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The Cincinnati Enquirer
Chances are those flowers in community lots, pots or window boxes throughout Silverton and many other communities came from the H.J. Benken Florist and Garden Center in Silverton.
The florist has won the 2006 Iron Eyes Cody Award, given by Keep Cincinnati Beautiful for its donation of thousands of flowering plants to KCB's distribution system each summer.
The award was presented Nov. 14 to Kathleen and Michael Benken, owners of H.J. Benken Inc. in Silverton.
The award honors outstanding volunteers for exceptional leadership and roadside and community beautifications, said Linda Holterhoff, executive director of Keep Cincinnati Beautiful.
Michael Benken said he was thrilled to get the award. "We couldn't accomplish all we do, though, without our dedicated staff and, of course, the fourth generation of Benkens in the business, our children," he said.
The Iron Eyes Cody Award is named for Keep America Beautiful's 1970s ads in which an American Indian is portrayed with a tear rolling down his cheek.
