Florida Council of Bromeliad Societies
Minutes
January 8, 2005
The January, 2005, meeting of the Florida Council of Bromeliad Societies was hosted by the Sarasota Bromeliad Society and held at the home of Rob Branch. The meeting was called to order at 1:07p.m by Ed Hall. This was the first meeting of the New Year and the new officers were introduced:
Chairman – Ed Hall
Vice-Chairman – Vicky Chirnside
Secretary – Jay Thurrott
Treasurer – Sudi Hipsley
Outgoing Chairman Carolyn Schoenau introduced the new editor of the FCBS newsletter, Jeffrey Haviland.
Incoming Chairman Ed Hall then presented a plaque to Carolyn in recognition and appreciation of her contributions to the Council as past Chairman. It was noted that the art work on the plaque was originally created by Carol Johnson for the Council.
Secretary’s report – A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the October meeting, as provided in email and regular mail. Motion carried unanimously.
No Treasurer’s report for this quarter, but it was noted that dues should now be submitted with a current roster from each member club.
Webmaster’s report – Michael Andreas reported that he had taken advantage of a holiday special for renewal of the website for 2 years at a reduced cost to the Council. This is now paid up until 2009. The registration for the website name also is paid up. It was reported that individuals are still using pictures from the website to promote sales of bromeliads on Ebay without permission, although this situation has somewhat improved. Dennis and Mary Jo Kellog of Bromeliadsrus have now used Council pictures without permission three times. This generated considerable discussion and resulted in a motion by Ed Prince, which subsequently passed unanimously, that the Chairman send a letter to the Kellogs - pointing out that the Council website images are not to be used for commercial purposes. Betsy McCrory will ask lawyer Mike McMahon, an attorney who is a member of Central Florida, to allow the letter to be copied to him for possible future action. Copyright law is one of his specialties. Karen Andreas volunteered to draft such a letter.
Publications/Newsletter Report – Jeff Haviland reported that he is reworking the Council Newsletter data base and that a current roster can be emailed to anyone requesting it in standard text format or as an Excel spreadsheet. He asked that everyone review the roster and correct errors as they become aware of them. The newsletter will have printed materials (articles), calendar events, a list of growers and advertisements to offset printing costs. A reminder was issued that the editor could use member contributed articles for the newsletter. It was requested that those clubs that have newsletters please copy them to the editor.
Weevil Research Report – Dr. Howard Frank presented the Council with a weevil update that included the "good news" that the parasitic fly currently being cultivated as a biological control has exhibited a preference for the "evil weevil" over other weevil species. Dr. Ron Cave would like to develop a trap to monitor weevil populations in areas of Florida currently infested. A new permit has been obtained to begin importing fly larvae to the Ft. Pierce research facility. The greenhouse study at University of Florida in Gainesville, when it is completed, will result in a new, smaller list of plants favored by the weevil. A question was posed concerning whether this is an appropriate time of year to conduct searches for the presence of the weevil with a response that this would be fine. Ed Hall noted that the air conditioner purchased by the Council for the Gainesville research facility is no longer needed and volunteered to retrieve it for possible donation. Al Muzzel will ask Selby Gardens if they have a need for this. Ed Hall also noted that Leu Gardens has been receiving numerous specimens of T. utriculata that had been dislodged by the recent hurricanes from trees throughout the Orlando area. This is providing a means to further spread the weevil.
Florida Judges Report – Jay Thurrott reported that plans are underway for a judges school with a tentative date set of March 5. This will likely be held in Ft. Lauderdale.
Society Representatives’ Reports –
The Bromeliad Society of Central Florida will hold its annual Mother’s Day show and sale this year at the Fashion Square Mall.
The Seminole Bromeliad Society will have its annual Bromeliad Bonanza at Blossom World Bromeliads in March.
The Florida East Coast Bromeliad Society will have a sale in conjunction with the annual Master Gardener’s sale at the Volusia County Fairgrounds in Deland on April 2nd. They will also have a bromeliad display at the 50th annual Everybody’s Flower Show at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center March 17 – 20.
