ORCHID PERSONALITIES

JOSE EXPOSITO, SOROA ORCHIDS

Jose Exposito is President of Soroa Orchids. The company was founded in1985, just a few years after his arrival from Cuba. Jose began making new Phalaenopsis hybrids almost immediately and his success has been reflected in a number of AOS Awards. One of the early hybrids was Phalaenopsis Soroa's Delight. He is a founding member of the IPA, past president of the East Everglades Orchid Society and served for many years on the board of the South Florida Orchid Society. He is an Accredited AOS Judge and lectures here and abroad. Jose serves as a director of the IPA for South Florida and is the local chair of the Fifth IPA Symposium set for 1998 in Miami.

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NORMAN FANG, NORMAN'S ORCHIDS

Norman Fang is one of the proprietors of the family-run business known as Norman's Orchids, in Montclair CA. The nursery specializes in the production and sales of Phalaenopsis, Paphiopedilum and Oncidiinae alliance plants for the hobbyist as well as for the commercial plant and floral trades. Norman's interest in orchids began at age seven in his native Tainan City, Taiwan, ROC. His passion drew him to the US to study at the California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, with a focus on plant nutrition an micro propagation. He was honored as the National Student of Horticulture in 1986. Norma's talents are joined with those of his siblings, Jamie and Eric, and their parents, She Mei and Charlie Fang, in a rapidly growing enterprise. Norman is an accredited AOS judge and has traveled extensively to participate in shows and Speakers' Forums in North and South America as well as in Asia.

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HOWARD GINSBERG, BEDFORD ORCHIDS
Webpage: http://www.bedfordorchids.com

Howard Ginsberg is a Montreal-based lawyer with a passion for Phalaenopsis. His frequent trips to Taiwan and visits to major hybridizers based there give him an unique insight into the world of especially red and novelty Phalaenopsis breeding. His slide presentations offer a visual banquet.

Through his company, Bedford Orchids, Howard makes many of these choice crosses available to hobbyists as flasks, community pots or as advanced seedlings and meristems. Howard is a member of the Eastern Canada Orchid Society, Les Orchidophiles de Montreal, and several other orchid associations. He is an AOS certified judge. (Shreveport Orchid Society Media, June 1998)

BILL GOLDNER & LYNN EVANS, WOODSTREAM ORCHIDS

Woodstream Orchids, (Bill Goldner and Lynn Evans). Breeder, grower and sales distributor of orchid species and hybrid flasks, seedlings and diversions to the wholesale and retail international market. Woodstream is best know for Paphiopedilum and Phragmipedium, but has a strong interest in other horticulturally desirable orchids, including Pleurothallid, Lycaste and Cattleya alliance. Distribution is primarily through mail order and orchid shows (approximately 8 per year). A free (14 page) catalog is available upon request.

Woodstream Orchids has an in-house orchid laboratory. Other facilities include: extensive indoor light cultivations facility for seedling establishment, greenhouse, and contract growing arrangements (Hawaii, Latin America). Lynn Evans, who became a partner in Woodstream Orchids in 1995, was a research plant pathologist for eight years with American Cyanamid. Lynn owns her own consulting company, providing plant pathology services to agronomic and horticultural companies in the United States and Asia.

Dr. William Goldner (Bill) is best know as the co-owner of Woodstream Orchids. Along with a B.S. degree in Botany and a M.S. degree in Ecology, Bill received a Ph.D in Plant Physiology from Pennsylvania State University. He began seriously growing orchids in 1982 and has had experience growing orchids under lights, in greenhouses, and in every other available nook and cranny. Once a commercial foliage plant grower, Bill traveled across the country while developing his career allowing him to gain experience cultivating orchids under the diverse circumstances presented by the East Coast, Central California and Hawaii. During his post doctoral studies at the University of California, Bill worked for Terry Root at the Orchid Zone in Salinas CA.

In his other life, Bill is a professional plant biologist. Among his credentials:

Research Scientist (Plant Physiology, Applied Horticulture), Plant Biology Department Corporate Technology Center, Union Camp Corp, Princeton NJ.

Associate Professor (Plant Physiology) Graduate Program in Plant Biology, Cook College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick NJ.

American Orchid Society judging, Mid-Atlantic Judging Center, Philadelphia (student-1998)

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JOHAN HERMANS

Johan Hermans from Middlesex, England, is a renowned orchid grower and photographer. He will talk on Draculas and show some spectacular photographs of this most amazing genus. Johan won a Gold Medal at the last World Orchid Congress in Brazil (15WOC) on his Dracula photographic exhibition.

