Bloom where you are planted
Courtney Luke
Decorating her church in Malden is just one of the many projects for which Flo Bennett volunteers. When Bennett moved to Malden fifty three years ago, she joined First Southern Baptist Church. Most of her volunteer work has been focussed there and she considers her chairmanship of the decorating committee as the most rewarding thing she does.
Not only does she enjoy decorating the church, but she understands that those efforts save the church money. "Due to the fact that it's such a large facility, we couldn't afford to hire it decorated," she explained.
Many years ago, Bennett and her friend Carol Demaree took floral design classes. Her pastor, Don Cockran, asked her to begin decorating the church. She felt that she was not capable and told him so. He answered, "You will be with the Lord's help." And so her decorating career began.
Throughout the years, when citizens or organizations have needed something decorated, they have called on Flo Bennett. Beauty pageants, parades, city street decorations, youth events, fund raisers and politicians have all relied on her eye for art.
As a charter member of the Malden Chamber Maids, Bennett, as well as the other volunteers, have provided Christmas events for many years. Breakfast with Santa is one of the most popular. This year alone, several hundred children participated. An opportunity for children to purchase Christmas presents for parents is also part of the festivities.
Once again, Bennett's decorating skills come in handy during Christmas. For many years, the Malden Community Center was the location for the Christmas activities. Those events have primarily moved to the Bootheel Youth Museum, but the decorating production continues. The Chambermaids and AmeriCorps volunteers work diligently to beautify the facilities in order to give the children a memorable holiday.
The streets of Malden also benefit from some of her work during the holidays. Two years ago the Chambermaids refurbished 28 street ornaments and this past year a large stocking was formed by Gary Youngquist and Bennett and fellow decorators attached garland.
It's been said by some young adults, "When I think of Christmas, I think of Mrs. Flo. You always see her during the holidays." It could be considered appropriate then that she was selected by the Malden Chamber of Commerce to be Grand Marshal during the past year's Christmas parade.
Anyone familiar with the local beauty pageant scene will recognize Flo Bennett, even if they do not know her name. For decades, she was involved with scholarship pageants across the region. She and Carol Demaree founded Malden's Miss Fourth of July Scholarship Pageant, a Miss Missouri/Miss America Preliminary competition. In a Miss USA preliminary competition, the interview portion of the contest receives the majority of the point percentage. Her daughter in law Jackie Bennett has helped her with many of the local competitions.
She has also served as the Southeast Missouri regional field director during which time she either attended or assisted with preliminary pageants from St. Louis to Springfield and served on the board of directors for the Missouri Local Pageants Association for 22 years.
Like many other things, a pageant needs decorations and Bennett can be seen working diligently to give the stage a little glimmer.
In addition to church and pageant work, Bennett has participated in many other service projects and volunteered for many organizations.
During her tenure as a member and officer of the Malden DeReign Club, the club collected American flags to be placed at cemeteries.
She was selected local "Woman of the Year" and 'District 17 Woman of the Year" while a member of the Business and Professional Women's Club.
Bennett served as a board member and treasurer of the Children's Place, a shelter for abused women and children.
In 1993, she received the Athena Award which was sponsored through General Motors and their local car dealership Richardson-Wynette as well as the Malden Chamber of Commerce. The criteria for an applicant was "one who demonstrates support of the goals of professional women and provides unselfish assistance in their behalf, demonstrates excellence in business or profession, provides valuable service to business or profession, and to the community , and exhibits initiative and creativity enhancing the efficacy of business or profession and the stability and improvement to the community."
Another organization that is near and dear to Bennett's heart is the Bootheel Youth Museum. She was a founding board member for the museum and served as the fund raising chairperson. During the planning stages of the museum, a large sum of money had to be raised in order to open their doors. One of the most successful fundraisers was when parts of the football field was sold off. Yardage was marked off and "sold" at $5 per square yard. A calf was then brought in and the area of the field on which he relieved himself was marked and the person "owning" that piece of property was awarded $500 and a pooper scupper. She was also awarded the Ernest Miles Bootheel Youth Museum volunteer of the year award. Bennett is actively involved in the museum's annual Mardi Gras, their largest fundraiser throughout the year. In 2010, she and Cecil Weeks, Jr. were crowned Mardi Gras Queen and King. This honor is always given to those who actively assist the museum.
Bennett has been awarded Southwestern Bell's Volunteer award, Lions Club Citizen of the Year, the Delta News-Journal's Community Service Award, and has received the Governor's Adult Leadership Award and the Lieutenant Governor's Senior Service Award.
She has served on the advisory board of the Small Business Development Center at Southeast Missouri State University and served on the Malden Chamber of Commerce Board and is an RSVP volunteer and assists with the Dunklin County Relay for Life.
Bennett moved to Missouri from Mississippi in order to teach third grade at Gideon School. She didn't know anyone, but began helping others. Two years later, she married her husband Bob and moved to Malden. She felt that despite not being originally from the area, it was important to be part of the community. "You need to bloom where you are planted," she explained.
After 17 years of teaching at Gideon and Malden, Bennett was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis. At the time, teachers had to undergo a physical examination and she was declared disabled. However, she did not see her set backs as a handicap and continued volunteering proving that despite what others may think, one person can make a difference and help others.
"I feel that volunteering is a vital part of any community's success and if people would give back a small portion of their time and talents, so much more could be accomplished," stated Bennett making clear that she does not do what she does for the recognition but because she views volunteering as "a special way to lend a helping hand and more importantly your heart, especially when you are volunteering for a good cause."
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