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A Message From The PresidentWHERE ARE WE GOING?June 5, 2002 A hearty welcome to everyone interested in Encyclias. During the Redland Orchid Festival in May this year, a group of Encyclia enthusiasts met and formed an organization, whose purpose is to promote interest in the Encyclia family of orchid species. First, I would like to thank Richard Unger and Isabel Lopatin for their tireless efforts in getting this organization started. Along with the newly elected officers and directors, I am looking forward to serving as President of Encyclia Enthusiasts, and to meeting many other Encyclia enthusiasts during our meeting at the Orchid Society Show and AOS Members Meetings in Houston in October. I would also like to take
this opportunity to address some of the goals I see as our primary focus during
my term. There are many things to do when getting a new organization off
the ground, and we will need as much help as possible from all our members to
make our efforts successful.
I look forward to receiving your ideas on what you would like to
contribute to the organization.
Whether your interest is education, working on a web page, fund-raising,
or any of the other jobs we will be undertaking, be assured, your contributions
will be valued.
My
first goal is increasing membership and making it international.
During the next three years, I believe 1,000 members from around the
world is achievable.
As membership increases, it will be possible to establish regions with
their own center of operations, which will provide a Regional Representative to
the Board of Directors.
These centers would promote Encyclia Enthusiasts at orchid shows and
events, and establish contact with other orchid organizations within their own
regions.
I envision these regional centers sending speakers to orchid society
meetings, providing local people to set up and operate displays on Encyclia at
local orchid shows and providing cultural information for growing Encyclia that
is specific to local growing conditions.
My
second goal is maintaining a vibrant web presence.
We are fortunate to have Rebecca Wolfe in charge of launching this
effort, but she will need input from all members to make ours a truly dynamic
web site which is responsive to the interests and needs of the membership.
A
third goal is providing information about the Encyclia.
Educational outreach, to be led by Carol Watson, is one of our primary
purposes.
Please contact her if you can offer ideas or assistance in this area.
So little is really known about Encyclia that we, as a group, can be in
the forefront of both general knowledge and, in a number of years, original
research on the genus.
I think this is the area in which Encyclia Enthusiasts can make the most
significant contribution to the orchid world.
Show
judging of Encyclia is also important to me.
I think we have a long way to go in getting the judging world to
recognize Encyclia as a very interesting genus.
To accomplish this, I propose that within a year we establish a committee
that operates at major shows to provide a trophy for Best Encyclia Species and
Best Encyclia Hybrid (using only Encyclia species for the hybrid).
Funds for the trophies would come from the Encyclia Enthusiasts treasury.
Commercial
breeding of Encyclias is in its infancy.
In order to promote conservation of Encyclia species in the wild, we need
to develop a network of commercial growers to provide species and hybrid plants
to the public.
This is an area that I believe merits a committee of its own, and I would
like to see this addressed at our October meeting in Houston.
In
the end, we can’t accomplish these goals without money.
Ideas for fund-raising should be addressed to Carol Watson, who, in
addition to being an authority on Encyclia in her own right, has generously
agreed to apply her numerous skills to this task. I
look forward to all of you making this the best organization possible.
It is going to take a lot of work, but I think that by using the
creativity of all members we can surprise even ourselves with our
accomplishments.
So mark your calendars for the Houston show.
If you can’t attend, your ideas are still needed.
Encyclia Enthusiasts will not be an organization that is dictated by the
officers and board.
We are here to facilitate and coordinate the things you want to see
happen and assist all Encyclia Enthusiasts in becoming better Encyclia growers. Good
growing, especially your Encs.
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