By Randy Arrington
LURAY, Feb. 14 — Where once a small town florist may have known everything about everyone, following them and their families from the cradle to the grave…Donnie Ernest says he sees more new faces today.
“Wanda and Reed knew all of that,” he said of his Luray flower shop’s former owners. “But I do know about every road in the county.”
Ernest began his education of the Page Valley highways on Feb. 14, 1974 — the day his cousin took him to Vivian’s to talk to Wanda and Reed Tate about getting a part-time job so he could leave school early.
“As soon as I asked about a job, Reed said, ‘Take your coat off and get to work,'” Ernest remembers. That was 50 years ago today — Valentines Day 1974. A program in his business class allowed students to get out of school at 1:30 p.m. if they had a job. So 18-year-old Donnie, having just moved to Luray from just inside the Beltway at Camp Springs, Md., took the first job offer he got and started making deliveries for Vivian’s Flower Shop in a 1964 station wagon for $1.80 per hour.
“I didn’t think this was my career,” he says. “Everybody says it’s odd that I stayed in one place for 50 years…but you know what they say, if you enjoy what you do, you never work a day in your life.
“It’s been more of a choice than a burden…I never dreaded coming to work,” Donnie continues. “I never grew weary of it…it was a blessing to get a job like that.”
Ernest would learn how to make flower arrangements from the Tates, and eventually purchase the small shop in 2009. He carried on the name, which dates back to 1947 when Vivian Black purchased it from Donahoe’s, a Front Royal florist that expanded into Luray in 1943. The shop still sat adjacent to the Page Theater on East Main Street when the Tates purchased it in 1964.
The business moved to its current location next to the West Main Street bridge overlooking Ruffner Plaza and the Hawksbill Creek in 1996…just days before the major flood that year took out buildings and breached the bridge.
“We had just stored a bunch of stuff in the basement…it ruined a lot,” Ernest recalls.
The Luray florist expects to go through more than 1,200 roses to help fill more 125 orders for Valentine’s Day this year. Donnie brings in extra help to go along with the two part-time employees he keeps busy. Mother’s Day is second to Valentine’s Day in terms of the busiest day, according to Ernest, because it is more spread out over several days, as where Valentine’s Day is more focused on a couple of days.
While he says many of his customers are now trained to order early, about 15 percent of his Valentine’s orders are still “last-minute.” He also adds that while he usually receives smiles, not every delivery is expected or appreciated.
“I can remember one delivery where the woman seemed confused when we delivered the flowers,” Ernest remembers, “and then as we were pulling out…she read the card and then threw the flowers out in the yard.”
Much like the life of a mailman, floral delivery can pose its own perils.
“I remember my son was delivering some flowers up in Forest Hills and a German shepherd came out like he was going to get him…so he threw the flowers at him,” Donnie recalled. “Luckily, the dog went on and nothing happened…but as it turned out…we had the wrong house anyway.”
Page County’s status as a wedding destination helped pick up business that was otherwise dwindling due to big box stores and online competition, which has altered the floral industry. Vivian’s provides arrangements for about 50 weddings a year — so many, that in recent years Ernest has turned down weddings due to limited staff.
“It picked up the last 10 to 15 years, but it has leveled off now,” he said. “A few years ago we were turning down more [weddings] than now.”
While fewer people purchase flowers for funerals, Vivian’s did arrange a wreath for Wayne Comer’s memorial service, featuring baseballs signed by current and former players at Page County High School to honor the legendary coach.
This small flower shop owner sees the beauty in what he does every day — both metaphorically, and literally.
“Ninety-nine-point-nine percent of the people are just tickled to get flowers,” Ernest said. “So you get a wonderful welcome and a smile…and you develop a relationship because it’s usually every year, or several times a year…that you see this person in this way.
“People still love flowers…It’s God’s invention…and it’s just amazing.”
Vivian’s Flower Shop, 47 West Main Street in Downtown Luray, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays – except Wednesdays (9 a.m. to 1 p.m.); and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays. To place an order, call 540-743-5420 or visit their website at https://www.vivianslurayva.com/
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