Students arrange posies with Parton in mind at inaugural Derry Area ag competition

Dolly Parton was otherwise engaged, but the country singer-songwriter’s persona was evoked Wednesday at Derry Area High School as 74 area students crafted fragrant centerpieces they imagined would be welcomed at the table of the legendary artist.

“Dinner With Dolly” was the theme of the school’s inaugural floral design invitational competition, dubbed the Western Regional Flower Competition.

Several students who participated in the event were clad in T-shirts depicting Parton as they arranged flowers and ferns in tabletop containers.

Among them were Faith Smith and LeAnna Fetter, sophomores at Hempfield Area High School and Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center in New Stanton.

“I really like Dolly,” said Smith, who completed her outfit with a cowboy hat she picked up while visiting Parton’s Dollywood amusement park in Tennessee during the summer.

“I was practically raised on country music, and Dolly was a big thing,” Fetter said.

The first-year ag students and friends are dreaming about someday partnering on a floral business.

“It would be a job that I’d actually like to do,” Smith said.

Fetter said she might consider running a floral shop for supplementary income.

“It seems like a nice side business,” she said. “It would be really fun.”

Derry Area has hosted more broad-­based agriculture career development activities. But Wednesday’s challenge was the first at the school to focus solely on floral design, according to Carly Rippole, the event’s organizer and an instructor in Derry’s agriculture and horticulture department.

Inspired by a similar program in Texas, Rippole began planning the Derry Area competition in October.

Despite frigid temperatures that delayed the start of school at many districts in the region, only 10 of the 47 two-member teams that were expected to compete failed to show.

“We had 15 schools registered from nine different counties, so it’s a good turnout,” Rippole said.

Rippole said some people have the misconception that pursuing an ag career must involve working with a tractor.

But, she said, “There’s a really big placement for jobs, getting hired into the floral industry. I have a lot of students who will end up in floral shops.”

Supplied with the same type and color of flower stems and other decorative elements, student teams were challenged to complete their individual takes on a “Dolly-rific” arrangement in 75 minutes.

Pink roses, carnations and mums were prominent — along with some white and purple petals and a facsimile of a butterfly, which is an image associated with Parton’s Dollywood amusement park.

The time limit and not knowing in advance what flowers they would have to work with were particularly challenging for Derry Area seniors Lenka Ohler and Makayla Rudy.

In other design exercises, Rudy said, “Usually we have a few days to do it, instead of having to do it in an hour.”

The classmates were eager to sign up for the optional design contest.

“I really wanted to do this,” Rudy said. “I really like floral design, and I like to see how it is competing against other schools.”

Altering their arrangement concept midstream was part of the challenge.

“Sometimes your plan might not exactly work, so you have to find ways to navigate around it,” Ohler said, “which we did.”

The student arrangements were judged by four floral design professionals, who assigned points based on aesthetic appeal, design principles, mechanics, execution and overall creativity.

“We each have things we’re more fussy about,” said Julie James, who has a floral design business in Valencia. While she focused on evaluating proportion and spacing in the arrangements, other judges keyed in on each centerpiece’s physical balance or good use of line and form.

The judges also were pleased by the event’s turnout.

“I didn’t realize there were so many ag programs,” James said. “It’s really encouraging to see so much participation.

“I think we all would have killed for something like this (competition) when we were in high school. Some of these kids might make a career out of it.”