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Hanford Insider: 80 Years of Gonsalves Fasso Nursery

• Rob Bentley

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Stepping through the doors of Gonsalves-Fasso Nursery feels like entering a living time capsule of Hanford's history. Paul Rhodes, the third-generation owner of this 80-year-old floral institution, welcomes us into his world with stories that span decades and connect countless families across our community.

When Mary Fasso opened this shop with her brother Pete and sister-in-law Virginia Gonsalves in April 1945, she couldn't have imagined the legacy she was creating. Paul, who took over the business after an injury on the family farm, shares how his grandmother's words still guide him: "You're not going to get rich, but you'll make a good living." Those simple words have sustained a business that has weathered dramatic industry changes for eight decades.

The conversation takes surprising turns as Paul reveals how California's marijuana legalization transformed the flower industry, forcing suppliers to source internationally rather than from traditional coastal growers. "I could have roses cut in Colombia and delivered to my door within 72 hours," he explains, giving us a glimpse into the global supply chains supporting this local business. The challenges facing small florists are substantial—from competition with untaxed vendors during major holidays to the exhausting behind-the-scenes work that customers never see.

Most touching are the generational connections fostered through flowers. "My grandmother used to come here," customers often tell Paul, or "You did my grandmother's wedding flowers." These statements highlight how deeply woven Gonsalves Fasso has become in Hanford's social fabric. The shop doesn't just sell arrangements; it creates living memories that mark life's most significant moments across multiple generations.

The episode also features comprehensive community news, including updates on the Hanford City Council meeting, upcoming events at the Carnegie Museum, the Fox Theater, and Kings Art Center, plus a roundup of local high school baseball and softball playoff action.

Subscribe to our podcast and newsletter at hanfordinsider.com to stay connected with everything happening in our vibrant community. Have a story idea? Email us at hanfordinsider@gmail.com—we'd love to hear from you!

You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider
Thank you for supporting the show!

Speaker 1:

On this episode of the Hanford Insider we'll get a peek behind the 80-year tradition of the Gonsalves Faso Nursery with Paul Rhodes. Rob will give us an update on the busy community calendar. Then later I'll be back with your sports report. This is the Hanford Insider for Monday, may 19th.

Speaker 2:

This is the Hanford Insider, the podcast, where we dive into what makes our community tick, from local stories and hidden gems to conversations with people shaping our neighborhood. We're here to celebrate, explore and connect. I'm your host, rob Bentley. Whether you're new to Hanford or longtime local, this is your source for everything happening in our town, from events and news to conversations with people who make Hanford such a unique community. I hope you enjoy the format. Now let's take a look at this week's community news. Community. I hope you enjoy the format. Now let's take a look at this week's community news. The Hanford City Council will meet on Tuesday, may 20th. In the afternoon study session, the council will receive a presentation that relates to the housing regulations and will review the final draft budget for 2025-2026. During the regular meeting at 7 pm, they'll have a proclamation for National Public Works Week May 18th through the 24th and they'll have a special proclamation honoring the life of Emily Carpenter. In general business, they'll be reviewing the master fee schedule, with fee increases to recover costs of services provided by the city.

Speaker 2:

An item likely to get a lot of attention is the demolition of the building on the northeast corner of the intersection of Dowdy Street and 6th Street. The property owner has asked for a permit so that they may proceed with demolition. This is not city property and the city is not demolishing the building. It's not a historical building. It's just an old building that hasn't been maintained for many years and is literally falling apart. The owner of the building must bring it down due to the rapid deterioration. If you've driven by the building, you've seen it for yourself. It was also disappointing to hear this week that the National Weather Service office in Hanford is having to slash its hours due to new federal policies. The Hanford station will no longer be able to give us 24-7 coverage Each night. The monitoring conditions will now be handed off to neighboring offices hundreds of miles away. For more information about how the National Weather Service operates in Hanford, be sure to go back to the January 20th episode of the Hanford Insider, where I had a chance to interview Felix Castro.

Speaker 2:

Now let's take a look at this week's community calendar. At this week's Thursday Night Marketplace, it's Grower Appreciation Night. The band performing will be the cover band Monsanto. On Thursday, may 22nd, king's Behavioral Health is sponsoring Breaking the Stigma Conference at the Glad Tidings Church from 9 am to 4 pm. Topics will cover the intersection between substance use and mental health to provide better support, foster recovery and save lives.

