To hear June Flowers tell the story, the vase just fell out of the sky.

She had given a lot of thought to what she would do to create a tablescape for the competition sponsored by the Women’s Committee of the Alabama Farmers Federation but no idea had hit her on the head – until the vase fell out of the sky.

“I was pulling into the driveway and this ‘vase’ fell out of the sky and right in front of the car,” Flowers said, laughing.

The ‘vase’ was actually a limb that had been drilled by a woodpecker and let go of its lofty perch.

Flowers picked up the limb and the idea was picture clear.

“The limb was just the right size for a vase and I could picture it holding a woodsy bouquet made of pine, cypress and oak leaves,” Flowers said, who is a member of the. Women’s Committee of the Pike County Farmers Federation.

“Each year at the Alabama Farmers Federation Commodity Producers Conference, the Women’s Committee sponsors competitions for its members. I entered the tablescape competition and my focus was forestry. It could have been chickens but God sent me a wooden vase.”

The idea behind the tablescape competition was to use what was around the house to create a decorative table.

“That’s exactly what I did,” Flowers said.

“I had a tablecloth with a leaf and pine design and I had wooden chargers that I had bought at a flea market. I put pine, oak and cypress leaves between the chargers and the clear glass plates and twirled some vines on the table.

“Of course, the vase with the greenery was the centerpiece. I added some branches with small pinecones and put in small bird’s nest and it made a very interesting arrangement.”

Flowers used branches of wood as holders for the place cards and wood plank sticker paper for the cards.

“Simplicity is what I was looking for,” she said.

Thirty women entered the tablescape competition and Flowers said all were interesting.

“There were so many good ideas and the ways of presenting them were unique,” she

said. “I was thrilled to win. It was a very exciting competition and a lot of fun.”

The Alabama Farmers Federation Convention was held at the Columbus Convention and Trade Center, which is housed in an old shipyard building.

“Each year the convention is held at a different location,” Flowers said. “This year it was held in the eastern part of the state and we were able to take several farm-related tours in the area.”