Original artwork by Kiti Wenzel

Believe it or not, we have finally corralled Dennis Cathcart, and he is going to present the program at the November meeting. I was talking to Dennis recently and he assured me that he has not been avoiding us, just very busy. He seems to be traveling all over the country speaking to more than just bromeliad clubs. Dennis is definitely in demand all over the world, and we are very fortunate to have him as a member of our club. Dennis said that we are one of his favorite clubs because everyone is so friendly and sociable and our outstanding refreshments are an added inducement.

Dennis and Linda Cathcart run Tropiflora nursery in Sarasota. Dennis has been known for his presentations on his bromeliad collecting trips to South America. If you have never seen one of Dennis' presentations, be sure to be there, and if you ever have seen one then I know that you will be there.

Last month Grant Groves had plenty of beautiful slides from Grant's recent trip to Peru. Grant and his wife who live in Winter Gardens, brought special sale plants and interesting handmade items from Peru.

This must have been an excellent trip for them. Although he was not able to bring any of the plants that he collected back with him, his brother-in-law is growing them in Peru. This might work very well, as they might be able to adjust to the altitude change more slowly and then be imported to this country later.

We want to thank Grant for sharing his experiences with us, and I know that there are a number of members that would love to go with them on their next trip.

The picture on the cover of this month's newsletter is an original drawing in art colored pencil by Kiti Wenzel, signed and framed by the artist. The dimensions are approximately. 30 x 35 in. The name of the plant is Guzmania Flor D'Anjou. Kiti is a well known artist in the Bromeliad world.

The hand drawing belongs to the Bankhead's who purchased it at the last Extravaganza, which was hosted by the FWCBS. That must have been at least 6 years ago. The artist did not frame the picture, so the Bankhead's had it professionally framed on acid free paper.

Although this has hung on the Bankhead's wall and been enjoyed for many years, John has received a Florida art collection and needs a place for it all and would like to sell the artwork by Kiti Wenzel for the price of $500.00. If you are interested contact John at the meeting or call him at 536-5098.

I am afraid that this photo does not do justice to Kiti's artistic talents, but John took the picture and e-mailed it to me and by the time I cropped it and reproduced it on the newsletter, it lost something. When John asked me at the meeting if I would put something in the newsletter about the picture, I realized that I had not used any artwork on the cover for quite a while. Over the years we have had artwork by Morris Henry Hobbs, Steve Littlefield, Kiti Wenzel and others.

Well I personally have to thank everyone for bringing refreshments to last month's meeting. It was I who forgot to pick up the refreshment list at the previous meeting in Sara's absence. I have later realized that Fay picked it up for me and e-mailed me the names that had signed-up on the list. But I lost that also and I asked members to bring something if they could. It worked out very well as we had plenty and a nice variety. So anyone who brought a refreshment item gets a personal thanks from me.

Now that Sara is well and things are back to normal, Sharon Philyaw is the only person that signed up to provide refreshments for the November meeting. I am sure that she could use some help, so if anyone has any goodies left over from Halloween please bring them.

While you are at the meeting, please remember to stop by the front desk when you bring food to pick up your extra raffle ticket. You will also find the refreshment sign-up sheet at this desk for future months.

Everyone should be looking for recipes for something to bring to the covered dish dinner in December. The club will provide meat trays, rolls, shrimp platter, and sodas, so everyone can bring other items.

This year’s Extravaganza, to be hosted by the Bromeliad Society of South Florida, will not be held at the Miccosukee Resort and Convention Center in Miami on November 15 and 16, As it turned out this is the same weekend that Nascar descends on that area. The rooms at the reservation are all reserved, and all other rooms in that area are filled as well. In other words there is no room at the Inn or any others in the Miami area on that weekend.

An attempt will be made to move the event to the first part of 2004. Of course we are already scheduled to host the event in 2004 and do not look forward to having 2 extravaganzas in the same year.

Auntie Margaret Queries

There is a section on the Florida Council of Bromeliad Societies website, which is written by Margaret Butcher, who is the wife of Derek Butcher, the BSI director of Hybrid registration. Margaret is English by birth, but Australian by choice, and Margaret's section seems to be about propagation from seeds. It includes information on the BSI seed bank.

Margaret is concerned that some of the seeds that have come through the BSI seed bank have been misnamed, so she is trying to get photos with the correct names on the website. Anyone, who has grown seeds from this seed fund, should check out this site. It can be reached from http://www.fcbs.org/ and then click on the Auntie Margaret Queries tab.

If someone were interested in getting seeds from the seed bank, this would be a good place to start as she has a link to that area, and some good information there.

While you are at the Florida Council of Bromeliad Societies it is worth checking out. There are many very interesting sections there and many excellent photos. I think that this is the very best bromeliad photo index on any Internet.

Invite guests to the meetings

Wear nametags

Bring plants for:

Show and tell

Raffle table

Friendship table