Speaker 2:

The King's Players production of Eat your Heart Out opens this weekend at the Temple Theater and runs through the middle of June. The play tells the story of an out-of-work actor named Charlie who is working as a waiter. He has many hilarious encounters with characters he meets in the Manhattan restaurants he works in. For more information about the production, including times and tickets, visit kingsplayersorg. Showing at the Fox Theater on Saturday night is the Twilight Saga Eclipse, beginning at 7 pm. For more information, visit foxhanfordcom.

Speaker 2:

There's just two weeks left of the Spring Art Show at the King's Art Center featuring the works of Linda Condon. Visit kingsartcenterorg for more details. The History of Kings County Agriculture display at the Carnegie Museum of Kings County is now open. The museum is located at 109 East 8th Street and is open Fridays, saturdays and Sundays from 1 pm to 5 pm. Visit carnegiemuseumofkingscountyorg for more information.

Speaker 2:

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District is holding a free smog repair event at the King's Fairgrounds on Saturday, may 31st, from 8 am to noon. Gates may open up as early as 6.30 am. You can expect to wait, but you can get free repairs up to $500 if your car fails the first test. For more information, visit valleycanorg. For more information, visit valleycanorg. The Downtown Hanford Car Show hosted by the Carnegie Museum of Kings County will be held on Saturday, june 7th. Over 200 cars are expected. There's still time to register your ride at carnegiecarshowcom.

Speaker 2:

Saturday June 7th at 3 pm is also the date of the Century of Memories celebration, marking the 100th anniversary of the dedication of the Hanford Civic Auditorium. This special centennial event will bring together residents, families and visitors to honor the rich legacy of the Civic Auditorium and reflect on the history, culture and spirit that has shaped Hanford over the past 100 years. That has shaped Hanford over the past 100 years. There'll be historical displays, videos, a ceremony featuring the John Philip Sousa Tribute Band, and everyone gets a free piece of cake afterwards. The ceremony is free and everyone is invited to attend. For more information about the event, go to hanfordcagov slash civic100.

Speaker 2:

Many people have asked me how to get listed on our community calendar. It's really simple. If you have an event coming up and you'd like some help getting the word out, let's work together. Send your information to hanfordinsider at gmailcom. Be sure to subscribe to my weekly newsletter to get a complete calendar of events. It's the most comprehensive community calendar available. Well, what an opportunity it is to visit with Paul Rhodes from Gonzales Faso Florist in Hanford, and we are so fortunate to be here especially the week after Mother's Day, one of the busiest times of the year, right.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, we just started cleaning up.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So Paul, tell us a little bit about the history of this floor shop. It's been in Hanford for 80 years this year, so what's that been like?

Speaker 3:

80 years in April. Well, let's see, it's been awesome, the group of customers we have. We saw an older clientele, then we saw their children, we're seeing great grandkids. My grandmother used to come here, you know, you hear things like that. You did my grandmother's wedding flowers. Of course it would have been my grandmother, not me, but I am third generation in here and we've been here since 1945. My grandmother started in Tulare in 1939. And she just opened a second shop over here with her brother Pete, and sister-in-law Virginia Gonsalves, and she was married to Frank Fossil and that's where the Gonsalves and the Fossil comes from, and that was April 21st or 22nd. Married to Frank Fossil, and that's where the Goods office and the Fossil comes from, and that was April 21st or 22nd. Off the top of my head, I can't remember, but it's 80 years ago.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so 80 years at this location at 10th and Grainville.

Speaker 3:

That's correct. Yes, sir.

Speaker 2:

That's fantastic. So tell us a little bit about the family history. You got started there, but let's talk a little bit more about the family history and maybe how you got involved in your family.

Speaker 3:

Well, my grandmother had a farm with her two sisters Gonzales M&M Farms out on 16th Avenue, where I lived for 38 and a half years and I worked on the family farm and I got injured. And this opportunity, my grandmother was in the hospital. She says come in and talk to me. And she said I'd like you to take that flower shop over. She says you're not going to get rich, but you'll make a good living. And so I left the family farm, came into here and been here ever since. That was 25 years ago, the year 2000. December of 2000,. Actually it'll be 25 years in December.

