Colby Freer stepped into the role of Coronado Floral Association president after ten years with the organization. During our conversation she emphasized that the Floral Association is not a garden club, which is a common misconception.
The Coronado Floral Association (CFA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community service organization dedicated to enriching lives through education in, and showcasing of, flowers, plants, and gardens. Specifically, they:
- Encourage and foster knowledge of horticulture.
- Promote the love and use of flowers.
- Encourage community beautification (including homes, schools, and public grounds).
- Produce the Annual Coronado Flower Show (in partnership with the City of Coronado).
Coronado Flower Show
The organization’s biggest event is undoubtedly the Coronado Flower Show. In 2024, the 102nd anniversary of the Coronado Flower Show yielded about one thousand more visitors than the previous year (for a total of about 6,000 attendees). For an event that has been around for over 100 years, that is a staggering increase. Talking to Colby, it’s not just an increase in visitors to the same event but continuing to add more value and more sub events to the Flower Show.
“We have grown the Floral Association to reach every corner of the community,” Colby shares. “Whether it be events throughout the year, free education at the library with our Friends and Flowers, and then there’s the weekend of the Flower Show itself.”
She continues, “In the week leading up to it, there’s Beyond the Tents where restaurants and businesses and hotels get involved. We have reached such a bigger audience in the last few years because we have taken a fresh approach to it.”
In addition to the expansion, the Flower Show is also extensively marketed outside of Coronado into the greater San Diego area. San Diego Magazine featured it on their 13 Things to Do in San Diego This Weekend for April 16–21, 2024.
Road to Expanding the Event
Colby shared, “At the Coronado Flower Show, they would have the tents and lovely potlucks to say ‘thank you’ to volunteers and community members. It was sweet to bring everyone together. Ten years ago, I had an idea. I thought, gosh, the tents; it’s a beautiful venue. My whole life I watched these magical white tents go up in the park. I got this idea – why can’t we use this as an event space? We already have it!”
The idea ignited like wildfire. “That’s when the beer garden sort of came into play too. We were expanding into partnerships with the Coronado Beer Club and their partners. Then we created the Spring Fling in 2014 and it was a tasting event. We brought in local restaurants, and they popped-up on six-foot tables. They all gave away bites to around 100 people. We wondered if it would even work. Well by golly, I’m going to say we had 20 restaurants right out of the gate! We thought maybe we’d have 10. Then we brought in a gala feel of a tasting event. Everyone wanted to be part of it!”
Read this writer’s experience at the Bloom Bash in 2019, a Spring Fling event.
Currently, Colby shares that they are ironing out the details for the Hotel Del event. “Last year, they took on a much bigger role than they’ve ever taken on years. There’s a whole history of the Del and the Flower Show.”
Beyond the Tents
“Last year, I created a new event within the Flower Show called Beyond the Tents. This is where we partner with the businesses, establishments and hotels in town as well as florists locally and over the bridge. Restaurants will create special menus and stores will create special items. Maybe it’s a special scented candle that they pour. Or a gift with purchase.
“Buona Forchetta did a special menu and cocktail menu for the whole week leading up to it.
“URT created a special limited edition T-shirt just for that weekend and then they scrap it.
“For 2025, I’m hopeful we can get even more involvement. The hotels sell out, restaurant reservations fill up. The town is packed that weekend!”
Wellness Event
Coming soon! “We’re also launching a wellness event in the morning at the park before [the flower show] even opens. We’re having a yoga and wellness meditation and partnering with some local instructors and establishments like The Monarch Soul. Again, it all goes back to the magic of these tents and being in it when no one else really is.” She compares the enchantment like the wardrobe to Narnia.
Family Movie Night on Friday Before the Flower Show
A pre-Flower Show event that Colby highlights is Family Movie Night.
“On Friday, the children come drop off their Zoo’s Who and other arrangements (learn about that here). The Islanders Ladies Club hosts a free evening in the park for the children. You can do VIP blanket seating and order pizzas. There are snacks to purchase and it’s just a fun reason for the children to come. It’s sort of like a children’s movie night / birthday party in the park – there’s a balloon guy, a face painter. Again, I saw an opportunity to use the tents! Stay in the tents and see the twinkling lights. Pop down with your parents and watch a movie.”
