Rose fundraiser for Rotary Club

The sale of roses assists Shriner’s Hospitals. Roses and vases are available in a variety of colours. (Jeff Helsdon Photo)

Jeff Helsdon, Editor

These roses have a beauty that never goes away.

Dave Palmer uses a 3-D printer to make unique roses and vases as a fundraiser for the Tillsonburg Shrine Club. This is the third year he has done this, and he sells them at Christmas, Mother’s Day, and Valentine’s Day in the Tillsonburg Town Centre. Palmer will sell his roses on Dec. 14 and 21, and Shriner cookies and cakes will also be available.

The roses are available in various colours, which can be mixed and matched. Dave teams up with his wife Cathy to sell the roses.

“Cathy is good at giving people colour suggestions,” Palmer said. “You can mix roses and vase colours.”

A vase and three roses are $20; a single rose is $5, and a vase is $10.

Dave pays for the material, so all the money raised goes to the Shriner Hospital for Kids in Montreal. Last year, this amounted to $5,000. The Shrine hospital also opened a clinic in London one day a week.

“That’s what I’m doing it for is to help kids,” Palmer said.

He has visited the Shrine Hospital in Montreal with other Shriners and has seen the state-of-the-art facility firsthand.

Palmer, who taught math at both Glendale and Annandale, joined the Masons in 2009 after he retired, and then the Shriners in 2015. He is currently Deputy District Grand Master. He was drawn to the group when he discovered both of his grandfathers were Masons.

“I looked into it and thought it would be a good experience for me,” he said. “It’s all about individual growth in Masons and the Shrine is fundraising.”

Palmer purchased a 3-D printer five years ago. When he came across the rose pattern, he saw an opportunity for the Shrine Club. He now has multiple printers making roses prior to his sale periods.

Purchasing a rose is also an opportunity to reminisce with the Palmers. Cathy taught math at Glendale, so many people who went to high school in Tillsonburg had one or the other for a teacher.

And best of all, these roses don’t have thorns.