Irisarians bloom in E. Tenn.
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Irisarians bloom in E. Tenn.
- From: J* B* <h*@tricon.net>
- Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 06:28:33 -0700 (MST)
There will be an Iris Show held during Greeneville, Tennessee's Iris
Festival on May 17-18. It will not be an AIS judged show this year.
Balloting will be by people's choice. Anyone may show irises, and there are
no classes other than whatever is blooming at the moment.
I raised the question of how to put on such a show on Iris-L a few weeks ago
and appreciate the helpful suggestions from subscribers, especially Celia
Storey and Linda Mann.
The Greeneville Iris Society met March 18, and was my first meeting with the
group other than phone conversations. Ironically, they had come to the same
conclusion about how the show should be held. Members of the Knoxville Iris
Society were present and said they have followed the same path in getting
organized and hope to upgrade to an AIS judged show next year. Their show is
on Mother's Day weekend, a week before Greeneville.
One of the problems the Greeneville Chapter faces in gaining AIS affiliation
is its success in signing up local dignataries for membership during the
festival who are not AIS members, so the Society has 47 members on its rolls
and only about 15 active AISers, far short of the required 50%. I suggested
a separate class of supporting members, with active voting members being
those who hold AIS membership. Has anyone else faced this problem?
The show will be part of Greene Spring, a 10 day festival, with the arts and
crafts show, iris show and art show held as the Iris Festival the final
weekend.
The Greeneville Historic District has a series of beds sponsored by various
civic clubs and garden clubs that run from the library to the home of
President Andrew Johnson. Work is still underway in teaching park and
recreation personnel to be more sensitive with power mowers and weed
whackers beyond the bloom season, and various memorial gifts hold the
promise of the Greeneville Iris Walk one day being a highly attractive
addition to the city.
In other networking news, I had the opportunity while working as a news
reporter to chat with Mrs. Martha Sundquist, wife of our governor, on Monday
about Interstate Highway median and shoulder beautification, and she said
plans for the future include flower plantings. I reminded her that the iris
is Tennessee's state flower, and is wonderful as a low maintenance plant,
ideal for interstate medians with its tall, colorful foliage. She was
unaware that Nashville was once known as the Iris City, due to the number of
Dykes winners once hybridized there, so I suggested she tour Iris City
Gardens during the bloom season, and followed up with an e-mail.
James Brooks
Jonesborough, TN
hirundo@tricon.net
"All my irises and bird sightings are on databases. They are the only things
in my life that are organized."