Speaker 2:

So over all that time, there's been a lot of change in the florist industry. With online ordering, sourcing your flowers. How has the transition to the new technology been for the shop? Fantastic?

Speaker 3:

We saw a lucrative change in implementing Internet sales and the development of a website places to buy flowers. When they were totally domesticated flowers, you got them off the coast. We're paying really high prices. We do a lot of importing out of Colombia and out of Ecuador. I could have roses cut in the field and to my door in 72 hours, Wow.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's pretty, pretty neat. That's pretty crazy. So the people that come into your shop, they're looking for arrangements for weddings, funerals. What are some of the other reasons people come into the shop?

Speaker 3:

Oh, you know the typical birthday anniversary. You know those kind of things. Proms, proms are a huge thing. Then you know, of course there's all the holidays. People would think that Valentine's is my biggest day or Mother's Day, and it's actually not. Christmas is, and the reason you laugh, and everybody laughs when I tell them that because Valentine's comes in two days and Mother's Day in two days, and it's just an influx of crazy. You have to hire five, six extra people and it's wild for quite a while of crazy. You have to hire five, six extra people. That just, and it's wild for quite a while. But at Christmas it starts December 1st, and it spreads, stays constantly busy till the 24th.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I guess, when you're thinking about it, you've got people that want arrangements for their tables, or maybe they're visiting relatives like you said high school dances High school winter formals.

Speaker 3:

That's correct. Yeah, we have a very lucrative December. We've been here so long that I used to say, okay, we're going to have a slow time here, and it really hasn't slowed up. We have such a large clientele and that's the benefit. It would be hard for somebody to start a flower shop today and actually make a living. There's been lots of people trying to do it. We've had flower shops come and go all over the place, but we have such an old, built-up clientele that it's been good for us.

Speaker 2:

Well, it's certainly been good to Antford for 80 years. Yeah yeah, so let's talk about a typical day. How many employees do you have and what are some of the things that they do during the day?

Speaker 3:

Well, we normally had six, and that includes myself and my wife, so us two and four extras, and now we're down to five. And uh, and that comes with the new increase in wages. The new increase in wages. Just 10 years ago, you know, you were paying 10 an hour and now you're up to 17 bucks, $18. Some of my employees make you know and so, uh, uh, they, it is, somebody had to go. We just have to take on. I've had to come back in, kind of send my retired in 17. I had to come back and and fill some shoes, you know.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so delivery is a big part of it as well.

Speaker 3:

Absolutely. Pretty much everything's delivered. You know we have 10% of our business is walk-in clientele. The other 90% comes over the telephone and via the web, and so that's kind of interesting. Now, of course, at Mother's Day and Valentine's that's different. You know the percentage has changed quite a bit. Yeah, that's different. You know, those percentages change quite a bit.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so there's hours on the door that you're open, but people, your website's always open.

Speaker 3:

That's correct. It's an employee in itself, you know, and so that's a good thing. It takes on the. Unfortunately, it's like a kiosk at McDonald's that they have now. It eliminates a job for somebody that can sit up here and take orders, but we have pictures on there and they change constantly. Right now, after Mother's Day, there's usually a limited product available, so we cut that way back to a designer-cho choice type website for about three or four days.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's great. You had mentioned earlier about the availability of getting some of these flowers, beautiful flowers. What is your source? You talked about, you know, working the farm when you were young. Where do these flowers come from?

Speaker 3:

Oh, you're going to enjoy this. You know the coast of California used to grow thousands of acres of flowers but with the new law changes of the legality of marijuana, they have closed down the flowers and started growing marijuana. So we've had to get our stuff out. We've had to find other sources through Columbia and Ecuador, and you know different places. I know that's funny, but it's just the absolute truth. I went to an old plant supplier that my grandmother used to go to in Santa Ynez, up there around the Solvang area.

Speaker 3:

And I went to go through his warehouses and he had six warehouses and he says, yeah, start here, go through. And he says, see what you like, I can either come up there and get them or they'll deliver down to the area and I meet them somewhere. They will park somewhere in 10 or 20 floors to go and pick up their product. So I went through. It didn't look very good. I didn't like what I was seeing, without using any names, but I thought gosh. So I went there. I thought, well, maybe there's more. I went to the second through sixth warehouse and it was all marijuana. But I had never seen it before. I didn't know what it looked like and I said I think this is marijuana and so I wasn't supposed to be back there. I didn't know, and so I wasn't supposed to be back there. I didn't know. He just looked at me up and said what are you doing back there?

