1. Call to order by President Doug Needham at 1:00 pm
2. Introduction of guests and new members since last meeting. Number present: 26 current members (25 in person and 1 online). Welcome new members and guests!
3. Grower Tips: Vice President John Spencer yielded growing tip time to Catherine Chance and members who assisted her in taking water quality measurements of the diverse water sources brought in by members. The information gathered during this time will be compared to water quality data for orchids discussed during Catherine’s presentation.
4. Approval of meeting minutes: A motion was made by John Spencer and seconded by Gerry Holland to approve July’s minutes. Approval was unanimous.
5. Old business: 2024 Show Theme “Re-Vote”
Thank you to those who submitted theme suggestions for next year’s Show & Sale! A re-vote to select the 2024 show theme was conducted during the meeting, and members chose “Close Encounters — with Orchids” from a selection of five great possibilities.
1. “Close Encounters — with Orchids”
2. “Japanese-inspired Super Jet Dinosaur Fun Monkeys”
3. “Orchids in the Park”
4. “The Language of Orchids”
5. “The Wonderful World of Orchids”
6. New business:
a. OOS Delegate to OKC Council of Garden Clubs
Doug Needham opened new business by bringing to attention the long service of Carolyn McCabe and Johnita Turner as OOS delegate to the OKC Council of Garden Clubs since 2013. Thank you for your dedication! The delegate position is vacant after 10 years and needs a new volunteer. Johnita Turner recommended a new delegate occupy this seat annually. Going forward, an OOS delegate shall be identified annually to serve from July 1–June 30. Duties of OOS Delegate:
1. Attend Council meetings, 2nd Friday of each month (Sept.-May), representing OOS in Council decisions. Meeting runs 10-11am with coffee 30 minutes prior at WRGC.
2. Delegate shall report on Council activities during OOS’s monthly business meetings.
Jana Butcher volunteered to serve in this position through June 30, 2024. Thank you!
b. Will Rogers Garden Center (WRGC) volunteer opportunities
Volunteer hours donated by our members help curb the cost to OOS for renting space for monthly meetings and the annual show. Last year members volunteered 100 hours of their time and succeeded in significantly reducing the amount OOS owed for building use from over $1500.00 to $0.00! Doug N. extended a well-deserved THANK YOU to those who volunteered their time the past year at WRGC and Martin Nature Park Center.
The Fall brings new volunteer opportunities. The following is a list of those events and members who volunteered during the August meeting:
Saturday, October 28th 7:30am-12:30pm: “Halloween on the Green” in the Conservatory at Will Rogers Gardens. Volunteers – Rena Califf, Marinel Kelley, Jessica Nelson, Alex Ryzhkov, and Kim Kyker
Saturday, November 11, 8am-Noon: Test and install Christmas holiday lights. Place the date on your calendar!
Saturday, January 6, 8am-Noon: Remove and store Christmas holiday lights. Place the date on your calendar!
c. Will Rogers Garden Center Public Class by OOS
OOS Winter Class, during February 2024, presented by Doug Needham. Topic: Greenhouse Design
OOS Spring Class, will be held June 2024, presented by Mike Friday. Topic: Orchids 101- you bought an orchid, now what?
Thank you for your contributions!
7. Treasurer’s report: Carol Ash gave end-of-month July 2023 Treasurer’s Report with total monies reported as $33,143.00. Visuals were presented of the finances. Motion for approval by John Spencer and second by Catherine Chance. The vote was unanimous to approve the report.
