Jefferson Florist was recently welcomed to its new location on High Street in Waynesburg with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony coordinated by the Greene County Chamber of Commerce. Pictured with employees are owner Tim Harding (far right) and his mother, Johnetta Hardin (second from right). (Photo by Steve Barrett) A large crowd gathered recently to celebrate the official opening of a relocated flower shop that has been a proud family-owned and operated business for nearly 55 years.

A special ribbon-cutting ceremony, coordinated by the Greene County Chamber of Commerce, was held on Sept. 23 to officially welcome the Jefferson Florist shop to the Waynesburg business community.

Dozens of local business owners and employees, local and state officials, Chamber of Commerce representatives and area residents gathered at Jefferson Florist, 810 E. High St. in Waynesburg, to welcome the business, owner Tim Hardin and his family members and the shop’s employees.

However, those in attendance were not celebrating and welcoming a “new” business. In fact, Jefferson Florist was established by Tim Hardin’s grandmother, Katheryn Bedosky, the matriarch of the family, in 1956.

During the ceremony, owner Tim Hardin said it was not long after the business opened that his hard-working grandmother would be known by everyone throughout the community and the flower shop became a great success.

“She reared three children while working in the flower shop, of course, my mother was one of those children,” Tim Hardin said during his remarks. “Sadly, in 2005 my grandmother passed, and my mother, Johnetta Hardin, stepped straight into her shoes and carried on her mother’s legacy.”

Tim Hardin said that in 2015 he was working in Los Angeles, California when he was informed that his mother was diagnosed with cancer.

“When I heard the news, I immediately dropped everything and returned home to Greene County,” he said. “I shouldered the daunting task of nurturing my mother through two major surgeries with great uncertainty of the outcome. I began running the flower shop and stayed focused on learning to design flowers.

“This allowed me to feel close with my grandmother and helped me cope with my mother’s recovery,” he continued.

Tim Hardin then said he was happy to report good news about his mother, that she is currently cancer free and is again able to assist at the shop. He said he retired early from his career in the motion picture industry after 27 years, and earlier this year the shop was relocated to Waynesburg, where he said the business “has received and warm welcome and great success.”

“I am proud to be the next generation to carry on Katheryn’s legacy, Jefferson Florist, he continued. “This is where you’ll find me until the next generation steps up to carry on the family tradition.”

Jefferson Florist officially opened at its current location on March 9, just in time for Easter and Mother’s Day.

The new location, which is now open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays, was selected as part of a “growth strategy” for the business, Tim Hardin […]