Colby’s love for the Flower Show stems from her childhood in Coronado, “I’ve loved it since I was little, running into Spreckels Park after school. I went to Christ Church and we watched them put the tents up. We couldn’t wait to go in to see everybody’s Zoo’s Who!”
Coronado Floral Association, Respecting Traditions
Colby emphasizes that it’s not “out with the old and in with the new.” As someone who has grown up in Coronado and is now raising her own family here, she is very conscious of honoring the event. “I live here, I work for Bill Lyons Jr. at Griffin Funding inc. He’s a friend that I’ve known since fourth grade, we both grew up in Coronado. I’m here to preserve and keep [the Floral Association] moving so it can grow. I’ve always felt that tradition is so important. I hold it very near and dear. Traditions have to keep moving and evolving. That’s what I saw adding this Spring Fling, which is now known as the 1922 Club based on the year of the Floral Association inception. It’s a way to keep this Flower Show fresh and bring in a new audience.”
Connecting Other Non Profits
A common theme across all non profits in Coronado is that they are better together. Colby highlights MainStreet’s first Annual Volunteer Open House.
“That was one of the best events I’ve ever been to,” she says. “Not because of meeting the volunteers solely but because of all the nonprofits getting together collaborating. We all walked around and talked to each other. We introduced ourselves and all called upon each other for how we could help each other. It’s creating synergy and collaboration which is so important, especially in the non profits.”
It was also a great opportunity to receive feedback. “The misconception of the Coronado Floral Association – and I picked this up at the open house – was that even when people were volunteering for other organizations, they think they can’t volunteer at the Floral Association because they don’t have a green thumb!”
Colby laughs, “I don’t have a green thumb! I would probably kill all your flowers. But I have a green thumb in innovation and keeping things fresh.”
The Flower Association reaching 100 years was an incredible accomplishment, but Colby wants to make sure it hits another century. “We can’t let this go at 100 years. We’re calling upon our friends and our communities that we’re involved in. I’ve been with the Junior Woman’s Club for the last 13 seasons. I called upon my friends within the Junior Woman’s Club to say ‘hey will you guys come join me? This is fun!’ With the next generation coming in, we are here to nurture what is built for us but we want to keep it going.”
Coronado Garden Clubs
For anyone looking for a garden club (green thumbs encouraged!), Colby directs, “we love and hold dear the Bridge and Bay Garden Club and Crown Garden Club of Coronado. They keep the Coronado Floral Association grounded in that tradition and the actual flowers.”
The Flower Show Participation and Involvement
Colby, without a green thumb, encourages everyone to enter the show. She shares her own experience. “I entered the Flower Show because I went in my yard and cut a Bird of Paradise that I thought was absolutely beautiful. I’d looked at it every day and one of my good friends told me I should put it in the Flower Show. So I snipped it, I walked it over to the show, and I entered it. I kid you not, I won a blue ribbon in the division!”
Currently, the Floral Association is working on sponsorships. The city provides a grant, but Colby explains the grant supports the tents only. Other expenses include security, insurance, table rentals, tablecloths, flower racks and so much more.
Read more about the city’s community grants here: City Allocates $1 Million in Community Grant Funds – Coronado Times
Non Profit Sponsorships
When people think of sponsorships, the default is business sponsorships. Colby says that sponsorships can come from many different places. “We cultivate these synergies and collaborate with other not for profits in town. We invite them and they support us by investing into a small booth or a tablespace to educate the thousands and thousands of people that walk through the door.”
She continues, “I talked to [a contact at] Safe Harbor and she shared that monarchs are her passion. She wants to be involved. I’m a think tank, so I was like ‘yes! You guys could give out Milk Thistle Seed, it brings in the monarch butterflies.’ You plant it in your yard. Monarchs are a symbol for mental health.”
Coming up with a Theme
The theme is always under wraps each year, but Colby teases that readers can find out by picking up a copy of the January Crown City Magazine or Coronado Magazine.
