MOS

Official Newsletter of the Michiana Orchid Society

Volume 2        Issue 7      May, 2004

 

IT’S SHOWTIME!

 

     Get ready for a wonderful Orchid Festival at Fernwood on Mothers’ Day weekend!  This will be our first “Orchid Festival”---the accent will be on displays and workshops for the public, as well as buying and selling opportunities for our members and the general public.  All we need is a little co-operation from Mother Nature---please, please, please, no cold rain or snow this year!  Set-up will begin on Friday, May 7, at 2:00 Michigan time---that’s 1:00 Indiana time.  Our plan is to put the sales tables and the displays in the main exhibit room.  The MOS sales area will again be just outside the exhibit room.  Educational displays and workshops will be in the area just down the steps, and food will be on the lower level.

    Our vendors---Calypso, Hilltop, Green Acres, Porter’s and Natt’s---will provide displays and workshops or demonstrations.  Our members will also provide talks or demonstrations.  We would like to have continuous educational programs:  workshops and talks will be supplemented by educational displays and videos. 

    In addition to the displays by our vendors, Dunes-Kalamazoo Orchid Society will provide a medium-sized exhibit and MOS will have both small exhibits by one or two MOS members and a general MOS display.  Although there will be no registration or ribbon judging, please label your plants so that the public will know what the name of each plant is.  There will be a lovely etched-glass trophy for the display judged by the public as the best exhibit.

    In order to assign locations for displays and make up a schedule of workshops, please contact Sandy at (219) 778-4457 or sohlund@csinet.net to sign up for a display or workshop as soon as possible!

 

DISPLAYS, DEMONSTRATIONS AND WORKSHOPS, OH MY!

 

     We will need members to put on short demonstrations or workshops for the public at the Orchid Festival on Saturday and Sunday.  Consider giving a potting demonstration, show how to divide a cattleya, gather the different types of potting media, display the life of an orchid from seed pod to flask, compot, seedling and blooming size plant.  The public wants to know! 

     Our vendors (Hilltop, Calypso, Green Acres, Natt’s and Porter’s) will also provide demonstrations.  All the public needs is a little information, some practice and a bit of confidence.  Let’s try to inflict our orchid addiction on others….. 

 

 

 

YOU MIGHT HAVE TO THREATEN YOUR ORCHIDS….

 

    If speaking nicely to your orchids so that they will co-operate with gorgeous blooms for our Orchid Festival at Fernwood on Mothers’ Day weekend, May 8th and 9th has worked for you, wonderful!  But if it hasn’t, you might have to show your plants the compost heap just to give them a little more incentive to be at their blooming best for the show.  Set-up will be on Friday afternoon, May 7th, starting at 2:00 Michigan time, 1:00 Indiana time.  Hours for the Orchid Show will be 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday.  (Times listed are Michgan time---Eastern Daylight Time.)  Many of you have already signed up to help out on the various committees, but we can’t have too many volunteers.  So if your name isn’t on one of the committees below, it may be because the additional sign-up sheet at the last meeting walked away and I didn’t see it!  Please come on out to Fernwood, bring your plants and workshop materials---there’s always lots to do! 

 

ORCHID FESTIVAL COMMITTEES

 

 

SET-UP (Friday, 2:00 EDT)                  TAKE-DOWN (Sunday, 5:00 EDT)

Rick H.                  Rick H.

Rick R.                  Rick R.

Vicky R.                  Vicky R.

Dennis N.                   Gerry N. + helpers

Tim R.                  Sylvia G.

Sylvia G.                  Eldon G.

Eldon G.                  Howard H.

Howard H.                  Jean and Harry M.

Jean and Harry M.                  Shirley K.

Shirley K.                  Sherry B.

Sherry B.

 

LABELS                     FOOD

Jim Y.                           Rick and Vicky R.

                           Deb L.

PUBLICITY                     Syliva G.

Jean M.                                                          Sherry B.

Deb L.                                                               Deb L.

Sandy O.                                                          Sandy O.

                        Ann K.

                        Shirley K.

                        Luella G.

 

HOSPITALITY                        SALES

Sylvia G.                        Dennis N.  (Saturday)

Harry and Jean M.                        Rick H.  (Sunday)

Shirley K.                        Sherry B.  (when needed)

 

 

WE NEED FOOD!

  

     As always, we need members to bring food for all the hard-working volunteers and vendors at our orchid festival.  Greatly appreciated are salads, chips, fruit, cookies, brownies, pop, breakfast rolls, donuts, juice, etc. for our Friday evening buffet as well as Saturday and Sunday breakfast and lunch.  We’re looking forward to all the wonderful goodies that Michiana Orchid Society members bring to this event!  Thanks!

 

 

SEND PLANT LISTS TO JIM YEAGER

 

    Jim Yeager has again volunteered to make the labels for plants in our exhibit.  Send your lists of plants to Jim at james.yeager@fourway.net .

