Well, we can all be very proud of our society, we have had quite a year. First, we had a very successful orchid show in May ,we actually made money which is I think a first. Then our newsletter was honored by the AOS, and we just held our annual picnic/plant auction which was well attended, made a healthy increase in our bank account, and hopefully encouraged a couple more new members to join our family!
Everyone who attended the picnic I hope went away with a few more plants and full stomachs due in part to the delicious food everyone brought.
Once again if anyone can help with setting up the Niagara show in Oct please come forward....no experience needed! Hope to see you all in September!
A few good folks are needed to help set up and take down our exhibit in the Niagara Frontier Orchid Society show. This is a chance to learn more about shows and displays. The show set up will be on Friday, October 17th, judging the 18th and take down is the 19th after 5 pm. You don’t have to have any special talents, just a desire to help and learn. Consider being one of the lucky people who takes advantage of this opportunity! We’ll talk more about setting up displays at our October meeting.
September is the time to think about the coming winter season. Orchid growers who take advantage of our short summer season by placing plants outside, are watching the weather reports for low night time temps, and praying for Indian Summer!
The latest Orchids Magazine you receive as a AOS member, has a good article on bringing plants in for the winter.
For our September meeting, We’ll review steps we should take to bring in plants from their summer hiatus to ensure their good health throughout the winter months. Gerry Hain will present the program and educate us on “hitchhikers” we don’t want to feed all winter and other tips!
At the Mid-America Congress, I had the opportunity to purchase for our library a cassete tape I've been looking for for some time. A few years ago, Gerda Farrington, AOS Accredited judge (now recommended by her center Toronto, for Emeritus status) made a wonderful tape of correct orchid pronunciation. Gerda is a perfectionist, and the quality of her tape, which she generously shared with the American Orchid Society and Mid-America, has never been surpassed.
The tape is no longer being offered by the AOS which is unfortunate, but Mid-America still had a few copies left. If you are interested in learning how to correctly pronounce the names of Orchids, I urge you to see Steve Kidder at our next meeting. I will ask Steve to keep the tape in his posession and lend it out personally instead of placing it in the library cupboard. If you borrow it, please return it to Steve by the following month. We don't want to lose track of it. Thanks!
The Mid-America Orchid Congress was held two weeks ago in Louisville,
KY.
First – what is Mid-America? It’s a group of orchid hobbyists
who for 40 years have fostered conservation, research, and education about
orchids. The Mid-America is a region covering the following judging centers:
Atlanta, Cincinnati, Chicago, Great Lakes (Ann Arbor), Mid-America (St.
Louis), and Toronto.
An Orchid Congress is a gathering of premiere speakers and experts from all over the world. Two weeks ago I was treated to talks by Dr. Leonid Averynov Moscow, Russia who spoke on Vietnamese Paphiopedilums and Eurasian Cypripediums; Nina Rach, Autre Vie Orchids Houston,Texas, spoke on Sobralias and Stanhopeas; Robert Fuchs, RF Orchids in Homestead, FL, spoke on Ascocendas; Roy Tokunaga, H&R Orchids, Waimanalo, Hawaii spoke on Dendrobiums and Mini Catts (how H&R competes with the Taiwanese clones); and Dr. Wilford Neptune on Pot Culture of Native Orchids of North America.
Of course there was the opportunity to bring home wonderful plants from some of the speakers plus Bob Wellenstein, Antec Labs, Dick Wells, Hilltop Orchids, Sam Tsui Orchid Inn, Equagenera, and Oak Hill Orchids. Barbara Noe, Celebrate Orchids brought embroidered shirts and other items hand done and beautiful! (You can bet I had a wonderful time!)
This gathering of speakers has been called the premier orchid lecture weekend in the nation for 2003!
OSNWPA has belonged to Mid-America in the past (we set up a display in Cleveland in 1995 for Cleveland’s Mid-America.) I feel we should join again. The Eastern Orchid Congress has been dissolved. (Remember the fun we had in Pittsburgh a few years ago exhibiting, attending lectures and buying plants?) Unfortunately they are gone.
Mid-America also supports the judging centers in it’s region which
includes Great Lakes, and often the meetings are held within an easy drive
from Erie. In one weekend spent at a Mid-America Orchid Seminar you will
learn more than at several shows/meetings and have a wonderful time to boot!
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