Speaker 3:

So what are some things that the average customer may not realize about the floral industry, about how it works? Well, one thing is I ran the family farm for many years and we did a lot of shoveling, a lot of hard work, a lot of long days, and I never let that farm as tired as I am when I leave here. Uh, there's a lot of work behind the scenes that people don't know about. You go to bed at night with the work on your mind, you know, and you wake up in the morning you haven't had a restful night's sleep because you're worried about the work the next day, and so the only difference is the rejuvenation of my mind happens easier with sleep than the physical labor from the farm, and so there are lots of things that go on that are hard to deal with. You know legitimate competition like Walmart, save Mart, that's just competition, that happens. But when you have 20 new street vendors come in on some of your most lucrative days, it makes it really difficult to be competitive. Our product lasts longer through a processing that we have in the back of rehydrating flowers when they come in. So we try to say there's going to be more longevity within your product.

Speaker 3:

But I think the biggest thing is the problem that exists to you, the public, in the fact that they're not collecting taxes, they're not paying business license. So that new 1% tax we just got put on us it doesn't get put on them. You know it's. I've been saying this area, just in Hanford, they lose $10,000 to $15,000 in tax revenue from those day or two, you know, by all those booths that are illegitimate. What I mean by illegitimate is you want to have a booth out there? That's great. Well, go buy a business license, get the correct permitting, pay your taxes, you know, offer credit card sales instead of just tax and do what you got to do to be legitimate. That's all.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so this is my favorite part of the interview, where I give you the opportunity to give everybody a shout out. Who makes this place so successful for the last 80 years. Who are some of the obviously your ancestors there. You know who has made this so special that it's been able to last for 80 years.

Speaker 3:

Well, of course, the one that was in here daily was my grandmother, mary Fossil. She's the main reason this lasted that long and the reason I'm here. Her husband, frank Fossil, ran the Tulare store while she came over here. But without her partners, virginia and Pete Gonsalves, she would have probably never done it. And so they had the nursery year along with the flower shop in 1945. That closed sometime in the nineties and the nursery became unlucrative anymore. You know, it became unprofitable. They could still break even deal, but there was no sense in doing that much work to break even Over the years.

Speaker 3:

Frima Rose sat at a desk here, my grandmother's bookkeeper for 53 years. Ray Alviso, her head designer, worked here, as long as I can remember, for probably 40 years. But me personally, when my grandmother offered it to me, she was in the hospital and she was sick. She says I'd like to keep this going. I had gotten hurt on the farm. She said would you like to buy it? Come in and purchase this from me and keep it going. I said yes, but I had to make a conversation first with her head designer, beverly Scott at the time, who without her I wouldn't have been here today. Without Beverly I would have shut the doors. At that time I never came in Beverly, stayed with me for almost 10 years and then she retired. She became in her 60s, in retirement age, and said I'm done, paul, this is enough. I've had a good time. And she was instrumental in us still being here today.

Speaker 3:

Today we've had a lot of great employees over the years. You know Nancy Clay and Emily, who is now Phillip, she was Klein, and Dora Salazar, and I can go right. Tj Davis, go right down the line, my own children. You know lots of them, tyler, and today we have Kelly Pugh and Tristan Henson oh, what's your married name? Morris, tristan Morris, and my son, gus. He does all the delivering and backroom help and stuff, and then my wife and I. Without my wife, we'd already have the doors closed, amen.

Speaker 2:

Well, I want to thank your wife for helping me set this up without your knowledge.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I got to get put on the spot.

Speaker 2:

It's all good, great stories.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, no, it is a good story. There's so much more on top of it. I mean, go through the years of the stories, I've had more fun. One day I was in here and I was purchasing this from my grandmother at the time and I told her we had a lot of business going on. I said I got a secret I want to tell you and you can't tell anybody. She says hey, kid, wait a minute, I can keep a secret, just fine. It's the people I tell it to. They can't keep it. She says I thought that was great.

