Marilyn Wibbenhorst could be called the quintessential Maderan.
Well before she purchased and operated the Madera Flower Shop on 100 S. E St., which she operated for 21 years, Wibbenhorst fostered a love of the outdoors and exhibited a community spirit indicative of a small town’s strengths. For her community involvement, she has been named a 2013 winner of the Madera District Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award.
It all started in Pasadena. The year was 1928, and a young Wibbenhorst — then Marilyn Martin — spent much of her free time aboard a family yacht or on the back of her favorite horse, Sonny Boy.
“I would be so anxious after school on Fridays they’d let me walk down to pet my horse, talk to him, and take him out all by myself,” Wibbenhorst said. “He loved sugar cubes so I’d always hide them in my jeans or blouse or something. He’d turn me around and around until he could find those sugar cubes.” ...