Coming up with theme has been very special for Colby. “It’s been a theme I’ve wanted to do for so many years. I was up one night trying to formulate this other idea and I was putting my daughter to bed. I had been trying to get everything ready for my big meeting and she said, ‘Mom, why are you doing that theme? Remember, you always said that you were going to do XYZ theme if you became president.’”
Colby says, “She was right. She said the theme down to nitty gritty and I went ‘ohh my gosh, I love you.’ I kissed her goodnight and I ran out to my desk and my laptop and it all poured it out.
“I came to my meeting the next day and I said, ‘I have this’ and it was half the page, and then I said, ‘I also have this’ and it was a five-page proposal mapping out all of the details. Everyone loved it and we have been embracing this theme in every aspect we do.”
The only tease Colby gives about the theme is that the Historical Association has a big presence!
What Goes into the Flower Show Planning
As it grows, all hands are on deck. “We now have an entertainment chair,” Colby says. “It’s a full production all weekend long. Another example on synergy is that we partnered with Coronado School of the Arts. They are going to be doing a lot of entertainment and pop ups throughout the entire weekend.”
For the 1922 Club, Colby says, “I had a meeting with our chair, Chelsea Fox, for the 1922 Club. I asked what she wanted to do, and she said ‘I’m logistics, I’m going to get this thing done. But let’s work on creativity together.’ We’re mapping out 1922 Club right now and we are all so excited, but it does take everyone. It takes so much work to keep this going.”
An example of it taking everyone, Colby explains, “We get coffee donated for all the judges every morning. Rotary volunteers help. I mean countless and tireless people work on this show to make it happen.”
Floral Association Board
Colby is grateful for the Floral Association Board but makes it clear that the Flower Show is not something they can sustain without support. “This event is growing even beyond our board of working moms that are volunteering right now. We’re all on different boards and many of us have children. My main goal is to keep this group motivated and inspired. They have their own positions on the board, and they get to take ownership of it and make it into what they want. Everyone grabs ahold of their area and runs with it.”
Get Involved
Now is the time to get involved, and there is a way for everyone.
Membership
You can become a member of the Coronado Floral Association for $45.00 a year, which provides free entry to the show through a member only entrance. It also gives access to events like wreath-making with Root 75, which sold out in 2024.
Colby adds, “Becoming a member gets you pre sale tickets to our Friends and Flowers events. Christine Mott spearheads these free educational events. They are so popular! You also get early bird ticket sale access for 1922 Club.”
Sponsorship
“We need local businesses and establishments to reach out to us in any capacity to sponsor. We also have stickers that you can purchase as a family and they go on the sidewalk and they wrap around Spreckels park. Those are really popular because you can put it in memory of a grandmother or someone that loved the flowers.”
Join As A Sponsor — Coronado Flower Show
Volunteer
Volunteers can pick up crates of coffee in the morning, greet attendees, and so much more. Let Colby know what you are interested in and she can find the right job for you!
Join As A Volunteer — Coronado Flower Show
Judging
“Home front judging is one of the most anticipated events because every single home in Coronado – including the Cays and Strand – is awarded a ribbon, whether you like it or not,” Colby laughs.
“This has been going on for decades and leading up to it, if you drive up and down the street there will be people everywhere sprucing up their gardens. They know that 150 volunteers are going to hit the streets with their clip boards and their wagons.” Colby explains, “Judges are assigned quadrants and they walk up and down the street. Best overall winner in the entire city is a huge honor.”
Colby also says that being a volunteer judge is a great option for groups. “Friends get together, grab a cup of coffee, and go for a walk down the street and give out ribbons. People have a lot of fun being a volunteer!”
As is a theme with Colby, she continues to innovate and expand – maximizing the fun. “We create this program and the layout with all the houses. We encourage everyone to jump on your bikes, get groups together, do a bike tour of the #1 rated houses! We’re growing to include some of the restaurants. Make a pit stop and grab some lunch at Buona Forchetta and then continue on your journey.”
Become a Show Judge — Coronado Flower Show
A Thank You from Colby, CFA President
Colby concludes, “I’m absolutely honored to be the president. This is a role I never thought I would jump into but I’ll tell you I’m having a lot of fun with it! We’ve created a fantastic board and group of chairs that I am so humbled by every time we get together. I’m in awe of them right now.”
