Sunflowers For St. Jude brings many visitors to Romaine Road

While the most recent blooming fields of yellow that make up Sunflowers For St. Jude have faded, the future for the local fundraising effort certainly remains bright.
This marks year eight of the Romaine family using their fields to raise funds to go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. The fields are located on Romaine Road in Kaplan.
“It’s busier and busier every year,” Ashlyn Romaine said. “There tends to be a steady stream of people all day, from those who come to photograph sunrises to those who come to photograph sunsets and ALL day in between. My husband, Durel, is near and around there and sees a steady stream all day!”
The field is open 24 hours per day, seven days a week, only limited by daylight and weather. Updates on blooms are made on the Sunflowers for St. Jude Facebook page. Romaine said guests often share their photos on the social media page.
“It’s amazing to see the field through the eyes of our visitors,” Romaine said. “They share photos to Facebook in our group and we love seeing them! Whole photography clubs have come out. We’ve had visitors from as far as Texas and Houma and Mandeville.”
Visitors can make donations for use of the fields.
“We are 100% donation based,” Romaine said. “We do ask professional photographers who wish to come with clients to contact us first. Bring clippers, a bucket and water for the blooms for the way home. Furry friends are welcome on a leash. We can never guarantee how long the blooms will last, so we always encourage people to come sooner as opposed to later!
“We’re sad when we have to reply to messages with ‘the field is done.’”
When it comes to those donations, 100% goes to St. Jude. During the past eight years, the Romaines have sent approximately $50,000 to St. Jude.
“Seed, labor and any improvements that we make are our donations,” Romaine said. Over the years, we’ve added benches, a welcome stand, a guest book, (two red wagons, a tricycle,) and a picnic table (this was donated by my in-laws).”
Yes, there is plenty of work that goes into this project, which began when the Romaine’s daughter, Catherine, wanted to take her senior photos in a sunflower field. They found a local one and after showing her dad one of the photos, he planted a four-acre field of sunflowers for her.
“Honestly, Durel and the Lord have the hard part,” Romaine said of her husband, who is a rice farmer. “Durel preps the field, plants the seed and does his magic to keep the weeds out. He and his guys maintain the parking area for us. I get to yap with visitors! It does not feel like work, but it’s hot and humid and enjoyable.
“I go home each evening feeling very thankful for our amazing community that makes this happen.”
Meeting the visitors, both locally and from out of state, resonates most strongly with Romaine.
“My favorite part of this whole thing is meeting our community,” Romaine said. “We’ve met St. Jude patients and families. We’ve met parents who have lost children to cancer, many, many years ago, who never made it to St. Jude for treatment, but still come to support our efforts.
“We meet people in all seasons of life — celebrating anniversaries, celebrating heavenly birthdays of loved ones, pregnancy photos, gender reveals, marriage proposals (our own son proposed in our field!), engagement photos. I’ve had people tell me that they just sat in the field and had a talk with God about their grief and sadness. We’ve had people come for family photos and hearing the giggles and laughter is heartwarming.”
“People tell us thank you, but again it’s the community that makes it happen!”