AARON J. HICKS

Observing the need for species preservation, Aaron Hicks began in 1996 to undertake the collection of orchid species seeds and organized a seed clearing house for orchid growers. From his New Mexico base, Aaron, a graduate student in geochemistry, exchanges seed and information on his intriguing experiments in gathering, preserving, classifying and distributing orchid seeds. via the Internet. His forthcoming book deals with the micropropagation of orchid species. The May, 1999, issue of Orchids featured Aaron's article on his fascinating Orchid Seedbank Project (OSP). The OSP is a dynamic, ongoing conservation effort that requests the attention of serious conservationists, especially orchidists.

MERRITT W. HUNTINGTON, KENSINGTON ORCHIDS

Merritt Huntington, owner of Kensington Orchids, grew up in Springfield, New Jersey. He was introduced to orchids after the Second World War. He graduated from High School in 1943 and Rutgers was his college of choice. He got a job at the horticultural experimental greenhouses at Rutgers in order to raise enough money to go to the University. The professor in charge was Dr. O. Wesley Davidson. Merritt then joined the Maritime Service.

After the war, Merritt went back to Rutgers. Dr. Davidson arranged for Merritt to meet with Mr John Lager, owner of Lager & Hurrell in Summit NJ which was the oldest orchid grower at the time. John decided that Merritt could have a good future in orchid growing. As you can see, John Lager and Dr. Davidson are responsible for getting Merritt started in orchid growing.

This fascination with orchids led to Merritt helping to establish the first American Orchid Society judging center in New York. Before this first judging center was established, judging at orchid shows was done on an ad hoc basis. Back in these early days of judging, all of the orchid enthusiasts would judge at their own orchid shows around the country. The organizers of the shows picked at random knowledgeable orchid people who happened to be there. The clerks were appointed at the same time. Lager and Hurrell always exhibited in the orchid section of the International Flower Show held in the Grand Central Palace in Manhattan. Merritt was a clerk or judge, or whatever was needed at this show.

In about 1948, the AOS Trustees established the New York judging center. In January of 1949 AOS judging began on a monthly basis at the offices of the Horticultural Society of Essex, New York. These were the formative days of AOS judging. At that time Helen Adams was the Chairperson. She and Gordon Dillon came monthly to New York to hold Awards Committee meetings and conduct the monthly AOS judging.

At that time Merritt was employed by Lager and Hurrell. He became the gopher for the judgings. He attended virtually every judging at the Essex House. He continued his devotion after its move in 1952 to the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Since Merritt wanted to become a judge, he joined AOS in April of 1952. One evening at the American Museum of Natural History Frank Lind and/or John Lager told Merritt, "You know enough, come judge with us." The exact time when Merritt became a judge is not known because AOS records are inconclusive, but Merritt can go back in his judging history to judging plants in late 1952 and early 1953.

In 1953 Merritt moved on to run an orchid greenhouse operation called Cali Orchids. This was owned by Valentine Sarra and Joseph Urmston. This greenhouse was located on Long Island. More and more enthusiasts were coming to the orchid shows and talk started about getting together for an orchid show in 1954 at a bank in Brooklyn. This brought about the organization of two societies. The two societies, the Grater New York Orchid Society and Long Island Orchid Society, have a charter member in the name of Merritt W. Huntington. He served on many committees in both societies as well as their president. The committees were organized so that the enthusiasts could have their own meetings. They listened to speakers in hope of bringing more people into their hobby.

The First World Orchid Congress was held in 1954 in St. Louis. Merritt served as a trustee of the World Orchid Congress. Also in 1954 the idea of an Eastern Orchid Congress came about at a meeting between Maryland and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Orchid Societies at Longwood Gardens.

Merritt served as the first Regional Chairman of the New York AOS judging center and attended the monthly Awards Committee meetings held in New York. In 1955 the Trustees of the AOS decided they needed three more judging centers so that more orchid enthusiasts would be served. Judging centers were then established, one in Florida and two in California. Later in 1956 the Eastern Orchid Congress was organized. Their first meetings were held in Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Merritt has been the EOC Treasurer for many years. He has been honored with two gold medals from the Eastern Orchid Congress.

Also in 1955 Merritt's name was among the Accredited Judges in the AOS Bulletin. At the same time the AOS Trustees realized that they needed a set of rules to apply at all of the shows across the country. A committee was formed with Mrs. L. Sherman Adams as Chairperson. The first judging Handbook was completed. Later when Merritt was appointed as part of that same committee, Helen Adams was the Chairperson.

Merritt was the Regional Judging Chairman in New York. In October 1953 the judging was moved to Philadelphia. In 1954, when he moved to Maryland, the Long Island Orchid Society made him an honorary member.

