Fall 2017
Kyle Field Suites: Nicholls State
September 7-8, 2017
The Student American Institute of Floral Design has the opportunity to design and deliver arrangements for the suites at Kyle Field for the President, Board of Regents, and Chancellor of Texas A&M University.
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Being that it was the first game of the season it was a little crazy making the arrangements as well as doing the delivery. The first problem we encountered was when we were making all the test tubes that would go into a holder that we would install in the suites the next day, we ended up running out of some of the foliage needed for the arrangements. I fixed this by going out into the greenhouse and into the cooler and finding something similar to add to the test tubes. It ended up not actually being a big deal which is always good. The next problem we faced during this event was when we were trying to deliver when we first got to Kyle Field Mr. Mckinley had to call multiple people to let us in after waiting there for about 5 minutes we finally got in. Once we got up into the suites I had a good idea of what arrangements would go where, because some of them were similar to what we did for the suites in the past. After helping design arrangements for this event I learned that it is important to make sure you have enough materials needed for all the designs and if you don't then you have to be able to think on your feet and use your surroundings to improvise.
Kyle Field Suites: South Carolina
September 28, 2017 & October 2, 2017
The Student Institute of Floral Design gets to show off the design skills of Texas A&M Students by making the floral arrangements that go into the President, Chancellor, and Board of Regents suites at Kyle Field. These arrangements make the suites even more elegant and festive for the occupants of the suite and their guests.
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I assisted in making the small designs that were in little glass milk jugs. These designs had a holder mounted to the wall in the Chancellor's suite. The thing that was so strange about picking up these designs from Kyle Field the following monday was that a good chunk of the designs we went to pick up were missing. Some of the plants and even some of the bud vases. I asked Mr. Mckinley how he handles those things and he said that he just charges them for the vases that were taken. I thought it was very strange because all the people that I assume get to go into these suites for the game are important, wealthy people, so it's kind of funny if they're the ones who took the vases. I learned that if people take the vases or plants that they were renting from you then you just charge them for it, but make sure it is in your contract so they can't get mad about it later.
Flocking TAMU Hort Building
November 2-3, 2017
"A hallowed, time-honored tradition." Flocking of the Horticulture building is another one of Texas A&M's time-honored traditions. The "flock" represents a gesture of thanks to the many horticulturists that perpetuate their value and use in urban landscape.
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I helped set up over 200 plastic flamingos outside of the Horticulture building, and then take them down the next day. This was my first time participating in this horticulture traditions and it definitely became my favorite A&M tradition. I put the legs into the flamingos then placed them in the grass, trees, and plants outside of the horticulture building. Then the next day we had to try to get them out of the trees along with making sure to gather all the thin metal legs from the grass and landscaped areas outside the hort. building. Not only was it fun to participate in this tradition but it was nice to get to socialize with former horticulture students and professors and talk to them about how the department and industry has changed as a whole. What I found even more interesting about this tradition is that it's a tradition specifically for all people in the horticulture industry. The "flock" that was at Texas A&M travels all around the nation to other schools horticulture departments, and even the national horticulture convention. Helping "flock" the building taught me about the tradition of flocking and what it means to horticulturists all of the nation. Before this I had always just thought it was a fun thing landscape places had for display. I didn't realize that it was actually honoring horticulturists.
Kyle Field Suites: Auburn
November 2, 2017
Every game day at Kyle Field the Student American Institute of Floral Design works hard to create beautiful arrangements to go into the Presidents, Chancellors, and Board of Regents suites at Kyle Field. These designs show off Texas A&M students and their skills as well as making the suites have a festive feel for the game.
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For this game I was at the succulent table. I picked what succulents I believed looked best together and put them into a bigger pot then covered the container with moss, so you couldn't see the actual pot that the succulents were in. Once I finished this task I assisted in packing up all the designs into crates and making sure they were secure and would not break while being delivered the next day to the suites. After having delivered arrangements a few times we did not have any trouble on delivery luckily, but it did take awhile to get everything where it needed to be because we had to go on an adventure through Kyle Field to find a new suite Mr. Mckinley had to deliver some plants to. After helping with this event I learned that you should always double check that you know where you're going first, especially in Kyle Field because if not you'll wonder around for a while trying to find someone who actually knows how to get to that suite.
