Jason Melica from Sarasota shared his slide show on Guyana. He brought some very beautiful bromeliads with him and some outstanding mounted "sculptures with bromeliads". Jason expressed his enthusiasm for this area of South America, which he has visited numerous times. Originally Dennis Cathcart was scheduled, but was in New Zealand and we want to thank Jason for stepping in at the last minute.

The Refreshment committee wants to thank the Bob Albanese, Dan Rush, Helen Streck, Wilma Murphy, Linda Sheetz, and Bill Sneeden for bringing the refreshments to the meeting.

Jean Schnabel, Steve Littlefield, Bill Sneeden and Phyllis Steil will be bringing refreshments for the April meeting. Sara wants to thank them for signing up in advance. Remember to stop by the front desk when you bring food to pick up your extra raffle ticket. You will also find the sign-up sheet at this desk.

Helga Tarver submitted the following article. The cover photo is this plant. I want to thank her for this article.

Following the admonitions of BSI Registrar Derek Butcher and the example set by Jim Boynton, our newsletter editor, with his Neoregelia 'Sara's Sunset', I decided to register an old bromeliad hybrid which I have been growing for over 22 years. The plant is a cross by an unknown hybridizer between Neoregelia melanodonta and Neoregelia concentrica. I purchased it in October 1979 at the Sunset Nursery in Tampa. Rick Paul, a member of the Florida West Coast Bromeliad Society and our president from 1983 to 1984 worked at that nursery as the bromeliad expert.

I named the hybrid Neoregelia 'Helga's Joy' because it has given me nothing but joy and lots of pups in all those years.

If you have an unnamed hybrid, which you like very much, I strongly encourage you to name it and register it. The registration procedure is very easy and this probably your only chance to achieve immortality in the bromeliad world.

Editorial note: I have just been in contact with Derek Butcher and it looks like I will be registering two more plants in my collection. This is getting interesting and is really fun.

More of our members have opted to receive the newsletter via e-mail Getting the newsletter online saves the club postage and printing costs, which amount to 57 cents a month now or $6.84 a year. Besides saving money the newsletter would arrive quicker. We are not going to force anyone to get the newsletter online, but if you would be willing to give it a try, be ready to sign up at the meeting.

This month there will be a show and tell contest. It will not be as strict as a judged show by any means. There will be two categories: most beautiful and most bizarre. The prizes will be awarded by popular vote. The plants should be clean and bug free, and it would be nice if they were properly named. So bring all of your beautiful and bizarre bromeliads for the special show and tell.

This is always a special meeting where everyone brings their best extra bromeliads to donate to the auction. The funds go into the treasury and are shared with bromeliad related charities like Bromeliad Identification and the BSI color fund.

The plants must me healthy, clean and labeled. Please start getting some plants prepared for this very special event.

Hopefully everyone has renewed their dues by now. We are making an effort to get everything settled earlier this year and the club roster printed. Anyone who has not paid dues will stop receiving the newsletter soon

The dues for an individual are $15.00 and $20.00 for 2 people. If you cannot make it to the meeting you can mail the dues to Gary Lund at 904Oakwood Dr., Largo, FL 33770.

The addition of another filing cabinet we have been able to spread out the library and make it easier to view the books. Please take a look and check out a book if you would like. Also there is a drawer of handout items that relate to bromeliads that members are welcome to take with them for their own use.

23rd Annual Sarasota Bromeliad Society Show & Sale

On April 11-13th, 2003 the 23rd Annual Sarasota Bromeliad Show and Sale, "Bromeliads On the Net" will be held at the world renowned Selby Botanic Gardens, 811 S. Palm Ave., Sarasota, Florida.
It will feature exhibits, sales, food and a rare plant auction. The hours will be for the show will be 10:00-4:00. The Rare Plant Auction will be Saturday evening.

Twice in the last 7 or 8 years, I've been told about or have been shown yellow aphids attacking potted bromeliads. The aphid specialist I contacted said they were rice root aphids, not of great interest. But now there's an aphid specialist who wants to study them. If anyone has some now or in September, please mail them to me to hand over to the specialist -- maybe this will help us learn something new. --
Howard Frank
Entomology & Nematology Dept.
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611-0630.

James Boynton, newsletter editor