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By Valerie Posthumus
The Haldimand Press
DUNNVILLE—On Monday, March 8, 2021 Janna Overend, owner of the Fisherville Hotel and Tavern, began what she intends to be a long-term mission of bringing joy to others.
Overend, with a group of volunteers, set out to assemble about 130 vases of flowers that were destined for Grandview Lodge. The idea was to brighten the day of the residents who have been locked down or restricted since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Inspired by an Instagram page she follows, Overend said, “I felt that would be a good thing to do; give flowers and cheer and joy to long-term care residents…. My goal is to get them in a little better mood, kind of get them out of the funk.”
With an idea to make good things happen, she connected with Rosa Flora, a local greenhouse operation in Dunnville, as well as two Home Hardware locations: Dunnville and Cayuga.
Each of these businesses were immediately on board, with Rosa Flora donating 650 flowers and the Home Hardware stores donating six cases of mason jars each: “Which was wonderful, so this all just came together,” said Overend. The original intent was to do this for February 14 (Valentine’s Day) but due to lockdown that didn’t happen. Overend then chose March 8: “It is International Women’s Day and I felt that would be a good thing to do…. There are 120 residents so we are making 120 vases and hopefully we will have a couple extra left for the ladies who work at Grandview Lodge.”
This is not the first time Overend has contributed positively to her community; the Fisherville Hotel and Tavern hosted their second annual Soup-A-Bowl fundraiser this year, with the Fisherville Lions Club as beneficiaries of the $1,600 raised.
“This month we are doing the flowers, so hopefully we’ll do something every month,” said Overend. In light of her personal mission, Overend is now challenging the community with the Do One Good Thing Club, which challenges people to:
• Do one good thing for yourself each day. Self-care, reading, going for a walk, anything that feels good and brings you joy.
• Do one good thing for your friend or neighbour a week. It doesn’t need to be grandiose. It could be a check-in phone call or text.
• Do one good thing for your community a month. Volunteer, organize, or be part of a fundraiser.
Overend suggests that looking beyond your own circumstances can make a difference, saying, “I think it helps when you think about others being affected rather than just being in your own world. It’s hard in your own world but let’s start giving gratitude and start looking out in your own world to see how you can help others.”
Visit thetav.ca/do-good for more information. To reach out to Overend, email her at hello@thetav.ca or message her through the Fisherville Hotel and Tavern’s social streams.
