International Aroid Society

I, as one who showed up at this year’s show and sale, want to thank all of those dedicated members and helpers who put on such a fun show. Yes, we were in the outside under the tent and it was hot and humid as only Miami can do, except here in Memphis in July and August, but the show was delightful and fun. I saw old friends and found new plants….of course. The auction was a total hoot. If one comes to the show for just the auction, it is well worth the charge to go to the banquet and add to that the food was delicious. We had so many plants up for auction, some of us thought we would be there long after midnight, but between Tom Croat and Tom Moore of the team of ‘Tom and Tom’ the auction went along so fast and furious at times when one thought the auction plant had been purchased, all of a sudden when someone lagged on their response, there it went again with even more raised for IAS. There were really neat plants up for auction this year. I suspect but do not know, that there were several hundred plants that went home to new homes this year. All I can say about all those who helped and those who gave plants for the auction, and all those who hauled plants in for the show and those who brought plants for the member’s table sale, I owe them a great deal of gratitude for all of their efforts. Can’t forget those who bought plants at the auction for their support of IAS. Oh, I forgot the vendors………. Well they cost me a huge dime and I had a great time. Now I have all sorts of potting to do. I thank you all for all of your efforts and kindness and helpfulness. You did one heck of a good JOB!!!!! If next year is half as good as this year which we know it will be, anyone who shows up will have a fantastic time. Nothing like being with old friends, internet friends and those we have heard about in Aroids….there is just nothing like it.

Betsy Feuerstein

From: aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com [mailto:aroid-l-bounces@www.gizmoworks.com] On Behalf Of Albert Huntington
Sent: Monday, September 23, 2013 4:43 PM
To: Aroid-L List
Subject: [Aroid-l] Miami Show and Sale

Just wanted to transmit a big THANK YOU to everyone who showed up at the show in Miami this past weekend, especially those who donated plants and/or their time to help make the show a success! We truly could not have done it without everyone's help.

William Rotolante, Barry Schwartz, Enid Offolter, Bruce McAlpin and many more members brought in plants to sell at the members table. Denis Rotolante, Zach DuFran, Lester Kallus Tom Moore and Donna Rich helped out at the checkout. Andrew Schrimsher shepherded our guest speaker while we were all still stuck at home and amassed an amazing collection of auction plants. Mary Anderson and Linda Larocca went above and beyond the call of duty to make the banquet a success. Tom Croat and Tom Moore ran an exciting auction with the help of Ron Weeks and a whole herd of donors including Dylan Hannon, Mark Ferdschneider, Betsy Feuerstein, David Fell, Robert Chumley and Ted Held. Taylor Holzer and Ron Kaufmann joined in the show judging, among other things.

Also of note: new board members were voted in this year, and the board will soon be electing new officers. Your new board members are Don Bittel, Albert Huntington, Joep Moonen, Peter Matthews and Andrew Leonard - representing a wide range of experiences and locations. They may not all be on facebook, but they do all have e-mail - please approach any of the members of the board with your questions and suggestions. More information on the governing board is available at http://www.aroid.org/society/board.php

Lastly, it is very likely that we will be in a renovated Garden House ( the old venue ) next year, but if anyone who was actually there has any positive or negative comments about the tent and ballroom now that we've tried them out, I'd be interested to hear it here.

--Albert