Later on, Merritt moved on from judging to auctioning. It all started when the Long Island Orchid Society needed money. So what may have been the first orchid society auction was held in a charter member's back yard. Merritt was one of the auctioneers. The auction was very successful and is still one of the LIOS's major fund raisers. Merritt has been the official auctioneer at the AOS Saturday night banquets for years. In September 1964 he moved on to Kensington Orchids. He became active in both the Maryland and National Capital Orchid Societies. National Capital holds an orchid auction once a year. At that time it was held at Kensington Orchids. Merritt became one of the auctioneers. Even as the society grew and moved to larger quarters, Merritt still remains as one of the auctioneers. He served as the President of the NCOS and still remains active in that society.

Merritt's work with the AOS continues to this day. He was appointed as a Trustee in 1967. In philadelphia he was the Chairman of the Committee on Awards as well as the Regional Judging Chairman in 1973. He became President of the AOS in 1974. As the society continued to grow, a judging center was established in the Washington area in 1976. The AOS honored Merritt with a gold medal in 1983.

Merritt's service to AOS has been extensive, over more than forty years. He has been referred to as Mr. AOS (Orchid Digest 1996). He has held virtually every office. He served on the AOS Board for twenty-three years as well as two years as an assistant treasurer. He has served on many AOS committees. He has been the chairman of Affiliated Societies Committee, Awards Committee, Publications Committee, Budget Committee, Executive Committee, and Endangered Species Committee. He has served on Ad Hoc committees in which he was chairman twice. He served on the Relocation Committee from Cambridge to West Palm Beach. He also served on the Headquarters Development Committee as chairman for eight years.

Merritt presently serves as Chairman of the Headquarters Development Committee and as a member of the Budget and Publication committees. He is a life member of the AOS and is also the recipient of its Gold Medal.

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TOM KALINA, FOX VALLEY ORCHIDS

Since 1964, Tom Kalina has grown orchids under lights. In 1987, he built a greenhouse and started Fox Valley Orchids which specializes in paphs and phrags. His private collection has angraecoids, cattleyas, and phalaenopsis. Tom enjoys orchid-related writing had has published articles in the American Orchid Society's Orchids magazine (formerly known as the AOS Bulletin), Orchid Digest, Die Orchidee (June 98), Journal of the South African Orchid Congress, as well as the Awards Quarterly.

Tom is an accredited American Orchid Society Judge affiliated with the Chicago Judging Center. He is also a director of the Orchid Digest Corporation and has served as the chairman of the Education and Research Committee of the Mid-America Orchid Congress. Tom is a member of AOS, Illinois OF, Paph Guild, ODC, and British Paph Society.

Tom graduated from Roosevelt University in Chicago with a B.S. degree in chemistry and a minor in biology. He spent 20 ears as a General Motors manager focusing on plant engineering and construction. He is married and has two daughters. Besides orchids, his hobbies include hunting and fishing.

DR HAROLD KOOPOWITZ, PAPHANATICS, UNLTD

Harold Koopowitz has been collecting, growing and studying orchids for over 30 years. His involvement has been at many levels as a hobbyist, scientist and commercial grower. In addition to writing many scientific papers on orchids, he is co-author, with Norito Hasegawa, of the book Novelty Slipper Orchids. Currently he is writing a series for the english Orchid Review,/i> on modern slipper orchid hybridizing and recently published a "checklist of the genus Paphiopedilum" for the Orchid Digest. He is a partner in the firm of Paphanatics, unLtd., which breeds slipper and Phalaenopsis orchids. Dr Koopowitz is a taxonomic authority for the American Orchid Society for African species as well as for Paphiopedilum.

He is currently a member of the AOS Conservation Committee and also serves on the International Orchid Commission. In addition he is a member of the Species Survival Commission concerned with orchids for the IUCN (International Union for the Conversation of Nature), and a member of the publications board for the i>Orchid Digest, and also administers their research grants program. As a fully accredited AOS judge, he also serves ad the student training coordinator for the Pacific Southwest Center. A professor of biology at the University of California at Irvine, Harold teaches ecology and conservation biology as well as conducting research. Currently his research concerns the biodiversity losses in the Orchidaceae.

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TOM LARKIN

Tom and Barbara Larkin are the owners of Whippoorwill Orchids in Rogers, Arkansas. Their greenhouse is right on Beaver Lake. Tom specializes in breeding Phals and Phrags.

MARILYN H. S. LIGHT

Marilyn was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. She received her post-secondary education at Macdonald College, McGill University, earning a Bachelor of Science (Agriculture) in 1965 and a Master of Science (Microbiology) in 1967. She moved in Barbados, West Indies where she taught Botany and Biology at the Barbados Community College. It was in Barbados in 1970, where she began growing and studying orchids.

In 1980, she came to the Ottawa area and married Michael MacConaill, a biostatistician, who shares her love of the outdoors. Since 1982 she has served as Coordinator (Science and Engineering) with the Professional Training Service, University of Ottawa.

