The Northeast Chapter covers Eastern Canada, New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia.
Scott Ritchie will be hosting a grove-cleaning at Cylburn Arboretum in Baltimore, MD on 12 January 2008. Please contact Scott for more information -401-462-6257.
Dave Flanagan will be conducting a workshop on babmoo trellis-making at the Berkshire Botanical Garden, Stockbridge, MA. Date: April 12, 2008.
The spring meeting will be held at the home of Ned and Elizabeth Newton in Westport, MA. Date is Saturday, 3 May. This is a beautiful spot with lots of bamboo and exotic birds and great hosts. Stay tuned.
The National Meeting at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Squae, PA was a success due to the great work of manny of the chapters members. Thanks to all who came and those who helped. Here is a rundown on the workers. Let Dave Flanagan know if we missed anyone.
On Saturday 7, June, 2008, there will be a plant sale at the Tower Hill Boatanical Garden in Boylston, MA. Come and bring a plant to sell or help at the NEC table.
Dear Bamboo Society friends,
I am so very grateful and proud of the work that the Northeast Chapter did to make the National ABS meeting such a success. The contributions of so many of you was absolutely awesome.
Ned and Elizabeth worked so hard on the cocktail party and the dinner dance. Hundreds of emails and phone calls. It was the finest Dinner Dance I have ever been to. The music and dancing was perfect and the setting and menu was absolutely great.
Susanne Lucas did her usually miraculous job organizing the tour and the auction. We all had some problems with last minute surprises with organizations promises not being met, but the van problems with full information us front and then just not delivering was a terrible burden on Susanne and her volunteer drivers. They pulled it off never the less.
Nancy More Bess researched and purchased the tote bags and most of the inserts including the beautiful backing of bamboo paper from Delores Holland's collection. She arrived early in Kennett Square and spent hours along with Susanne to stuff the bags. She also arranged and maintained the silent auction materials and attended the Directors Meeting working diligently on the Bamboo Artists competition. Nancy has delivered and delivered and delivered. We owe her and Susanne a great deal.
Marco Nead was the faithful transporter. Never one single complaint about transport back and forth between the hotel and the Garden. That must be a first for the ABS National Meeting.
Thanks to Chris DeRosa for volunteering to man the info booth.
Fran Bartholomew could not make the meeting, but did manage all the money and registrations with the strong backup from Michael at the meeting himself. They made my life much easier. It was lot of work for both of them.
Margy Mott arrived early, helped get the vendors set up, arranging the displays in the auditorium, and manned the ABS info booth for many, many hours. She worked for hours with Susanne and Nancy filling the tote bags and managing the registration material. Many thanks to Margy for her tireless and faithful work.
Tim Fischer did an outstanding job on getting the meeting publicized with very little help from Longwood. His work was truly professional and effective. Cady Goldfield helped with the publicity as well.
Scott Ritchie was the man on time and on the money with auction plants and his exhibit.
Thank you Whitney Adams for driving one of the vans for the tours.
Wife Carolyn missed most all the presentations to produce the flower arrangements for the cocktail hour and the banquet. Thank you Carolyn.
Lorina Nead jumped into the gap and helped with collecting money for the auction and sales. Always a tense operation.
Marco Nead and Ed Wooley were on the mark with the barrier and rhizome talk. We will never forget Gladys and her problem with Marco's bamboo.
I regret very much that we did not have a bigger turn out. I expected 100 paying attendees. The Hawaii meeting was expensive and remote and Houston meeting before was burdened with the Katrina which greatly reduced attendance. They had 80 attendees and so did we. This resulted in no relief from registration fees for the workers which I had planned. I am so sorry that we all had to pay those fees along with doing all the hard work. This was particularly burdensome for those who came with large families and/or additional friends. At any rate, the event was a success and highly praised by many of the attendees. Thank you all so very much.
It was highlight of my Chapter experiences and a burden that the Chapter will not have to face for many years to come. I hope all can continue to enjoy, work, and learn together in the society. I look forward to seeing you in the NEC meeting in the spring and at the next National Meeting in San Francisco in early November, 2008..
Dave Flanagan