Sharon Elizabeth's Florist in Berlin Gets Major Honor From Travelers

Sebby and Sharon Malespini provided the flowers for a person who was on the Travelers Golf Tournament landscape team.

That person was approached by Travelers officials who asked him to make a large rose umbrella, the emblem of the insurance company.

"He told them he couldn't do it but he knew someone who could and that was us," Sebby Malespini said. "We were really happy that he told them about us and then it was a case of we needed to deliver."

The video shows in fast motion the entire process of the making of the umbrella. 

"With the calculations it was a weeks worth of work," Sebby Malespini said. "We started with the calculations and then cut the plywood and foam, painted it and put it together to make sure it fit. I guess all of the different parts all took about the same time."

Once the plywood was cut and foam was pasted on, 7,000 roses were cut and applied by hand. That took between six and seven hours.

"We've done some big jobs but this probably had the biggest splash factor," Malespini said. "Where we have done some major job at weddings there might have been 300 people there to see the job. Here, with the umbrella being on the 18th hole at the Travelers thousands and thousands of people are seeing it."

The Sharon Elizabeth's team brought in the umbrella on Father's Day, the Sunday before the tournament week started. 

"We brought it in and I brought my kids with me so they could see it," Sebby said. "We're setting it up and the CEO of Travelers, Jay Fishman, took the kids and walked them around the course. This guy has a zillion things on his mind but he took the time to show them the kid's zone and the mini golf course. He was so nice and so were all of the people we worked with. It was a great experience." 

Malespini left his house in East Berlin each morning at 5:30 to check the umbrella. He continued that routine all the way through the final day of the tournament. 

"We had some rain that week and some wind but we were lucky not to have any damage," he added.