Report From The September 2021 Meeting
Our president, Joe Grienauer, began the meeting by welcoming everyone to our first in-person meeting in over a year. How nice it is to see and be able to enjoy each other’s company again. Ben gave an Orchid Basics talk about “How do you know your orchids are getting enough light?”
Joe then welcomed people who are new to our society. He reviewed the report from the Nominating Committee. We need a 2nd Vice President. George Grantham described the position. We also need 3 Board Members. Chris Peterson asked for help as treasurer by asking for an assistant treasurer.
Joe gave thanks to Robert Culver for all that he’s done pulling this meeting together as well as his leadership with creating and updating the website. He gave thanks also to Steve Dorsey for his mentorship and home orchid flasking programs.
Joe also spoke about the society’s library and our upcoming participation in the Washington State Fair. Thuan Nguyen will coordinate taking plants and registering them for the second phase of the exhibit at the Fair. Because of new UW regulations, we will not be able to have our traditional Pot Luck dinner at the December meeting. Robert reviewed the plant table.
Our speaker, Bob Hamilton, spoke about the orchid craze during the 19th century in England. This Victorian era of flower madness was called Orchidelirium. Explorers brought plants back from the new world including the Andes mountains. The inventions of science spurred this craze. It included Darwin, genetics, technology, factories and glassmaking (for the creation of greenhouses). He also discussed how the shift from symbiotic reproduction to asymbiotic reproduction changed the ability to produce more orchids, including hybrids. The orchid craze went from Conservatory to Costco.
Bob also showed his husband, John Leathers’ Masdevallias and Draculas. We then got to see Bob’s Odontoglossums, from the foundational crispum and nobile to many hybrids.
September’s raffle table was super-sized, which raised several hundred dollars for our Scholarship program. Members went home with many new plants to enjoy learning about how to grow and bloom. With so many plants, everyone was able to go home with something new. What fun!
Robert M. Hamilton, speaker 
Joe Starting Meeting While Abby Zooms 
Plant Table 
Robert & Steve Discuss His Schoenorchis 
Lots of Raffle Choices Many More Raffle Choices
