reads: Rototiller Stolen.
" ... the sign was for our regular customers, to let them know why we aren’t opening this year," said Glen Hathaway, who started the stand with his wife Tammy when his son John was 9 months old. Now, with John set to graduate from high school in June, he is watching his five gardens blend back in with his lawn.
The Hathaways’ rototiller — worth $2,700 — was stolen sometime in early May, which was the last straw for the family. "We did this for fun and to have something nostalgic," Hathaway said. "But with this aggravation, we just said the heck with it."
He said he saw truck tracks leading up to the barn the rototiller was leaning against. According to his estimate, it meant someone drove up his driveway and backed across his lawn to load the heavy piece of equipment onto their truck. He doesn’t think someone could have picked it up alone.
"We operated on the honor system here. Just leave your money in the box and take your flowers," Hathaway said.
They priced out some stems in buckets hanging from hooks of their shed, but also left pruning shears, bug repellent and buckets for people to pick their own.
"We don’t know if people are only paying for half of what they took or something, but that was alright," he said. "But starting a couple years back we would price stems out, put them in the bucket and the whole bucket would disappear."
Originally, he collected money in an aluminum mailbox he padlocked shut and cut a slit in the top for bills and change. "They ripped that right open and took the money," he said dejectedly.
He replaced it with a metal lock box, which thieves also pried open with a screwdriver. By the end, he had a gun-metal grey safe bolted to the table and wall of his flower stand. "I said if they rip the safe off we were all done," he said, "but they took the rototiller instead.
"I was really angry about it for days, but then these people started knocking at my door," Hathaway said. The people were his former customers, some offering their rototillers to borrow, some offering to till his gardens themselves. One man even offered to just give him one free and clear.
"There are still good people out there," he said. "They are just fewer and far between it seems."
Hathaway said he doesn’t think they’ll reopen again. "We’re just disappointed," he said. "Maybe in a week we’ll change our mind, or next season or never."
His customers still honk and wave and some stop by to see what happened or offer their support. He doesn’t know most of their names, he knows them by their cars: blue Caddie man, maroon Hyundai guy.
"It makes me realize that a lot of people in this town really appreciated this," he said. Hathaway talked to some people who drove Squamscott to work every day who said they looked forward to watching the progression of his gardens through the season.
"I would just be getting ready to plant for the season right now," he said. But for now, only weeds, grass and a small patch of blue flowers grow from the five gardens; the last remnants of the last season of the Hathaways’ flower stand.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20100524-NEWS-100529910
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