Like so many others in the floral industry, this year's Connecticut Florist of the Year, Bob Buettner, grew up in it.
The state's top honor for florists was recently presented to Buettner by the Connecticut Florists Association.
His shop, Paul Buettner Florist of East Hartford, turned 50 years old this year. And Bob Buettner has been there all along.
Of course, as a child of a florist, he was always in the flower shop because Mom and Dad practically lived there. Bob's father routinely invested 70 hours a week building the business that bore his name.
Bob Buettner officially started working in the shop at age 16. Just 13 years later, his Dad walked in one day in 1973 and announced, "You're buying me out. I'm retiring." Bob was only 29 at the time with a wife and two small kids.
So Bob threw his heart and soul into being the best florist he could. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he was opening branches-four of them-in Rockville, Hartford, Ellington, and the original East Hartford. Gradually, he scaled back to just one because he realized "I couldn't divide myself in four."
The advent of the Hartford area florist delivery pool made the decision a lot easier. Buettner's floral arrangements could be delivered to all those towns and more.
But he never lost his love for the flower business.
"We deal in a gorgeous product that brings joy and relief to people," he believes. "I still enjoy coming to work every morning."
The "official" slogan of Paul Buettner Florist is "We Deliver Smiles." For that warm attitude, he's acquired a lot of loyalty. There's the customer that still comes into his flower shop every Friday to buy a rose for his wife. Buettner's has designed wedding flowers for three generations in some Hartford area families.
Bob's soft heart and gentle style make him the ideal florist. A skilled scuba diver, he's run "scuba adventures" for the Hole-in-the-Wall Camp for kids with cancer. For the Connecticut Florists Association, he not only serves on the Board of Directors, but also chairs the marketing committee where he busily promotes Flowers for Kids, holiday decorations for the children's hospitals in Connecticut, the Women's Expo, Connecticut Flower and Garden Show, and much more.
Few people know he's a devoted athlete who plays raquet ball every morning and rides his bike long distances-one trip stretched 400 miles.
Bob and his wife Sandy have a son, Mike, who lives in Miami, and a daughter, Mindy, who is slowly taking over the family business. Their three granchildren are all girls.