The Bromeliad Society of South Florida board will be meeting soon to discuss their annual sale at Fairchild Gardens. Ed Prince requested input from members on their experiences with shows/sales. He also noted that the current Florida Gardening magazine has an article on the home of Ken (BSI webmaster) and Tammy Marks.
The Caloosahatchee Bromeliad Society will have its annual plant auction to benefit weevil research in March. Their show and sale will be either in October or early November. Vicky Chirnside and Larry Giroux commented that their group has a new meeting place while a new Garden Councils building will hopefully be built on the Edison House grounds.
The Florida West Coast Bromeliad Society reported that the 2004 Extravaganza was a financial success and was well received by those attending. Bob Dalzell announced that he would be resigning as Council representative and introduced Joe O’Rourke as a new representative.
The Sarasota Bromeliad Society reported that its sale will take place on May 13-15 this year and noted that the International Cryptanthus Society will have its 9th annual show and sale at Selby Gardens.
The Gainesville Bromeliad Society will have a plant sale in conjunction with the Kanapaha Gardens Spring sale on March 18th and 19th. There are typically over 200 vendors at this sale.
The Bromeliad Society of Broward County show and sale will be held on April 1st and 2nd.
The Bromeliad Guild of Tampa Bay will be holding its show and sale from March 18th through the 20th. Tom Wolf distributed fliers with details on this event. They also will be staffing a bromeliad display at the Florida State Fair from Feb.10th – 21st.
Old Business:
The newsletter editor asked for direction on including a list of growers in the quarterly publication. General feeling was that this would be of interest to readers as long as those listed have a current certificate of registration from the State Agriculture Department.
Carolyn Schoenau announced that dues from the member societies are now due and commented on the difficulty in receiving rosters in a timely manner. Dues are $10/society plus $3 per member (per address). Discussion took place on the different fiscal years followed by the various organizations and the difficulty this causes in producing a roster. Overall it was felt that the best solution would be to send a roster now and send corrections in the future to the newsletter editor - rather than wait for new individual rosters to be produced.
Extravaganzas – Larry Giroux made a motion with unanimous support complimenting the Fl. West Coast Bromeliad Society on an outstanding job in hosting the 2004 Extravaganza. The 2005 Extravaganza will be hosted by the Sarasota Society with a tentative date of October 1st, 2005. Len Dolatowski will be the chairman of this event. Ed Hall reminded those present that there is no current host for the 2006 Extravaganza. He will be asking for a volunteer at the April meeting. A question of how much money the Council made from the Extravaganza was asked; since the treasurer was not present, that information will be forthcoming.
The next Florida Council meeting will be hosted by the Seminole Society on April 9th and will be at the home of Ed and Nancy Hall.
New Business:
Discussion took place concerning the suggestion made at the previous meeting of the possibility of fewer annual meetings. Some members felt that three meetings per year would be sufficient to conduct business while others felt that "face-to-face" meetings may not be necessary at all and that business could be conducted using the internet or conference calls. Others felt that the personal interchange of ideas that takes place at Council meetings is extremely important and that four meetings per year should not present a hardship to any society. The suggestion was made that since each club has two representatives they could possibly alternate attending meetings if travel poses a hardship. It was noted that the number of meetings per year is established in the by-laws and any change to this would require a by-law change. No motion was made concerning this matter.
In other new business:
Karen Andreas asked for the societies to discuss the upcoming BSI survey at their meetings and ask their members both why they are BSI members and why they are not.
Jay Thurrott also commented that 2 native bromeliad related research projects are referenced in the Fall 2004 issue of the native plant society publication, the Palmetto. Both concern endowment awards to the Florida International University. The first study is looking at the effects of invasive exotic trees on Catopsis berteroniana and the second is looking at speciation and boundaries of occurrence of Tillandsia fasciculata.
Larry Giroux mentioned that back issues of the BSI Journal are available at Tropiflora at no charge if they are picked up and for the cost of postage only if they are requested to be mailed. Journals are also available from the BSI for the cost of shipping.
Comment was made on the importance of each society being represented at these meetings and it was noted that the Treasure Coast Bromeliad Society and the Boca Raton Bromeliad Society have a poor attendance record.
Meeting adjourned at 2:45 p.m.