What's new?
Video of March 2021 Meeting. If you missed our March, 2021 Zoom meeting, you can see it by clicking on the photo of Molly Gearin above. Molly talked about the Orchid Recovery Program at Illinois College at which she is a student working under Dr. Lawrence Zettler. Last year, HOS made a conservation donation to this program to help fund the propagation of the endangered Hawaiian native orchid Peristylus holochila, which is what Molly's talk was about. The goal is to eventually reintroduce the propagated seedlings back into the wild in Hawaii.
The video starts a minute or two into the meeting, with Tom Mirenda describing the work of Dr. Zettler. 2021 Hilo Orchid Show cancelled. With regret, the Board of Trustees voted to cancel the 2021 orchid show. The show has to be planned months in advance, and there is still too much uncertainty about what the pandemic situation will be, and even whether the County will permit the show to be held at all. The County has already changed the date of the show (which we thought we had reserved) twice already, and there is no guarantee that they will not change it again or cancel the show at the last minute. Under such conditions, planning for the show is impossible.
We know that members will be disappointed. The Board is looking into holding other, smaller orchid events such as online auctions and orchid sales events by local vendors. 
New Corresponding Secretary. Amy Friesen has replaced retiring Corresponding Secretary Dorothy Imagire. We welcome Amy and we thank Dorothy for her service to the Society.
Conservation Donations. In some good news in an otherwise discouraging year, the HOS Board has approved two donations to support orchid conservation. We donated $500 to support the Writhlington School Orchid Project, which is helping establish orchid conservation in Sarawak, Malaysia. We also donated $500 to support the Illinois Conservation Orchid Program in saving Peristylus holochila, an extremely rare native Hawaiian orchid (only 33 plants are left in the wild). Click here for more information on these programs.
New Board members. Board members for 2021 were elected at the November meeting, including two who are new to the Board of Trustees but long familiar to HOS members. Ellen Train (left) has been our Membership Chair for several years. Matthias Seelis (right) is the owner of Shogun Orchids, known for breeding and growing spectacular Cattleyas.
Photo Contest Winner. Lou Rhoades won our 2020 photo contest with his photo of Dendrobum tangerinum 'Iso" (above). Because the holiday party was cancelled, Lou won a $50 gift certificate good for buying orchids from any Big Island orchid vendor
Holiday Party and Auction cancelled. The Board of Trustees has regretfully cancelled this year's holiday party and auction, normally held in December, due to the pandemic. A survey of members showed that not enough members would likely attend the event to make it feasible. We're sorry for those who had been looking forward to it.
Scholarship winners. Each year we give scholarships to students at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. See the Scholarships page for more info. The winners for the 2020-2021 academic year are (from left) Colin Conway, Paige Hamada, and Matthew Dye. Congratulations to the winners!
Hilo Orchid Show cancelled. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the 2020 Hilo Orchid Show has been cancelled.
On June 1, the Board of Trustees voted to cancel the show. Earlier, we had hoped that the show could be postponed to August or September, but the Board feels that there is still too much uncertainty about the COVID-19 situation, and there is also not enough time to adequately prepare for a show that we would be proud of. We know that many people will be disappointed not to have a show this year. 
Video presentation. Larry Kuekes created a new video presentation about the amazing ways that orchids trick their pollinators, with his trademark song and video clips to enliven things. Click on the picture to see the video.
Video presentation. Since our April meeting was cancelled, we're offering as a substitute this video presentation by Larry Kuekes. Click on the picture to see the video. Larry talks about orchid labels, orchid names, and those dreaded Latin names, with a few song and video clips to lighten things up.
2020 Hilo Orchid Show Theme. Show chair Karl Mendonca announced that the 2020 show theme is "Orchid Ohana: Blending Beauty and Aloha". This theme captures the special place that orchids have on this island, and we hope it will inspire exhibitors to create even more beautiful displays. Cindy Caldicott unveiled the show art, above, to be used on T-shirts and posters.
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Online MeetingsSince we cannot meet as a group due to corona virus restrictions, we're trying something new. we are holding online Zoom meetings as a substitute for our physical meetings, and they are working well. The Zoom application can be used on either a computer or a smart phone. HOS members will get an email with an invitation to the Zoom meeting shortly before each meeting.
$8000 Donated to Volcano Relief
Many orchid growers and many of our friends were affected by the lava flows in Puna. Our Board of Trustees voted to donate the proceeds of the Silent Auction at the 2018 orchid show to volcano disaster relief. We raised $8000, which was donated as follows:
Mini Displays Make a Big Hit
Karen Kimmerle's mini-display made such a hit at our 2016 show that it was featured on the cover of Orchids magazine. You can create your own great mini-display for the next orchid show with just a few orchids. Your space is limited to 16 inches, but results are limited only by your imagination.
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