Jim will make up the labels during his “free time” at school….

 

 

 

CARL MILLER’S ORCHID COLLECTION 

 

     Many of you may remember Carl Miller, a long-time Dunes-Kalamazoo member and excellent orchid grower.  Carl passed away recently and Larry Galdes of Calypso Art Glass is in charge of selling the plants in his collection.  Carl had many Encyclia species and named clones of Laelia species.  If there are plants that you might want, please call Larry Galdes at (269)383-4423.  Larry would be able to bring the plants to Fernwood if he knows of your interest.  Don’t delay.

 

April Minutes

 

The April 10 MOS meeting at River Park Branch Library was called to order by President Sandy Ohlund at 1:30. Two guests, Robert Florey and Elton Stevens, were welcomed. The secretary's and treasurer's reports were accepted as printed in the Newsletter.

Treasurer Deb Longworth reported on money transferred to savings, culture books purchased for the upcoming show, and reminded all to send in dues for the current year.

Newsletter Editor Shirley Keim said the MOS Newsletter should be on the website by the 3rd of each month.

Committee Reports:

By Laws committee held their first meeting. Sandy noted that redoing the by laws will "move slowly."

Program committee - Sylvia reported a full year of programs has been scheduled except for location of the Christmas party. In August our Michigan road trip will be expanded to accept an invitation from Rob Halgren to visit his "Little Frog Farm" and see the large greenhouse he will be moving to that location.

Show committee - MOS members are urged to plan individual or small group displays using a card table or other setting. These could include miniatures, collectables, arrangements, pictures, artwork, needlework, etc. and could be displayed either in the auditorium or the educational area. Sylvia said she has plenty of black material to help with the displays. There will be no registration and no judging. Education is the focus. Remember to label everything - plants, videos, pots, equipment, etc.

Publicity - Jean Moskowitz listed the radio and television stations she is contacting in the Elkhart and Goshen area.

Further show business - The five vendors will each have a display plus two tables for sales. MOS and Dunes/Kalamazoo will also have a orchid displays. Displays and vendors will be in Fernwood's auditorium. MOS sales will be in the hall, and the educational programs will be down a few steps in the meeting room. The entire Orchid Festival will be in one building this year.

Fernwood's Mother's Day weekend also includes the Blue Lawn Festival with live music outside, activities for children, and a buffet lunch on Saturday and Sunday.

New Business - Mid-America Orchid Congress has their newsletter on line. www.midamericanorchids.org

The list of new orchid hybrids can now be found on the AOS website instead of their magazine.

The 10th annual Phal. Symposium will be in July at Union Station, Indianapolis, according to Dick Wells.

Howard Heines announced the annual Dahlia Society roots sale will be May 1 at High Dive Park in Elkhart. Only $2.00 per root.

Bring and Brag saw plants from Jim, Barbara, and Sylvia. Sylvia mentioned the "whiskers" on her Phrag. "Windy Hill" grew one and a half inches each day. Very long and impressive!

Jim and John found willing buyers for plants they brought to sell.

AT 2:30 we adjourned for refreshments while Greg Filter and Sylvia Groat got their laptops ready for the program on Wildcatt's orchid data base.

With Greg and Sylvia demonstrating we learned how to find the parents of a specific orchid, also about Wildcatt's various color graphs, lists of crosses, primary and secondary hybrids, and genealogy of a specific plant. Updated twice each year, the current complete version costs $139.00. New updates are $30.00 each. Thanks to Greg and Sylvia for bringing their equipment and sharing it with us.

Respectively submitted,

Barbara Wich

 

 

 

 

Michiana Orchid Society

Treasurer’s Report

April 10, 2004

 

 

Beginning balance                                                $2421.96

 

Income            

                                                                        Dues                                                          60.00

 

Expenses

                                                                        AOS books, Orchid culture, 50                253.50

                                                                        Show expenses, transportation        25.00

                                                                        Transfer to savings account                     1500.00

Total expenses                                                                                        1778.50

 

Ending Balance                                                                                     $  703.46

 

Savings Account                                                $2929.74

 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Deb Longworth, treasurer

 

LAST CALL FOR DUES

Almost all the dues are in so Deb hopes to get an up-to-date membership list out after our orchid festival at Fernwood. This is the last chance for the few who haven't renewed before your membership evaporates and newsletters become a thing of the past! Mail $10 ($15 family) to MOS, in care of Deb Longworth, 7451 E 900 N, New Carlisle IN 46552.

Refreshments

Here is the sign up sheet for the coming months.

May Show at Fernwood

June meet at John’s house

July meet at Sherry’s house

August road trip or meet at member’s house

September Sandy

October Jean

November Show at Holy Cross

December Christmas Party