Flower power

A fresh yet familiar face behind the counter at Pocketful of Posies is back to stay.Today [Friday], the Pocketful of Posies owner for a decade, Karen Amundson, handed over the pruning shears to her right-hand woman, Kayla Smith. Smith, who graduated with the New Hampton Class of 2008 as Kayla Grove, worked with Amundson that year; two years as a florist at the Ames Hy-Vee while studying; and has returned to the shop at peak times — weddings and holidays — while working for six years at Donaldson and Co. in Cresco. There, she met her husband, Logan Smith, the son of a man from “around here.”Post high school, Kayla Smith has dabbled in studying business and the arts, but moreover, Amundson said, “She studied (floral) under the master!” pointing to herself.— For more on this story, see the June 15 New Hampton Tribune.