January 2018 Volume 48, Issue 1

A non profit organization

established in 1945, HOS is

a recipient of the American

Orchid Society’s Distin-

guished Affiliated Societies

Service award

Inside This Issue:

Presidents Post 1

Stay-At-Home

Wonders

2

Judging Center

Report

3

Calendar 4

Newcomers Meeting 4

Raffle Table

Membership

Renewal

4

4

Upcoming Events 5

AOS Webinars

6

The Houston Happenings

January Program: Rick Hepler: Alternative Cultural Methods for

Tropical Slipper Orchids

By Bill Caldwell, VP Speakers

Our January meeting will

feature our very own Rick

Hepler, who will provide us

with detailed guidance on

several different cultural meth-

ods that he has found success-

ful in growing Phaphiopedilum

and Phragmipedium in the Hou-

ston area.

Rick has been growing

orchids since 1983 and has been

an active Houston Orchid

Society member for many years.

Join us to listen to Rick speak

on Thursday, January 4, 2018 at

7:30 PM at the First Christian

Church and School, 1601 Sunset

Blvd, Houston, TX 77005.

Rick Hepler

Presidents Post By Don Ghiz, President

By the time you see this, the

holidays will be behind us and

January, with all it’s bad weath-

er, will be upon us. I hope each

of you enjoyed your holidays

and I wish you a Happy and

Prosperous 2018.

In a few short months, it will

be time for our annual Show.

This year, Jay Balchan heads it

up in a new venue at Memorial

City Mall. HOS has had shows

there in past years and it’s an

exciting and busy venue. We

will need many volunteers to

make the show a success.

This leads me to a topic I

mentioned in my December

Message. It’s about ‘coming for

the orchids and staying for the friendships.’ There’s so much

more to be gained for your

membership dues than coming

to meetings. Please become a

working part of the organiza-

tion. Some of you might have

heard the adage, ‘10% of the

Please Welcome

New Member

Karen Chen

people do 90% of the work.’

Let’s go for 50% of the people

do 50% of the work. In reach-

ing that goal, you will not only

help your society, but you will

become a part of it and make

friends while doing it.

It is very important to the

society’s financial well-being that

this show be a success. You

may or may not know that the

First Christian Church doubled

our rent this year, creating a

$1200 dent in our expenses.

Those of you on the Board

know how difficult it is to

balance our budget and now,

almost impossible with added

rent. The Board will meet in

January to discuss this year’s budget and how to balance it.

We haven’t had an increase in

dues ever, in my memory, so as

much as I hate to say it, increas-

ing dues is not beyond the

realm of consideration.

There are some ad-hoc

(temporary) committees I’ve

established to try and avoid a

dues increase. One will be

headed by Stephen Gallagher,

whose responsibility will be to

search for a new meeting place

in 2019. Another task force,

headed by Rick Hepler, is look-

ing at the possibility of hosting

the AOS Members’ Meeting in

the Spring of 2019. These

committees will investigate and

report back to the Board for

approval to bring it to the

membership. Nothing will hap-

pen without your input.

See, I promised you last

month I wouldn’t even try to

tell you how to grow. Let’s

work on building friendships, volunteerism, and a strong

financial future. That’s best

done with more members, so if

you know anyone who might

be interested in coming to a

meeting, please bring them and

introduce them to everyone.

Page 2 Volume 48, Issue 1

Stay-At-Home Pictures By Steven Fox

All of our pictures this month

were provided by Steve.

REFRESHMENT CORNER

Thanks to everyone who brought dishes for the annual Holiday party last month.

We welcome anyone that would like to bring snacks to the January meeting.

Catesetum

gladiatorium

Noid Dendrobium

Tuberolabium

kotoense

Rhyncattleanthe Triple Love '#15' (Rth.

Love-Love x Cattlianthe Secret Love)

Den.Triple Fantasy (Den.

Bangkok Green x Den.

Green Fancy)

Closeup of flowers

Page 3 The Houston Happenings

Houston Judging Center By Don Maples

Happy Holidays! Actually, Stephen Moffitt started early with two

awards at the HJC meeting this month. His Ctsm. Marlene Young re-

ceived an AM of 80 points and his unregistered cross of Ctsm. tigrinum x

Ctsm. cirrhaeoides received an HCC of 75 points.

As this year winds down, all the judges of the HJC wish you the very

best for a wonderful and safe Holiday. We hope that you will join us next

year at the judging tables.

