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By Mariela Frits

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SUSSEX - Pam Goold never thought a friend could do her such a memorable favor.

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Kelly / KCR

Pam Goold of Goold'•s flower shop in Sussex puts the final touches on a beautiful bouquet of flowers for Sir Elton John. Goold used blue delphiniums, white dendrobium orchids, pink and white alstromeria, pink snapdragons and white roses in her creation.

She has been a fan of Elton John for years but was realistic in her expectations of attending one of the Grammy award-winning piano man's local concerts this fall.

"I am not young enough anymore to stand in line for two days," she said, "and I am not efficient with e-mails and Internet, so I didn't get tickets that way either."

However, one of Goold's good friends provided her the opportunity to show off her floral flare for the rock and roll legend at his two New Brunswick concerts.

"We are good friends with Neville MacKay," she said, "and he is doing the Halifax concert and the coordinator was looking for a florist this way and he referred them to us."

Goold's flower shop is providing oodles of flowers for both of John's concerts in Moncton and Saint John. However, this is not the first time Goold's has catered to celebrities.

"We did flowers when Prince Andrew came to Sussex several years ago," said Goold, "and I did some bouquets for the Queen during her visit," she explained. "We were very proud because she took one and carried it with her during the visit."

Mackay is an accomplished florist in the Maritimes and is often featured on the television program Breakfast Television.

Goold said Mackay knew the central location of her Dairytown flower shop would serve the concert's florist coordinator well.

"He said ‘I have a person for you to call'," explained Goold. "Because we are right in the middle between Moncton and Saint John, we ended up doing both concerts."

Goold said she and her staff were shocked but pleasantly surprised when she heard the news.

"I said to the coordinator I was going to charge Neville for lost wages because we were too excited to work, eat or do anything," she said. "It's kind of ‘Oh! Wow!' This is kind of neat for a small town florist, so we are pretty excited."

The well-known local florist is preparing a number of green plants and arrangements for John's dressing room and hospitality suite. She said her suppliers committed to deliver the flowers in time for both shows.

"They knew how important it was for us to have this," she said. "They pulled a few strings, so they ended up flying some flowers in."

Goold also revealed that John's favorite flowers, especially the red and white varieties, will be prominently displayed.

"There will be a couple of hundred of roses," she said. "We were told roses are his favorite flowers."

Special arrangements Goold has prepared will welcome John in his dressing room.

"We are doing a number of green plants and we are doing one really large arrangement of a whole mixture," she said. "I haven't quite decided yet, but probably like hydrangeas, orchids and roses and things like that."

Goold and her staff were busy getting the order ready and delivering it in time for both concerts. Elton John was scheduled to play Moncton on Sept. 28 and a performance is scheduled for tonight in Saint John.