Originally created 02/05/05

News you can use

- The Valentine's countdown is on, and with the 14th falling on a Monday this year, getting flowers delivered will take a little planning. Here's some advice from the Society of American Florists to make ordering the perfect bouquet less thorny.

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Ordering options

If you plan to get the flowers delivered, call your florist at least a week before.

Before calling in your order, make sure you have the exact address where you want the flowers delivered, such as your significant other's office address; a phone number for the recipient; and a credit card to pay for the order.

Flowers also can be ordered over the Internet through both national and local floral Web sites. Look for local Web addresses in the phone book yellow pages or by doing a Web search.

If you decide to have your flowers delivered before Valentine's Day, here are some suggestions for messages on your enclosure cards: "Couldn't wait another day to say I Love You!" "I love you so much I couldn't wait for Valentine's Day!" or "With you it's Valentine's Day 365 days a year."

Buying the Blossoms

Don't know what to order? Consider choosing flowers in the shades of your sweetheart's favorite color or a bouquet with a theme of her favorite hobby, sport or pastime.

Red is still the all-time favorite rose color, but 62 percent of women surveyed preferred hues such as yellow, pink, peach and white. Lavender and orange are also becoming more popular.

Trying to remember what those rose colors represent ? It doesn't matter anymore, rose experts say, because there are too many colors to keep up with.

Tired of roses? Try a spring arrangement with flowers such as lilies, alstroemeria, iris, tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, tuberoses or freesias. Cutlinevalentine's day ideasback in timeAround townBoxTODAY

HORSE TRIALS: The Pine Top Winter Horse Trials will be held at 7:30 a.m. at Pine Top Farm, 1393 Augusta Road, Thomson. For more information, call 595-3792.

Around town

AUTO AUCTION: The Salvation Army will hold an auto auction at 10 a.m. at The Salvation Army office, 1384 Greene St. For more information, call 826-7933.

DADDY-DAUGHTER DANCE: Girls Inc. will hold its Daddy-Daughter Dance from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Augusta Towers Hotel and Convention Center, 2651 Perimeter Parkway. For reservations, call 733-2512. BoxToday in regional history:

Back in Time

Feb. 5, 1998

National Signing Day 1998 is history.

Locally, the two biggest winners are the University of Georgia and the University of Sandersville, more commonly known as Washington County High School.

By bringing in 18 highly rated players from the state and an additional five from outside, the Bulldogs and coach Jim Donnan solidified what many are calling one of the five best classes in the nation.

And there was quite a connection between Georgia and Washington County this year. Donnan secured two of the state's top prospects ñ Golden Hawks' stars Terrence Edwards and Jessie Miller.

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