Among her accomplishments is the book Gardening in the Caribbean, Bannochie & Light 1993, Macmillan, which she completed after the untimely passing of her friend and noted Caribbean horticulturalist, Iris Bannochie of Andromeda Gardens, Barbados. In 1993, she directed an educational video for the Canadian Orchid Congress titled, For the Love of Orchids - In Living Memory, about the late Joseph Purdon and his efforts in conserving the Showy Ladyslippers on his property in Lanark County, Ontario. She has authored Growing Orchids in the Caribbean, Macmillan, 1995. A third book, Container Gardening in the Tropics and the Caribbean, Macmillan was published in January, 1999. Marilyn is a regular contributor to The Orchid Review of the Royal Horticultural Society, England, and to Orchids Australia, a publication of the Australian Orchid Foundation. Marilyn also moderates an internet discussion group on orchid conservation topics. She raises and hybridizes tropical orchids including Cattleya Fruit Salad, C. Doctorbird, Laeliocattleya Memoria Evelyn Light, Catasetum Frances Smith, Masdevallia Dainty Miss and Terrarium Treasure, Phalaenopsis Barbados Sunrise, Odontonia Warbler, Miltonidium Cool Stars and Epicattleya Melon Surprise.

She is involved in a long term study of the population dynamics of terrestrial orchids in Gatineau Park, Québec. 1999 marks the 15th anniversary of the study of over 1000 plants of the introduced European Helleborine orchid, Epipactis helleborine. Work with individual plants within that population has led to the discovery of germination polymorphism in the Orchidaceae and a preliminary understanding of what factors might control the behaviour. Other investigations include the study of inter- and intra-clonal compatibility as one of the possible factors affecting seed yield and seedling vigour in the Large Yellow Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum v. pubescens), the Showy Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium reginae), the Mountain Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium montanum) and the Helleborine Orchid. She recently received the Anne Hanes Conservation Award from the Ottawa Field-Naturalists Club for her on-going conservation work in the Ottawa area and was featured by the "Canadian Gardener" magazine (Vol. 7 No. 7; December 1996/January 1997 issue) as one of "five cultivated Canadians with vision and wisdom, and the generosity of spirit to share their knowledge with other gardeners."

Marilyn is President and Conservation Chair of the Canadian Orchid Congress, a member of the IUCN/SSC Orchid Specialist Group, an active member of the Garden Writers of America, a Life Member of the Barbados Horticultural Society, member and a past- President of the Ottawa Orchid Society, and member of the American Orchid Society, the Royal Horticultural Society, England, and of the Ottawa Horticultural Society where she served as a Director for several years. Marilyn assists the Ottawa Garden Club and the Gatineau Valley Gardeners Club as a consultant. Raising plants from seed is a passion and passing on the knowledge gained through horticultural experiments, a lifetime goal.

[Marilyn Light, July 1999]

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CHUCK McCARTNEY

Chuck McCartney, a third generation South Floridian, raised in Homestead, where he grew up knowing three generations of the orchid-growing Fuchs family, speaks on native Florida orchids - the first flowers he remembers as a child. He has been fascinated with them ever since.

Chuck graduated from Florida State University with a bachelor of science degree in English education in 1969. After teaching for a time, he became a journalist, serving as editor and staff writer in two South Florida newspapers.

In 1984, Chuck joined the staff of the American Orchid Society as assistant editor of the society's publications when the organization moved to its national headquarters in West Palm Beach. He eventually became editor of the AOS Bulletin and the Awards Quarterly, where he greatly improved the looks and content of both publications. He is now copy editor with the Broward Edition of the Miami Herald.

Chuck has written extensively about orchids for such publications as the AOS Bulletin, Florida Orchidist, Fairchild Tropical Garden Bulletin, Orchid Digest, England's Orchid Review, and The Palmetto - magazine of the Florida Native Plant Society.

Chuck's special interest is the native orchids of southern Florida. For more than a decade he has trudged through the pinelands, hammocks, swamps and mangrove forests of the Keys, Everglades National Park and Big Cypress Swamp in search of our native orchids. He has found and photographed almost 60 species reported to be native to South Florida. Rabenau Camp, a two by four square mile area near the Fakahatchee Strand, has 28 native species. This is second only to the Strand. South Florida orchids range from small but beautiful to the quite spectacular.

DR ROBERT MARSH

Dr Robert Marsh has been a GNTOS member for years. He is a molecular biologist by trade - Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Dallas. He uses biochemical and recombinant DNA techniques to study nuclear and cell surface structural proteins. Orchids are basically a hobby to Dr. Marsh and he is able to take advantage of the sterile hood and autoclaves at the lab for flasking and cloning. He has also done some sequencing of barkeria chloroplast DNA to try to understand barkeria phylogeny.

