I am thrilled this year to name Winter Park treasure Ginny Enstad My Winter Park Neighbor of the Year 2021! It is so well deserved!
The past two years has me appreciating so many neighbors anew, appreciate them for what they bring and add to our LUVly community. Ginny is the perfect example.
Before I ever met Ginny Enstad, moving here in July of 2006, others I met would tell me I must meet her, would speak of her in such glowing, appreciative terms. The peacock is our official bird in Winter Park. If we had an official flower, I’m sure it must be an orchid, entirely because of Ginny and the gorgeous arrangements she has been creating since 1987.
Ginny opened her wonderful shop on Morse Boulevard in 2011. Before that, everything was sold from the Winter Park Farmer’s Market or delivered direct, including Local homes, office buildings and venues such as Amway Arena, Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center, The Alfond Inn, Advent Health locations and others. A number of large homes in Winter Park and vicinity are refreshed or replaced with fresh orchids each month by Ginny and her staff. If my own mother lived Locally, she’d know to expect a Ginny’s arrangement on her birthday & Mother’s Day!
Over the past two years, as the physical, mental & emotional health of so many in our society has been challenged, I believe the gorgeous arrangements from Ginny’s Orchids have been that much more welcomed & appreciated. So many times over the years I have been at her front door, end up holding it open for some Local resident holding forth an exquisite arrangement, bursting with color, the individual holding it beaming from ear to ear, surely thinking of how it may look in their home, considering the reaction of another who would be receiving it.
In a time in which so many of our neighbors have been shut up in their homes for extended periods, venturing out less than any other time in their lives, Ginny’s Orchids delivers these gorgeous arrangements to your door. Lasting not days or even weeks, but sometimes months, that gorgeous, long-lasting color is that much more a positive, up-lifting addition to your home.
Over the years I’ve coined numerous phrases associated with Ginny and her shop, from Winter Park’s Martha Stewart and Doyenne of Winter Park, to referring to her shop our Local Headquarters for Gorgeous. For so many special occasions and holidays, so many Locals immediately first turn to Ginny and her crew.
Ginny’s orchids is a family business, with husband Bob a constant presence around the shop, daughter Phoebe an employee & helper off and on many times over the years. I’m not sure if her son, George, has worked directly in the shop, but certain he is an enthusiastic supporter. Phoebe & George have in so many ways been there since Ginny’s Orchids first days, as she has shared with me so many times stories of delivering orchids with her baby carriage, kids up top with orchids sticking out of the bottom and back. Some of the stories are funny, all, to me, touching. It is a quintessential story of an American small business owned by a Mom.
Admittedly, yours truly has been one of those who has not always dealt in the best manner with the challenges of the past few years. It has been challenging for each and every one of us.
The color and beauty of arrangements created by Ginny and her staff, her ever-friendly and welcoming personality each time I visit, life highlights when they were sought and ended.
Thank you, Ginny, for being a wonderful neighbor, what you bring to our community! Congratulations on being My Winter Park Neighbor of the Year 2021!
I will be delivering your My Winter Park Neighbor Peacock Award tomorrow!