Speaker 2:

That's so great. Well, paul, thank you so much for hanging out this afternoon, and it's been so great learning about the history of the nursery and flower shop over the 80 years in Hanford, and we wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Speaker 3:

Well, thank you so much. God bless you and, by the grace of God, we'll be here a little longer. Okay, and now it's time for Hanford Insider Sports with Eric Bentley.

Speaker 1:

Round one of the baseball and softball playoffs is in the books, so it's time to see who's still in contention for a Valley title. Playoffs is in the books, so it's time to see who's still in contention for a Valley title. We'll start with baseball, where Hanford High was able to pick up a win in the first round of the Division III playoffs, taking down 10-seat Independence on Friday by a score of 8-4. With no runs scored through the first four innings of play, the Falcons struck first, plating three in the top of the fifth. The Bullpups would answer in a big way in the bottom of the sixth, scoring eight runs to take a decisive lead. Independence would tack one on in the seventh, but that was all. As the Bullpups secured the win, hanford High was led by a pair of their two-way players in the victory, as junior Colt Laskanik got the start, tossing four in two-thirds innings, striking out ten, giving up three runs, while Hayden Keeney came in to finish the job, going two and a third giving up one run. Both also had an impact at the plate, with Laskanik going two for four with a pair of extra base hits and an RBI, while Keeney went one for four with a run batted in, thanks to Hoover taking down the two-seed Selma in round one. The Bullpups will get another home playoff game as they host the 15-seed Patriots on Wednesday at 4.30.

Speaker 1:

On to the D4 bracket, where another 8-4 result went the way of one of our local teams, as 5-seed Hanford West took down 12-seed Napomo on Wednesday. After jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first, the bats for both teams fell quiet until the fifth when Napomo plated a run to make it 2-1. The Huskies were ready for an answer, though, as they plated six in the bottom of the inning to take a seven-run lead. The Titans would add three in the seventh before starter Alex Orozco shut the door for the complete game win Offensively. Drake Tafoya and Kylan Huang picked up a pair of RBI in the victory as Hanford West moves on to a round two matchup on the road at four seed Chowchilla on Wednesday at 430. And over to Division Two, where Sierra Pacific earned the number one seed, but unfortunately their playoff run ended before it really started falling to the 16ed Highland. In round one, the Golden Bears held a 3-2 lead through five innings before the Scots struck for three runs at. Sierra Pacific could not answer. A great season for the Golden Bears comes to a close with an 18-9 overall record and a Tri-County Kings League title.

Speaker 1:

Let's check in on softball now, where only two of the three teams were in action last week. But that's because Hanford West, with their 8-0 Tri-County Kings League title, earned the no 1 seed in Division II and got a bye in the first round of the playoffs. Their second-round matchup is now set, as the Huskies will play host to 9-seed Edison at 430 on Tuesday. Now on to the teams that were in action. Hanford High softball took the field as the sixth seed in Division IV and the Bullpups were able to take down 11-seed Reedley by a final score of 7-3.

Speaker 1:

Up next for Hanford High, a round two road matchup with three-seed Kalinga on Tuesday at 4.30. And Sierra Pacific softball, also in the Division 4 bracket, had to head on the road for their round one matchup as the 10-seed and a steady dose of offense from the 7-seed Sanger West was too much for the Golden Bears to overcome, eventually falling 8-5. Sierra Pacific season comes to a close with a 14-13 overall record, 6-2 with a second-place finish in the Tri-County Sequoia League. As always, we'd like to cover as many local sports as we can. So if you have a score report, a story idea or a team update, please let us know at hanfordinsider at gmailcom. I'm Eric Bentley and this has been your Hanford Insider Sports Report.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's all the time we have for this week's show. If you enjoyed this podcast and you'd like to show your support, you can go to buymeacoffeecom slash hanfordinsider to make a donation. If you'd like to join the Hanford Insider email list, stop by my website at hanfordinsidercom to sign up for updates. You'll also get an exclusive copy of my newsletter in your inbox each week. I also need your help getting the word out about the show by liking and sharing on social media or, like most people, just telling a friend For more information about the show. You can find this podcast on Facebook, instagram, threads X and YouTube at Hanford Insider. If you have a show idea, be sure to email me at hanfordinsider at gmailcom and I'll look into it. Thanks for listening. Have a great week.

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Rob Bentley

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