What's new?

Our 2021 Hilo Orchid Show was cancelled, but in its place, we're holding an Orchid Sale.  Just a sale; no orchid exhibits, no lectures, no entertainment, no food.  But many of the commercial orchid growers who sell at our orchid shows will be there.  Because of the pandemic, we have to obey certain rules, but it's still a great opportunity to buy orchids from our Big Island growers.

Video of July 2021 Meeting.  If you missed our July meeting, you can see it by clicking on the photo of Jan Takamiya above.  Jan talked about growing one of Hawaii's favorite orchids, the honohono (Dendrobium anosmum).  Jan's talk begins about 12 min. 40 sec. into the video.

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.
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The video starts a minute or two into the meeting, with Tom Mirenda describing the work of Dr. Zettler.
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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.

UPDATE: In place of the show, we are holding an orchid sale.  See the notice above.

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.
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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.
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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
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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.
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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!

Online Meetings

Since 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:

• $3000 was given to Hope Services, which has provided housing assistance for those displaced by the eruption.
• $3000 was given to Food Basket, Inc., which has provided food, water, and other emergency supplies.
• $2000 was given to Hawaii Island Humane Society, which has rescued pets from the lava zone and provided shelter for them until they can be reunited with owners or adopted.  

See our Community page here for a list of Silent Auction donors who made this possible.
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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.