January 2023

Greetings WNCOS Members and Orchid Lovers,

It is an honor and privilege to once again serve as president of the Western North Carolina Orchid Society. One of my priorities this year is to circle the wagons and rebuild the strong member base we enjoyed before Covid. During the past three Covid years, the WNCOS Board elected to waive membership dues since we could not function as a group in person. Well, the good news is we are back and ready to have some orchid fun. Many thanks to Mike Mims for his leadership and doing a great job of holding down the fort during the long extended storm.

This newsletter is sent to over 300 orchid lovers every month. If you are reading this newsletter and want to support your favorite orchid society, now is a perfect time to step up. It’s very easy. Click here and you can join/contribute via PayPal through the WNCOS website. For just $25 ($35 for household) you will become a member for one year and your dues will go towards keeping our great ship afloat. That’s half the cost of one nice orchid. Thank you in advance for supporting our mission: The joy of orchid cultivation and conservation.

So what’s next? Everyone is invited to meet the new Board of Trustees and Officers on January 8th at 2:00pm at the Asheville Visitor Center. In addition, we have an excellent speaker scheduled. Will Bottoms, Vice President of the Triad Orchid Society will educate us on “Finding and Buying Award Quality Orchids.”  And I know we all like to buy orchids! Of course, there will be Show-And-Tell and a dazzling raffle table. Come early and socialize with all your fellow orchid lovers.

On Sunday, I will also be sharing the latest updates and progress made regarding the Asheville Orchid Festival. Show plans are full steam ahead, and we are looking forward to a successful revival of our esteemed orchid show!

Finally, I want to introduce to you a new addition to our monthly newsletter. The Affiliated Societies Committee of the American Orchid Society publishes a monthly newsletter on a national level to share with all the AOS Affiliated Societies and their members. You may not know this, but the WNCOS has been an affiliate of the AOS for over 60 years. The AOS newsletter ‘The Corner’ is full of useful information from orchid culture to orchid events. There is something there for everyone! Just click here for your reading pleasure.

I look forward to seeing everyone Sunday, January 8th at 2:00 at the Asheville Visitor Center, second floor. Don’t forget to bring your Show-And-Tell bloomers!

Graham Ramsey

President

Western North Carolina Orchid Society

WNCOS