AIS: Convention News
- To: i*@egroups.com
- Subject: AIS: Convention News
- From: i*@aol.com
- Date: Sun, 23 Apr 2000 09:28:04 EDT
I am finally (almost) back to normal. Luggage arrived at the Stately Guest
Manse about 7 pm last night and is partially unpacked. Stuff is scattered
everywhere and I'm having the family over for dinner tonight so I do have to
pull myself together at some point - BUT - I did want to keep on keepin' on
with the activities of the most recent AIS Convention in Dallas, TX.
As we rejoin our story:
I would like to point out that an AIS convention has many facets; business,
pleasure education and social. So a convention is never easily described
since it's not just bus tours and chicken... but a lovely mosaic of flowers,
folks, fun and fundamentals. First of all, there's business to conduct; both
for the AIS as a whole and for the individual sections (such as Siberian,
Japanese Iris, Medians and so on). The result is a scheduling nightmare...
much more for the iris society than any other of the plant societies.
Folks who grow irises are fortunate in that there is an iris for every
eventuality. There are the dwarfs (dwarves?) for early bloom in cold
climates, the siberians and Japanese for wet areas, spurias for hot summers,
arils and aril-breds for dry conditions and so on. So each type of iris has
formed its own special interest group, along with their own newsletter and
even their own mini-conventions. We call these special interest groups
"sections" (or in a few cases "cooperating societies), and they must be
offered time to meet with both their boards and with their membership.
Looking at my schedule here I see the following groups who met: Spuria,
Median, Aril, Tall Bearded, Dwarf, SIGNA (species), Japanese, Reblooming
Iris, Historic and Louisiana Irises.
Yikes!
And since many of us are obsessive types, we belong to more than one of the
sections.... and we serve on at least one board. So think about the
logistics of scheduling time for EACH of those groups.... twice.... and
still have time for many facets of AIS business like Judges Training Chairs,
Affiliates, Foundation, Youth, Convention Chairs, Robins and Irises and
Computers. So some of us have things we NEED to go to, things we SHOULD go
to and things we'd LIKE to go to.
Paul Gosset did the schedule this year and I personally found it to be
brilliant. There was very little conflict and I was able to get to most
everything I wanted to. He eased the pressure by adding a day to the
convention - expensive but worthwhile in being able to participate more
fully. Interestingly enough, there was a large amount of people who were
there from the git go (<-- can't seem to leave the Texas behind).
Some points of interest, both the Siberian and the Japanese Societies are
looking for editors - and I believe both were successful. The Japanese Iris
folks are also looking for a convention site for 2002, but if it doesn't work
out, we have "Plan "B"" ready to go.
AIS is also, as you know, looking for an editor. Anyone who has the required
skill set; publishing background, obsession to detail, thick skin, unlimited
time and a desire to serve should contact Terry Aitken who is putting
together a job description and timeline.
But all that having been done, we enjoyed our welcome dinner on Monday night
and hit the busses at 6:45 am Tuesday. We had the usual suspects on our bus
- Hal and Dorothy Stahly, Dave Niswonger, Jim Wilson (geek), Carol Warner,
Shirley Pope, Tom Abrego and Jay (geek) and Terri Hudson. As a group we have
become close friends and we have a wonderful time together. Every single one
of these people is somewhat twisted and so when we're not involved in the
serious business of evaluating irises - we're having a wonderful time and I
end up hoarse from laughing. Add to that Brad and Kathy Kasperek (Kathy is a
fashion model for Fashions from Mars.... this year sporting the amphibian
chapeau) who add a certain something and we had a ball.
Our first garden was the Begley place. His is an eclectic mixtures of iris
types and garden styles. He also has a wonderful room of iris artifacts and
other "oh wow" stuff. Some of my notes are as follows:
CORDOBA - Ghio '98, orange with a yellow rim and an orange/red beard
GARNET ETCHING - Moores '00, yellow with garnet flowing down the fall
AMERICAN PATRIOT - Bartlett '97 IB, white standards, sky blue falls and red
beard
APOLLO ONE - Sutton '97 - fancy plicata with yellow on the hafts, henna
beards - cool horn and kaleidoscope style arms.
CELTIC HARP - Stahly '98, orange with red/orange beards and FRRRRRRAAAAGRANT!
Celtic Harp was most impressive everywhere we saw it. The final garden we
visited had it tall and pround mingled with a dark purple and the combination
damn near brought me to my knees. This is very definitely on the "TDF, can't
live without" list and I will be sporting it in the Guest Estates before the
year is out. I have to say here that the reason this is remarkable is
because I don't like orange irises. But then, I now obsess over many things
I thought I didn't like.
Begley also had a cool idea for a fountain.... instead of a waterfall, he
had a narrow pvc pipe bowed and braced between two widely spaced rocks. The
pipe was drilled in a staggered line and water run through it so that it
spits out in irregular arcs. I fully intend to swipe this idea and I hope
you will too. The pipe was covered in moss so that I thought at first it was
bamboo.
That's one of the great values of attending convention - you not only get to
see and evaluate irises, but also get to see how other people express them in
their gardens... and find inspiration for your own area as well.
More later after I hose off and rake out the dining room.
Kathy Guest - part Texan now
in East Aurora, NY
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