Flowers Returning to Moorestown Main Street

Have you felt like Main Street’s been lacking a little color lately?

Faced with a budget crunch, the township has had to eliminate flowers for Main Street—which was costing it north of $10,000—from the budget the past couple years, leaving downtown looking a tad achromatic.

Fortunately, a group of motivated individuals and special interests have come together to once again give downtown a shot of color.

Maura Dey, chair of the Open Space Advisory Committee (OSAC), said during a recent conversation with fellow committee member Debbie Browing-Hess, the Browning-Hess Farm co-owner pitched an idea.

“She said, ‘Hey, we grow flowers. We’ll provide the flowers if other people pot them,’” said Dey.

Between the Browning-Hess Farm’s generosity, a $600 private donation at and a $1,750 contribution from the Moorestown Business Association, along with other offers and volunteer efforts, Dey said the push to bring flowers back downtown has picked up a good deal of steam and they could have the baskets strung up along Main Street as early as this weekend.

“All these different groups are coming together,” said Dey, who also credited volunteer Cyndi Britton and township manager Scott Carew with being instrumental. “It’s been fairly easy to get donations.”

She said a total of 130 flower baskets will line Main Street, as well as large planters in the Lenola section of town.

Dey may have accidentally courted controversy—if you want to call it that—by soliciting the township council candidates to volunteer their time to water the flowers this summer. She explained the idea seemed like a perfect way to combine the candidates’ desire for visibility with the need for volunteers.

“One of the thoughts in asking the candidates is they’re looking to be out there. They’re a great volunteer pool,” said Dey. “All of the parties have been asked.”

As chair of OSAC, Dey said the “nature aspect” of the effort is particularly important to her. But from a purely aesthetical point of view, it’s nice for everyone in town.

“In Moorestown, our summer’s very quiet,” she said. “For the people that are here, to be able to enjoy the beauty of flowers on Main Street … is important. We don’t need to leave it looking desolate during the summer.”