Dr Marsh began growing orchids as a teen in the mid 50's in Winchester, Kentucky, and was extremely fortunate to have Blue Grass Orchids run by Craig Foster nearby, and a sage mentor, Katherine Stewart, who laid the foundation of his orchid knowledge. The third and equally indispensable source of information was Rebecca Northern via her books, especially "Home Orchid Growing:. In fact, her description of genetics in this book had much to do with his selecting molecular biology as a career.

After a hiatus while achieving a Ph.D. in molecular biology and establishing his career and family, Dr Marsh returned to growing orchids in the early 80's. Since then he has served terms as Vice-President and President of the Greater North Texas Orchid Society, during which time GNTOS succeeded in establishing an AOS Judging Center in Dallas. He has written articles and won AOS awards, the one of which is he most proud, naturally, being the Nax Botanical Trophy for 1985 for Oncidium forbesii 'Lorenz Marsh', AM/AOS. From a focus almost entirely on the oncidium alliance, his attention shifted to include barkerias after a change meeting with Jim Balch of White Oak Orchids in North Little Rock. Five generations of barkeria hybrids and a number of registered crosses later, Dr Marsh has again expanded his interests to include Texas native plants and considers them to be the perfect foil for orchids in arrangements.

DR JOHN MARTIN, EVERGREEN HILL ORCHIDS

Evergreen Hill Orchids had its beginning in 1956. Dr Martin was a successful general surgery physician in Dallas TX, and was recognized as a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and as a Diplomat of the American Board of Surgery, and he needed some new challenges. It was about this time that he began to grow orchids -- mostly Cattleyas and Phals, and he sold the flowers. In 1987, the good Doctor realized the orchids needed more time, so he retired from medicine, and moved to Duncanville TX. He began making his first hybrids in 1957, and became an AOS Accredited Judge in 1963. He also served as the Show Chairman for the Second Show of SWROGA in 1962.

GENE MONNIER, J.E.M. ORCHIDS, DELRAY BEACH FL

Gene, a native of Dayton, Ohio, blames his wife for his orchid addiction. The year after they got married, his wife, Jean E, decided she wanted a staghorn fern. A local orchid nursery just happened to be running an ad in the paper with both staghorns and orchids on sale. Gene was awed by these beautiful and unusual flowers, and they left with the staghorn and 6 orchid seedlings. He says he quickly killed the orchids with over watering, but didn't give up. In two weeks he was back to try again. This time he stayed for a short lesson in how to grow orchids and was definitely hooked. He was back every weekend for more. He soon started visiting other orchid nurseries, and the collection grew. Within a year he was growing out seedlings of his own crosses, mainly Oncidiums. Gene started J.E.M. Orchids in 1976 as a spare time, back yard, mail order business in Boca Raton, Florida. The name is an acronym using his wife's initials. In 1979 we bought 5.25 acres in West Delray and built a 6000 sq. ft. greenhouse for retail walk-in customers. The business expanded to include three more greenhouses and two acres of exotic fruit trees by 1984. In 1989 they moved to a new location at 6595 Morikami Park Rd. near the entrance to the Morikami Museum. The new facilities now include 32,000 sq. ft. of greenhouses, 5 acres of exotic fruit trees, and our residence. The AOS will soon be building their new headquarters about two thousand feet down the street from J.E.M.

Gene is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University, with a BS in biology. His first crosses were equitant Oncidium types, with Rdcdm. JEM (Onc. henekenii x Rdza. Burgundy), registered in 1978. He spent a lot of time at Bill Osment Orchids (a local Oncidiinae breeder) and soon started breeding more complex Oncidium intergenerics. From there, he moved into minicatt type breeding, using Psychilis (Epi.) truncata as the base parent in his first line of these hybrids, registering Ephs. Orange JEM (Epi. truncatum x Soph. cernua) in 1985. He also started breeding Catasetinae and Zygopetinae as well as sib crossing new world species. Gene's main emphasis is currently in these last three lines, as well as Paphiopedilums, with several breakthroughs in both the Catasetinae and Zygopetinae. The most acclaimed of these was Catamodes Black Magic which received an 88 pt. AM as well as an Award of Distinction for the blackest orchid seen to date.

He has traveled extensively through parts of the tropical Americas including Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Panama. He has visited several nurseries in each of these countries to buy orchids for his species breeding program, and has worked with both Universities and the private sector to help set up laboratories for the propagation of orchid species within these countries.