Ctsm. tigrinum x Ctsm. Cirrhaeoides

(HCC/AOS), 75 points

Closeup of

pollen

Ctsm. Marlene

Young (AM/AOS),

80 points

Side view of

flower

Page 4 Volume 48, Issue 1

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and is looking

forward to a Happy 2018!

The next scheduled meeting of the HOS Newcomers Group

will be Sunday, January 21, 2018. We will meet at the home of

Reva and Robert Raschke.

Look for further notification with the address and times.

Hope to see all the Newcomers there in January.

January Raffle Table By Loren & Judith Neufeld

The raffle plants for the January meeting will be provided by

Clown Alley.

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 7:30 PM

HOS Meeting

5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 HJC

Judging

21 2:00 PM

Newcomers 22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

January 2018

Membership Dues By Becky Sturnfield

Every year at this time, memberships are renewed,

and the new directory comes out soon thereafter.

Membership dues pay for just about everything for our

organization including the directory, speakers and their

travel expenses, supplies, plants for the raffle, rental space

at the church, and so much more. This is why it’s ex-

tremely important to promptly pay the annual member-

ship dues.

The funds are needed to provide the best orchid socie-

ty for you, the member. Please take a few minutes to take

care of this vital task. Also, be aware that if your mem-

bership has not been paid, the directory will not have your

contact information, and you will not be included in the

email list for the newsletter or announcements.

Essentially, your membership will be terminated, and

you would have to re-apply. We would like to keep you

connected! Without you, Houston Orchid Society would

not exist! Thanks to the people who have already paid

their membership.

The deadline is the February meeting, so please either

mail it in, pay at the January meeting, or you can pay on-

line at our website at houstonorchidsociety.org. Thank

you in advance for paying your dues before the due date!

Newcomers Group Meeting By Steve Fox

Page 5 The Houston Happenings

HOS Officers and Committee Chairs Upcoming Events Officers

President Don Ghiz

VP - Speakers Bill Caldwell

VP - Shows Rick Hepler

VP - Membership Becky Sturnfield

Treasurer Winnie Yap

Recording Secretary Sheila Skov

Past President Derek Lowenstein

Chairs Conservation Nina Rach

Display Table Sarah Bentley

Exhibits Rick Hepler

Guest Hospitality Amy Colville

Happenings Editor Marianne Walker

Intermediate Group Jay Balchan

Newcomers Group Steve Fox

Parliamentarian Marvin Gerber

Photography Malcolm McCorquodale

Plant Raffle Judith Neufeld, Loren Neufeld

Refreshments Melissa Dwan

Silent Auction Frank & Cherie Lee

Spring Show Jay Balchan

Summer Workshop John Stubbings

Webmaster Tom Durrett

Directors - Two Year Term Holly Miller Steve Fox

Calvin Starr Marianne Walker

Susan Dally Stephen Moffitt

Ft. Ted Baenziger

Directors - One Year Term Marvin Gerber Tom Durrett

Jay Balchan

Representatives AOS Representative Jay Balchan

IPA Representative Fr. Ted Baenziger

ODC Representative Fr. Ted Baenziger

SWROGA Directors Sandy Stubbings and Laurie Skov

January 12-14, 2018

Tamiami International Orchid Festival

Dade County Fairgrounds Expo Center

10901 Coral Way (SW 24th St)

Miami, FL

January 19-21, 2018

Ft. Lauderdale Orchid Society Show and Sale

War Memorial Auditorium, 800 NE 8th St

Ft. Lauderdale, FL

April 21-22, 2018

Tulsa Orchid Society Show and Sale

Tulsa Garden Center

Tulsa, OK

May 12-13, 2018

Galveston Bay Orchid Society Show

South Shore Harbor Resort & Conference Ctr

2500 South Shore Blvd

League City, TX

May 18-20, 2018

Redland International Orchid Festival

Redland Fruit and Spice Park

Homestead, FL

June 1-3, 2018

New Orleans Orchid Society Show and Sale

Lakeside Shopping Center,

3301 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite 209,

Metairie, LA

Volume 48, Issue 1 Page 6

Wednesday, January 10th, 2018

7:30 PM - 8:30 PM CST

Greenhouse Chat with Ron McHatton

Tuesday, February 6th, 2018

7:30 PM - 8:30 PM CST

Greenhouse Chat with Ron McHatton

Register

AOS WEBINARS

Register

Wednesday, February 21st, 2018

7:30 PM - 8:30 PM CST

Doctor, Doctor See Spots: Cattleya guttata

with Andrew Coghill-Behrends

(This is a members only seminar)

Register