January 2018 Volume 48, Issue 1
A non profit organization
established in 1945, HOS is
a recipient of the American
Orchid Society’s Distin-
guished Affiliated Societies
Service award
Inside This Issue:
Presidents Post 1
Stay-At-Home
Wonders
2
Judging Center
Report
3
Calendar 4
Newcomers Meeting 4
Raffle Table
Membership
Renewal
4
4
Upcoming Events 5
AOS Webinars
6
The Houston Happenings
January Program: Rick Hepler: Alternative Cultural Methods for
Tropical Slipper Orchids
By Bill Caldwell, VP Speakers
Our January meeting will
feature our very own Rick
Hepler, who will provide us
with detailed guidance on
several different cultural meth-
ods that he has found success-
ful in growing Phaphiopedilum
and Phragmipedium in the Hou-
ston area.
Rick has been growing
orchids since 1983 and has been
an active Houston Orchid
Society member for many years.
Join us to listen to Rick speak
on Thursday, January 4, 2018 at
7:30 PM at the First Christian
Church and School, 1601 Sunset
Blvd, Houston, TX 77005.
Rick Hepler
Presidents Post By Don Ghiz, President
By the time you see this, the
holidays will be behind us and
January, with all it’s bad weath-
er, will be upon us. I hope each
of you enjoyed your holidays
and I wish you a Happy and
Prosperous 2018.
In a few short months, it will
be time for our annual Show.
This year, Jay Balchan heads it
up in a new venue at Memorial
City Mall. HOS has had shows
there in past years and it’s an
exciting and busy venue. We
will need many volunteers to
make the show a success.
This leads me to a topic I
mentioned in my December
Message. It’s about ‘coming for
the orchids and staying for the friendships.’ There’s so much
more to be gained for your
membership dues than coming
to meetings. Please become a
working part of the organiza-
tion. Some of you might have
heard the adage, ‘10% of the
Please Welcome
New Member
Karen Chen
people do 90% of the work.’
Let’s go for 50% of the people
do 50% of the work. In reach-
ing that goal, you will not only
help your society, but you will
become a part of it and make
friends while doing it.
It is very important to the
society’s financial well-being that
this show be a success. You
may or may not know that the
First Christian Church doubled
our rent this year, creating a
$1200 dent in our expenses.
Those of you on the Board
know how difficult it is to
balance our budget and now,
almost impossible with added
rent. The Board will meet in
January to discuss this year’s budget and how to balance it.
We haven’t had an increase in
dues ever, in my memory, so as
much as I hate to say it, increas-
ing dues is not beyond the
realm of consideration.
There are some ad-hoc
(temporary) committees I’ve
established to try and avoid a
dues increase. One will be
headed by Stephen Gallagher,
whose responsibility will be to
search for a new meeting place
in 2019. Another task force,
headed by Rick Hepler, is look-
ing at the possibility of hosting
the AOS Members’ Meeting in
the Spring of 2019. These
committees will investigate and
report back to the Board for
approval to bring it to the
membership. Nothing will hap-
pen without your input.
See, I promised you last
month I wouldn’t even try to
tell you how to grow. Let’s
work on building friendships, volunteerism, and a strong
financial future. That’s best
done with more members, so if
you know anyone who might
be interested in coming to a
meeting, please bring them and
introduce them to everyone.
Page 2 Volume 48, Issue 1
Stay-At-Home Pictures By Steven Fox
All of our pictures this month
were provided by Steve.
REFRESHMENT CORNER
Thanks to everyone who brought dishes for the annual Holiday party last month.
We welcome anyone that would like to bring snacks to the January meeting.
Catesetum
gladiatorium
Noid Dendrobium
Tuberolabium
kotoense
Rhyncattleanthe Triple Love '#15' (Rth.
Love-Love x Cattlianthe Secret Love)
Den.Triple Fantasy (Den.
Bangkok Green x Den.
Green Fancy)
Closeup of flowers
Page 3 The Houston Happenings
Houston Judging Center By Don Maples
Happy Holidays! Actually, Stephen Moffitt started early with two
awards at the HJC meeting this month. His Ctsm. Marlene Young re-
ceived an AM of 80 points and his unregistered cross of Ctsm. tigrinum x
Ctsm. cirrhaeoides received an HCC of 75 points.
As this year winds down, all the judges of the HJC wish you the very
best for a wonderful and safe Holiday. We hope that you will join us next
year at the judging tables.