Several of Gene's articles have been published by the American Orchid Society, The Florida Orchidist, and the Orchid Digest. The latest publications include a series of three articles on Catasetum alliance breeding in the October through December 1990 A.O.S. Bulletin, an article on the misidentification of Catasetinae in the orchid judging system published by the Orchid Digest in August 1994, and an article on Paphinias for The AOS in April 1995.

[Biography from the J.E.M. homepage.]

MARTIN MOTES, MOTES ORCHIDS

Martin Motes is a second-generation orchidist who has been growing orchids for 40 years. He is president of Motes Orchids, a major breeder of vandas. He has produced hundreds of new hybrids, for which he has received scores of American Orchid Society awards, and he is an accredited AOS judge. He has observed tropical orchids growing in the wild and has spoken at orchid conferences around the world.

Martin was an assistant professor of English at Wright State University for several years. He was the director of horticulture therapy at Grant Center Hospital and was a consultant on horticulture therapy at the Hospital Corporation of America. He has lived most of his life in Miami, Florida, but also spent 6 years in Ohio and 2 years in Yugoslavia as a Fulbright lecturer. He has traveled extensively in the Mediterranean and has observed orchids in Peru, Panama, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Florida, the Cayman Islands, The Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Belize, Mexico, Guatemala, Thailand, and Australia.

Martin has been interviewed by both print and TV journalists on topics ranging from community issues in southern Florida to horticultural therapy and orchids. He gives more than 20 lectures a year. To get away from the orchid greenhouse, Martin writes poetry, tends his vegetable garden, and fishes.

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NED NASH, AOS DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION & CONSERVATION

Ned Nash received a BA in Botany from University of California at Santa Barbara in 1975 and almost immediately began his nursery career by working in two small garden nurseries in the Santa Barbara area. He quite soon needed a further challenge, moving on to the foliage division of Dos Pueblos Orchid Company, where he later became the Orchid Division Manager. In early 1977, he began work at Santa Barbara Orchid Estate as a grower/salesman. Ned moved to Armacost & Royston in August of 1977, shortly after their acquisition by the Stewart family interests, enabling him to work closely and be trained by Leo Holguin, with his 50+ years of experience, Ernest Hetherington, with the same, and to meet and know so many of their contemporaries. He rose through the ranks, and through the merger of Armacost with Fred A. Stewart Orchids to form Stewart Orchids in 1985, to the position of President, which he held until the firm’s acquisition by AgriStar in 1993, when he became a Vice President of AgriStar and General Manager of Stewart Orchids. During this time, Ned became an Accredited AOS Judge (1987), was an AOS Trustee twice (1984 - 87 and 1988 - 91, possibly the youngest ever), and served on various committees both as a member and as Chairman.

Ned has given talks in over half of the United States, and in a dozen or more foreign nations. This wide and varied experience, coupled with over 15 years of volunteer service to the AOS, led to consideration for the post of Director of Education and Conservation, for which he was accepted in July of 1995. In the short time since, Ned has been appointed Vice Chairman of IUCN/SSC/OSG (International Union for the Conservation of Nature/Species Survival Commission/Orchid Specialist Group) and the Executive Committee of IOC (International Orchid Commission), among other honors.

NORTON, H P, ORCHIDVIEW ORCHIDS

Orchidview was best described by Greg at Carter & Holmes as a "hobbyist out of control." In 1976, after an early retirement because of health problems, HP bought his first Phalaenopsis from Jemmco Orchids at St. George, SC. Mike Osborne, one of the owners, became a close friend and mentor and urged HP to pursue hybridizing yellow phals, which he did. In the past twenty years, HP Norton has registered many awarded yellows such as Golden Bells, Lemon Candy, Caitlin, Orchidview Gold, Orchidview Headliner, Orchidview Sunsplash, Golden Daybreak, Golden Shore, Goldrilla, Carol Campbell, Sun Doll, Star of Dixie, and King's Ransom. In the past few years HP has concentrated on red Doritaenopsis hybrids. His only AQ was for Dtps. Abed-nego. Dtps. Lonnie Morris seems to be the best of this line of breeding thusfar, with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego very much in the running. 1996 found HP with a new love: Phragmipediums, or "another love" may be more correct. In January, two of his Phrags received AM's: Jason Fischer 'Orchidview', 87 points, and Don Wimber 'Orchidview', 80 points. HP is now heavily into the hybridizing of Phrags and we can expect some great things from this southern gentleman as indicated by his many past successes in the hybridizing of phalaenopsis.