8. Committee Chair Reports:
a. Membership Committee Report: Jessica Nelson, Chair, reported that OOS membership has grown to include
35 Active Individual Memberships
22 Active Family/Household Memberships (51 persons)
5 Active Honorary Lifetime Memberships
89 Total Active Members
b. Programming Committee Report: John Spencer, Chair, reported the program lineup for the Fall meetings as:
September Meeting: “Orchid Mycorrhizal Relationships” by Dr. Kelly Craven, Asst. Prof., OSU
October Meeting: “OCA Orchids in the Wild Tour of Brazil” by Claire Garrett
November Meeting: This meeting will include a greenhouse tour
December Meeting: The Christmas Holiday Party ”Johnita Turner’s Wild Christmas Extravaganza” is scheduled for Dec. 2, 1pm-4pm at her beautiful home. Thank you Johnita!
c. Show & Sale – Jana Butcher, Bridget Andoe, and Marinel Kelley, Co-chairs, announced the theme to be ”Close Encounters – with Orchids”.
The show will be a bench and exhibit show with an “Orchids in Use” section.
The annual show is May 4 & 5, 2024. Set up for the show will be May 2 and 3. Volunteers, please mark your calendars and think where you may be of help setting up and during the show. There are great opportunities for volunteering during the four days.
Postcard Design Competition is now open for the show. This design is open to the public, no OOS membership is necessary to submit an entry for this competition. The design must be the submitter’s own work, and more than one design may be submitted per person. Standard size of the design is 5.83” x 4.13” (148mm x 105mm), the format of the standard A6 postcard. See OOS Shows & Sales webpage for postcard submission details.
d. Investment – Jana Butcher: no report this month
e. Conservation Committee Report: Mike Friday, Chair, introduced members to the Rattlesnake Orchid, Goodyera pubenscens, by bringing a blooming plant for all to see. The Goodyera pubenscens, is an evergreen orchid that blooms May to Sept. It is hardy in zones 6–10 and ranges from Florida northward to Nova Scotia, expands west to eastern Oklahoma, Minnesota and Ontario. The habitat for this orchid is deciduous and coniferous forests, growing usually in sandy, acidic soils though, at times, found growing on moss. Goodyera pubenscens requires partial shade to sun.
f. Website Committee Report: Doug Needham, Chair, showcased Bill Parker’s blog “Keep Them Cool!”. Thank you to both Bill and Angela Teeter for preparing the article. Doug thanked Catherine Chance for publishing the GPJC Award winners each month and Kim Kyker for taking on publishing the monthly “Show Table” photo blog. Additionally, Doug announced that Deb Bodei will be posting the OrchidPro Tutorial video from our February meeting to the AOS’s website very soon.
9. Affiliate Reports:
a. Great Plains Judging Center – Catherine Chance, Student Judge, stated 14 plants were judged and 4 of these received awards. Recipe requests are still being collected to compile into a recipe book.
b. AOS Representative – Gerry Holland introduced her favorite sections of the AOS magazine, the Q&A and Tips by highlighting information about leaf tip damage and sunburn. The recent issue of the magazine also contains an informative article on Phalaenopsis.
c. SWROGA – Mike Friday or Bill Parker: The SWROGA show will be held October 7 @ 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM Kansas Orchid Society Fall Show and Sale , Botanica, The Wichita Gardens 701 N Amidon Ave, Wichita Kansas.
d. Orchid Digest Representative – Bill Parker: No report this month
e. OKC Council of Garden Clubs – Johnita Turner: As Johnita exits her long-standing position, she reminded members that the Council’s dues of $25.00 secure meeting dates for 3 years. This is important for organizations such as ours to prevent being bumped by larger events such as weddings.
10. Adjourn Business Meeting at 2:00 pm
11. Refreshment Break — Thank you, Hospitality Hosts! Happy Birthday, Bill Parker!
12. Program /Presentation – Vice President John Spencer introduced Catherine and Danny Chance who presented an overview of water quality needed for watering orchids. With the information Catherine and Danny presented and the water measurements taken earlier in the day. Thank for both for a valuable talk.
13. Show and Tell Table – Many beautiful blooming orchids were brought to today’s meeting. Thank you to those who showed their plants and described the plants’ culture.
14. Auction and Raffle A lively raffle of plants brought by OOS members closed the meeting. Thank you to all who donated plants for today’s auction and raffle.
15. Adjourn – Doug Needham adjourned meeting at 3:50 pm.