The October, 2005 meeting of the Florida Council of Bromeliad Societies was hosted by the Treasure Coast Bromeliad and held at the home of Joann Holman. The meeting was called to order at 1:00p.m by Karen Andreas. This was the fourth meeting of 2005.

Acting Chairman – Karen Andreas

Vice-Chairman – Absent from this meeting

Secretary – Jay Thurrott

Treasurer – Sudi Hipsley

Roll Call - 6 Societies were represented – Seminole Bromeliad Society, Florida East Coast Bromeliad Society, the Bromeliad Society of Central Fl., the Bromeliad Society of South Florida, the Bromeliad Society of Broward County and the Treasure Coast Bromeliad Society.

Societies not represented –Boca Raton Bromeliad Society, Caloosahatchee Bromeliad Society, Gainesville Bromeliad Society, Bromeliad Guild of Tampa Bay, Sarasota Bromeliad Society, and the Florida West Coast Bromeliad Society

Ron Cave was present as a guest.

It was noted that those present did not represent a quorum (2/3 of the affiliate societies) and therefore, any action by the Council requiring a vote was deferred to the next meeting.

Karen Andreas expressed the Council’s appreciation to Joann Holman and the Treasure Coast Bromeliad Society for hosting the meeting.

Secretary’s report – accepted as presented.

Treasurer’s report – Sudi Hipsley presented a financial statement showing a balance of $7,761.64 for FCBS and a Weevil account balance of $20,567.30 as of October 5, 2005. It was noted that the recent donations to the Bromeliad Identification Center have been acknowledged with thanks from Joyce Brehm of the BSI and Harry Luther of the BIC. Report accepted as presented.

Webmaster’s report – Michael Andreas submitted a report documenting activity during the past quarter. He noted that a separate database for the Neoregelia was created due to the large number of records associated with this Genus and associated space constraints. Visitors to the website will notice no difference when viewing the photo index. A letter has been sent to the individual using Council website photos for eBay auctions. The result has been no further use of these photos by this person.

Newsletter report - Karen Andreas reported that three editions of the newsletter were sent out in the past 3 months and we are now considered to be "caught up". Future newsletters will follow Council meetings and should be mailed in February, May, August, and November. The newsletter will soon begin promoting the next Extravaganza. A reminder was given to all societies to notify the Council as soon as possible of new members so that they may begin receiving newsletters. This information should be sent to the Webmaster.

Weevil Research report – Ron Cave presented a report and discussed current status of the project as well as funding needs. It is recommended that the Honduras research station continue to be funded to rear flies that are being shipped to the Ft. Pierce for research. Grant proposals continue to be made. Research with the parasitic fly continues to be promising with the fly consistently attacking and parasitizing the Mexican weevil. Application will soon be made to USDA Plant Protection and Quarantine for release of the fly into the field, but first a valid name needs to be assigned to this insect. An informal consensus of those present supported the concept of funding up to 50% of the needs presented by Ron for the coming year.

Florida Judges report – A Judges Seminar is planned for November 12^th in Fort Myers, Society

Representatives’ Reports on Activities –

The Seminole Bromeliad Society is looking into broadening its membership base by changing its name to the Seminole Bromeliad and Tropical Plant Society. It was noted by other society representatives that this was indeed an interesting concept and they would be interested in hearing of the results that this may produce.

The Bromeliad Society of South Florida has a new slate of officers and conducted a very successful annual auction in lieu of their October meeting. They will be having their annual show on April 23, 2006.

The Central Florida Bromeliad Society is celebrating their 33^rd anniversary and is also diversifying their programs to include orchids and other horticultural fields of interest to members. Their annual sale at Leu Gardens Spring Sale will be March 25^th and 26^th of 2006.

The Florida East Coast Bromeliad Society noted that they are the only society belonging to the Halifax Council of Garden Clubs that meets throughout the Summer. They will have a bromeliad display at Everybody’s Flower Show in Daytona Beach on March 16^th – 19^th, 2006 and will have a sales booth at the Volusia County Master Gardener’s sale in the Spring (date to be determined).

The Bromeliad Society of Broward County reported that their membership is growing and that they have worked toward using their newsletter to stimulate members’ interest in the society. A local nursery had an open house that attracted many new members. Fliers were mailed to prospective new members inviting them to join the society. Their annual bromeliad auction is scheduled for next week.

The Treasure Coast Bromeliad Society reports that although they are a small club, they have been encouraged by an increase in membership. They meet at Heathcote Botanical Gardens in Ft. Pierce and will be participating in the Gardens’ sale in November.

Old Business – It was noted that a standing rule does not exist addressing audits of the Council’s finances. This will be an agenda item to be submitted for a vote in the January meeting. Two standing rules were also proposed for consideration by the Weevil Committee concerning the disposition of remaining funds when the weevil project is deemed completed and the establishment of a fund to allow volunteers to solicit moneys for the weevil project.

Extravaganzas – No representative was present to provide an update on this year’s event.

The 2006 Extravaganza will be hosted by the Bromeliad Society of South Florida at the Miccosukee Hotel and Casino. Plans are to have a new unreleased DeRoose seedling bromeliad to be given to each registrant and a copy of the Leme "Canistropsis" book for each hotel registrant who also purchases 2 banquet tickets(a $65 value). Future Council newsletters will soon promote this event.

The 2007 Extravaganza will be hosted by the Bromeliad Society of Broward County. More information will be presented in future meetings on their progress.

The 2008 Extravaganza may be hosted by the Bromeliad Guild of Tampa Bay.

New Business – Jose Donayre led discussion concerning the impact of hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, the role the Council played in posting information on the status of bromeliad society members in these areas, the interest in the Council developing a Hurricane relief grant program, and the legal obstacles this would pose. Societies were encouraged to help groups in the Gulf area in reestablishing their collections.

The Bromeliad Society of Broward County will be hosting the January 14, 2006 meeting.

Meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.