Orchidview is a "Mom & Pop" operation, and is assisted by daughter, Carol Campbell. In addition to their 30' x 84' greenhouse, they have a lab on the property in which they do their own seed flasking and stem props. (Orchid Society of the Ozarks Newsletter, Nov 1998)

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JOHN ODOM & LOUISE NEAL, ODOM'S ORCHIDS

Odom's Orchids, Inc
1611 S Jenkins Rd
Ft Pierce FL 34947
Ph: 561-457-1386
Email:Odoms-Orchids@worldnet.att.net

John Odom has spent his life in Florida growing all sorts of plants. In his early years , before development hit the Treasure Coast, he roamed hammocks and swamps finding species orchids that were thought to be extinct. Hearing his stories is a wonderful reminder of what Florida nature is all about.

John Odom has a degree in agriculture from the University of Florida. John's original interest was in plant genetics, specifically in breeding better rice to feed starving populations. His quest has always been, and still is, to breed improved varieties of plants for the world to enjoy. Having worked for chemical corporations, he has learned not just how to kill bugs but how to test plant responses to chemicals and how to stimulate plant growth while protecting them from infestation. John was one of the first to spray seaweed extract on orchids (he even feeds his Rottweilers seaweed!).

Although he has never registered some of his crosses (75-100), John has created some very unique plants, which can be seen in a tour of Odom's greenhouses. As he so adamantly claims, the bigger a cattleya, the better!

Louise Neil, who majored in art at the University of Maryland and has attended the Florida Floral Design School, is an equal half of the Odom's Orchids partnership. Her love of color is what makes her so good at the orchid business, whether in making decorative baskets, or designing award-winning displays.

Following her move to Florida, Louise became very heavily involved in orchids, covering her screened patio with a sizable collection. Upon meeting John Odom and becoming one of his bet customers, Louise volunteered to help with orchid shows. Over eight years ago, John and Louise entered into a business partnership.

Louise is a former President of the Tropical Orchid Society (West Palm Beach). She is one of those people who never stops doing and learning - orchids, piloting plants and scuba diving are just a few of her diverse interests. Louise has created some of the most outstanding dendrobiums you will ever see!

John Odom has over 30 years of experience in Orchids. Louise Neil was a hobbyist grower for 20 years before becoming a partner for 8 years. Odom's specializes in Cattleyas, Phalaenopsis and Dendrobiums. Their greenhouse operation is 55,000 square feet and they welcome both wholesale and retail customers. Odom's, as an additional service, teaches a six-week course in orchid culture at their greenhouses. This has turned out to be a very popular and well attended program by people in their community.

MICHAEL H OOI, OOI LENG SUN ORCHIDS

Orchids have been a part of Mr Ooi's life since schooldays. In 1971, after studying with Dr Yoneo Sagawa at the University of Hawaii, Mr Ooi returned to Malaysia and started studying his country's orchid species, developing a special interest in Phalaenopsis violacea. Mr Ooi was awarded, in 1985, the Eric Holtom Gold Medal by the Orchid Society of South East Asia for his work with orchids. At his Ooi Len Sun Orchid Nursery and Lab, Mr Ooi has done considerable breeding with the albino Phalaenopsis violacea. The hybrid Phalaenopsis Penang Jewel is his price and joy. In the later 1980's Mr Ooi discovered another passion -- breeding birds. He now has a five acre bird park, known as Penang Bird Park, with more than 300 species. In the year 2002, Mr Ooi will be the Show Chair of the 17th World Orchid Conference in Malaysia.

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MARK PENDLETON, VICE PRESIDENT, THE ORCHID ZONE

Mr Pendleton is a California native. He has been involved with orchids in numerous ways for nearly 30 years. Mark is best known for his work at The Orchid Zone where he has worked for the past 16 years. He currently holds the titles of Vice President and Sales Manager. In addition to the front office titles, Mark's duties include hybridizing across all genera grown at The Orchid Zone. He is also responsible for naming and registration of The Orchid Zone's hybrids as well as managing the photography. Residents of Salinas CA, Mark and his wife have been married 26 years and have two grown children.

PAUL PHILLIPS, RATCLIFFE ORCHIDS, LTD

Paul Phillips of Ratcliffe Orchids, Ltd, England, was born in May 1940 and grew up helping his father in his general nursery, producing bedding plants and bulbs for cut flower growers. In 1962 he married Mary Ratcliffe and joined the family firm 18 months later, learning about orchid culture from Ronnie Ratcliffe until his death. He, with his family, decided to carry on the family business. In 1971, Paul was invited to participate on the RHS Orchid Committee. At the time, he was the youngest ever person to sit on this august body. He has participated in the judging at the Chelsea Show for over 30 years. Paul is a member of the Orchid Registration Advisory Committee and has twice served a 3-year term as Chairman of the British Orchid Growers Association. In 1990, he founded the British Paphiopedilum Society, now covering world-wide membership of 170. Ratcliffe's hold the British National Collection of Paphiopedilum. Ratcliffe Orchids also has a cooperative arrangement with the Eric Young Foundation and often participates in shows together. Paul and his wife, Mary, have three children and are recent grandparents. Continuing with the family participation in their business, his youngest daughter joined the firm three years ago in hopes of seeing Ratcliffe Orchids well into the future. (Orchid News from the Rockies, Nov 1998)

HERMANN PIGORS, OAK HILL GARDENS, DUNDEE IL

Hermann Pigors, a professional floriculturist and proprietor of Oak Hill Gardens in Illinois began his career in floriculture at age 14 by serving a three year apprenticeship in Germany in 1951. Since 1954 he has worked primarily with orchids in greenhouse firms in Germany and Illinois.

