Woodland flower farm president visits White House

Woodland — Klazina and Benno Dobbe traveled east to Washington, D.C., in May to attend the First Lady’s Luncheon. Benno Dobbe is a board member and chairman of the Government Affairs Committee of the California Cut Flower Committee, as his Holland America Flowers farm has cut flower farms in Woodland and Arroyo Grande, Calif. They were disappointed that first lady Melania Trump couldn’t make it due to her hospital stay, but were excited to meet second lady Karen Pence. In an email, Dobbe wrote that the 18,000-plus flowers at the event were all American-grown, and he told Pence he’d like to see the current administration bring American-grown flowers back to the White House, as many of the flowers displayed in the White House are imported.