Avenel Flower Shops

Avenel NJ News

Nov 3, 2016

Polo 'resurrected' at Stono Ferry on Sunday after 10-year hiatus

Chicago, New Zealand and France. Vann Flowers, a 47-year-old mother of two, started playing professionally when she was 36. She owns a polo club in Ravenel, Hyde Park Farm & Polo Club. Her grandfather owned the farm and left it to Vann Flowers and her brother when he died. Vann Flowers bought out her brother’s share, turned the farm into a polo club, went to school to learn how to sell timber and made enough money to start playing polo professionally. She now travels 2,000 miles a week to play the sport. Vann Flowers is on the cover of an upcoming book about Charleston’s 50 most interesting people. She maintains that polo flies under the radar when it comes to the most dangerous "extreme sports" that people traditionally think of.   “People get hurt and die playing polo more than any other sport in the world,” she said. “Your horses are 75 percent of your game and it can be very, very tricky. We play on a co-ed league, so these guys, it’s a contact sport. If you’re not touching somebody you’re not doing your job, and so a lot of people don’t know that. They think that it’s just riding around hitting a ball.” Between the eight players competing Sunday afternoon, there will be nearly 50 horses. Polo matches are divided into six chukkers, or periods. Each chukker lasts about 7½ minutes of playing time, which equates to about 20 minutes in real time. Players will have at least one horse for each chukker. The horses can’t physically handle much more than that. Because Vann Flowers competes so often, she might change out horses once every 3½ minutes, which means she could go through 15 horses over the course of the match Sunday. Polo also has no goalies. “It’s hard to find someone dumb enough to stand in the way of eight galloping horses,” Amigone said. Tickets for Sunday's match are $15 per person, with field tailgate spots running at $100. Vann Flowers said Charleston is the perfect place for a sport like polo to reintroduce itself. “Charleston is so historically bred for the sport. … I really think Charleston loves it, they want to see more of it and they want to know more about it.”  ... (Charleston Post Courier)

Jan 8, 2016

Downtown Charleston flower shop arranging a lively 20th anniversary celebration

From honoring the passing of nine Charleston firefighters to supporting Mother Emanuel AME Church, from the opening of the Ravenel Bridge to events celebrating Mayor Joe Riley, Tiger Lily has provided the flowers,” he said. “After 20 years Clara and I can look back and appreciate what our team has accomplished. We have an incredible staff, amazing customers and a town we love. What more can we ask for? Let’s celebrate.” Reach Warren L. Wise at (843) 937-5524 or twitter.com/warrenlancewise. (Charleston Post Courier)