In 1973, Mr Pigors bought an existing greenhouse in Dundee, Illinois, and established Oak Hill Gardens. Over 20,000 sq ft of greenhouses are used to grow Orchids, bromeliads and tropical foliage plants for hobby, home and office use. Orchids are the main culture, being grown from seed, imports and clones. Oak Hill Gardens employs 7-8 full and part-time employees to help accomplish the workload.

Mr. Pigors has served as president of the Illinois Orchid Society, is an American Orchid Society Judge, and served on the board of trustees of the American Orchid Society from 1980-1986. He also served as the president of the Mid-America Orchid Congress from 1990-1992.

Oak Hill Gardens always delivers great orchids at reasonable prices.

Oak Hill Gardens
P.O. Box 25
27W550 Binnie Rd
Dundee IL 60118
847-428-8500
email: oakhillgardens@spiritmail.com

LARRY PLANT, EAST BAY ORCHIDS

Larry Plank grew up literally in the plant industry in Florida. He has a BS degree in biology. Larry recalls his earliest contact with orchids when he was about 12 years old. He said, "My parents bought an orchid collection, and since the family owned a florist business, they used the blooms there. Eventually the collection was sold and I didn't have contact with orchids until many years later." Naturally, he never lost his love for orchids. The next orchid would not come until Mr. Plank was 20. Soon Larry discovered Phalaenopsis. He says, "Thanks to Zuma Canyon Orchids, I have had good success and guidance with them. I have gotten to know George (Vasquez) and his dad, Amado. (Amado Vasquez was among the first to be honored with the IPA Award of Distinction.) Mr Plank also acknowledges he received assistance from Dr John Martin and Tom Harper.

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NINA RACH

Nina Rach is an AOS Accredited Judge. She is currently president of the Houston Orchid Society (HOS) and Webmaster for both the HOS and the Houston Judging Region.

Nina started growing orchids on library windowsills when she was ten or eleven. Encyclia cochleata was one of her first plants. She now grows a variety of species and hybrids outdoors, in a greenhouse, and also under lights. She is particularly fond of Eulophia, Stanhopea, and Angraecoid orchids and also has good success with Dendrobium and Cattleya. She has an AOS award to her credit: Phal. amabilis 'Mem. David Rach', AM/AOS, and enjoys judging other people's plants.

Nina has had many wonderful opportunities to travel and photograph orchids in the wild. She lived in Africa in 1985-86, and worked as a darkroom photographer while finishing her graduate thesis on Lake Victoria.

She attended two World Orchid Conferences - New Zealand (1990) and Scotland (1993), each as part of around the world trips. Nina has attended Cornel University (B.S.), Duke University (M.S.), and the University of Houston Law Center (J.D.) (1998).

She first began working in the oil and gas industry in 1982, which has led her to live in Dallas, Bakersfield, New Orleans and Houston. She has a 17-month-old daughter named Caroline, who has already been seen at a number of orchid events around the Region. (Baton Rouge OS Newsletter, Oct 98)

WILLIAM RHODEHAMEL

William Rhodehamel, President of Hoosier Orchids, Indianapolis, Indiana, began his odyssey with orchids in 1979. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, he is a seventh generation Hoosier, and proud of it. He received a Bachelor of fine Arts degree in Photography from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1985. He started growing orchids in 1979. He worked for Great Lakes Orchis, Inc., and founded Hoosier Orchid Company in 1989.and purchased Great Lakes Orchids' collections and breeding programs.

He is an authority on plants of the subtribe Pleurothallidinae and author of A Masdevallia Cultural Guide, a treatise on growing a delightful group of new world orchids. He has edited the Pleurothallid Alliance News , written articles in the AOS Bulletin/Orchids, and featured in GrowerTalks, The Indianapolis Star, The Indianapolis Business Journal, and The Indianapolis Register.

He is a Trustee of the American Orchid Society Chair of the AOS Conservation Committee, and a life member of the AOS. He and his wife and son live three miles from the nursery in a 150 year old farmhouse.

MARK ROSE, BRECKENRIDGE ORCHIDS, BROWN SUMMIT NC