Ctsm. tigrinum x Ctsm. Cirrhaeoides
(HCC/AOS), 75 points
Closeup of
pollen
Ctsm. Marlene
Young (AM/AOS),
80 points
Side view of
flower
Page 4 Volume 48, Issue 1
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and is looking
forward to a Happy 2018!
The next scheduled meeting of the HOS Newcomers Group
will be Sunday, January 21, 2018. We will meet at the home of
Reva and Robert Raschke.
Look for further notification with the address and times.
Hope to see all the Newcomers there in January.
January Raffle Table By Loren & Judith Neufeld
The raffle plants for the January meeting will be provided by
Clown Alley.
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2 3 4 7:30 PM
HOS Meeting
5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 HJC
Judging
21 2:00 PM
Newcomers 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
January 2018
Membership Dues By Becky Sturnfield
Every year at this time, memberships are renewed,
and the new directory comes out soon thereafter.
Membership dues pay for just about everything for our
organization including the directory, speakers and their
travel expenses, supplies, plants for the raffle, rental space
at the church, and so much more. This is why it’s ex-
tremely important to promptly pay the annual member-
ship dues.
The funds are needed to provide the best orchid socie-
ty for you, the member. Please take a few minutes to take
care of this vital task. Also, be aware that if your mem-
bership has not been paid, the directory will not have your
contact information, and you will not be included in the
email list for the newsletter or announcements.
Essentially, your membership will be terminated, and
you would have to re-apply. We would like to keep you
connected! Without you, Houston Orchid Society would
not exist! Thanks to the people who have already paid
their membership.
The deadline is the February meeting, so please either
mail it in, pay at the January meeting, or you can pay on-
line at our website at houstonorchidsociety.org. Thank
you in advance for paying your dues before the due date!
Newcomers Group Meeting By Steve Fox
Page 5 The Houston Happenings
HOS Officers and Committee Chairs Upcoming Events Officers
President Don Ghiz
VP - Speakers Bill Caldwell
VP - Shows Rick Hepler
VP - Membership Becky Sturnfield
Treasurer Winnie Yap
Recording Secretary Sheila Skov
Past President Derek Lowenstein
Chairs Conservation Nina Rach
Display Table Sarah Bentley
Exhibits Rick Hepler
Guest Hospitality Amy Colville
Happenings Editor Marianne Walker
Intermediate Group Jay Balchan
Newcomers Group Steve Fox
Parliamentarian Marvin Gerber
Photography Malcolm McCorquodale
Plant Raffle Judith Neufeld, Loren Neufeld
Refreshments Melissa Dwan
Silent Auction Frank & Cherie Lee
Spring Show Jay Balchan
Summer Workshop John Stubbings
Webmaster Tom Durrett
Directors - Two Year Term Holly Miller Steve Fox
Calvin Starr Marianne Walker
Susan Dally Stephen Moffitt
Ft. Ted Baenziger
Directors - One Year Term Marvin Gerber Tom Durrett
Jay Balchan
Representatives AOS Representative Jay Balchan
IPA Representative Fr. Ted Baenziger
ODC Representative Fr. Ted Baenziger
SWROGA Directors Sandy Stubbings and Laurie Skov
January 12-14, 2018
Tamiami International Orchid Festival
Dade County Fairgrounds Expo Center
10901 Coral Way (SW 24th St)
Miami, FL
January 19-21, 2018
Ft. Lauderdale Orchid Society Show and Sale
War Memorial Auditorium, 800 NE 8th St
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
April 21-22, 2018
Tulsa Orchid Society Show and Sale
Tulsa Garden Center
Tulsa, OK
May 12-13, 2018
Galveston Bay Orchid Society Show
South Shore Harbor Resort & Conference Ctr
2500 South Shore Blvd
League City, TX
May 18-20, 2018
Redland International Orchid Festival
Redland Fruit and Spice Park
Homestead, FL
June 1-3, 2018
New Orleans Orchid Society Show and Sale
Lakeside Shopping Center,
3301 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Suite 209,
Metairie, LA
Volume 48, Issue 1 Page 6
Wednesday, January 10th, 2018
7:30 PM - 8:30 PM CST
Greenhouse Chat with Ron McHatton
Tuesday, February 6th, 2018
7:30 PM - 8:30 PM CST
Greenhouse Chat with Ron McHatton
Register
AOS WEBINARS
Register
Wednesday, February 21st, 2018
7:30 PM - 8:30 PM CST
Doctor, Doctor See Spots: Cattleya guttata
with Andrew Coghill-Behrends
(This is a members only seminar)
Register