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Refreshments

June – Open House Irene – Sodas Trish – TBD Barb. N – Olive Balls and Chocolate sweets Vickie J – Meatballs Barbara G – Veggie Tray Kitty – Chicken Salad Sharon – Water, Cheese/Crackers and Grapes September – Irene and Barb S October – Trish and Sharon November – Stephanie and Bill December – Christmas Feast January – Vergyl and Barbara G February – Barb K and David March – Barbara N and Kitty April - Stephanie May - June – TBA September

Don’t forget, our meeting begins at 10:00 a.m. and the Open House begins at 11:00 a.m. Bring in your soda can pop tops! From the president: It feels like summer is already upon us. I am not ready for summer time heat. However, my first knee replacement is scheduled for June 27th so much of my time will be spent inside in the cool of air conditioning. Before that, I am looking forward to participating in our open house on June 10th. I missed the first one last year. I look forward to meeting visitors who share our love of African violets and other gesneriads. Bill Schmidt has planned everything for us. Please plan to attend as we will have a brief business meeting at 10 am to discuss a few items before summer break. Let me know of any items you would like added to the agenda as I am easing into this new position. I still need to fill committees that were mentioned in the last newsletter: AVSA representative, Exhibits, Horticultural tips/violets, Publicity and Library. I also have to designate an auditor for our financial records. Please email or call me if you have an interest in any of these positions, or I will be calling you to solicit your help. It looks like I will have plenty of time to make calls over the summer! Sharon

Treasurer’s Report Time to think about paying club dues for 2018. Kitty Hedgepeth will be collecting dues at the meeting. Bring in your check or cash for $15.

Richmond African Violet Society Affiliated with AVSA and MAAVS Volume 28, Issue 6 June 2017

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Summer Birthdays

June 6/1 Vergyl Cabbagestalk Irene Pitman 6/5 Melonie Peters 6/19 Christina Larson July 7/1 Margaret Bruckhart 7/3 Barbara Newlin 7/9 William Pruitt’ 7/18 Sharon Long 7/31 Kitty Hedgepeth August 8/20 Trish Clements

Other Gesneriads for Sale There were plants left over from the NCAC Gesneriad Society sale at the Springfield Mall including Streptocarpus, Nematanthus, and Episcia. They will be available for $6 each at our upcoming meeting. Come prepared.

Our New Officers President – Sharon Long (Not Pictured) First Vice President – Josane Wagner Second Vice President – Bill Schmidt Treasurer – Kitty Hedgepeth

Secretary – Leslie Lawing Historian – David Dick (Not Pictured)

Supplies Bill will be sending out the monthly inventory and contacting anyone who made a special order once the supplies arrive from Cape Cod Violetry.

Library Spotlight Plan for some summer reading. Books and magazines borrowed at the June meeting are not due back until the first meeting you attend in the fall. Also, you can take out two magazines instead of one. The complete list of our books is below. African Violet Book Helen Van Pelt 1970—Third Revision A classic on the history, culture, and ornamental use of African violets. All About African Violets Montague Free 1951—Second Revision A simple, comprehensive study of all the problems likely to be encountered in raising African violets. African Violets: Gifts from Nature Melvin J. Roby 1988 Down to earth information on growing African violets as well as in-depth discussion of topics not normally found in gardening books. You Can Grow African Violets Kent and Joyce Stork 2007 The official guide authorized by the African Violet Society of America, Inc. Adapted and edited to provide even the most novice grower with a step by step guide to grow and exhibit African violets. Insect and Mite Pests of African Violets Charles L. Cole 1994 A layman’s understanding of the pests afflicting African violets and their control including color pictures of plants infected with the pests. Our African Violet Heritage Anne Tinari 1975 A personal account of one woman’s dedication to growing African violets. Includes advice on the care and culture of the violets. How to Know and Grow Gesneriads The Gesneriad Society, Inc. 2007 An introduction to many of the commonly grown gesneriads with photographs. Includes a section on their culture and care and information on membership in The Gesneriad Society.

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The Complete Book of Flower Arrangement F. F. Rockwell and Esther C. Grayson 1947 A book covering all aspects of arranging for home and show with numerous color illustrations. The Complete Flower Arranger Amelia Adler Asher 1974 The author provides her expertise in arranging with color illustrations of her designs. Includes a discussion of arrangement styles. The Driftwood Book Mary E. Thompson 1960 Demonstrates how to work with driftwood. Includes design illustrations.

Raffle Barbara Stewart won Kholaria ‘Gunsmoke’ Vergyl Cabbagestalk won a Streptocarpus Hybrid

Exhibits Barbara Stewart earned a red ribbon for Gesneriad Primulina Species. Bill Schmidt earned blue ribbons for Achimenes ‘Glory’ and Episcia ‘Pearl Drops’.

Web Sites of our Affiliates: � AVSA.org � MAAVS.org � Gesneriadsociety.org � nationalcapitalgesneriads.org/

Committee jobs still open for next year –Please contact Sharon if interested. Guidance and resource information is available from members who have previously held these positions. AVSA Representative : Provide information on AVSA activities and resources. Notify members of upcoming convention information. Exhibits : Responsible for coordinating exhibits at monthly meetings. Secure judges and keep a record of ribbons awarded. Arrange for special year-end awards for

members receiving the highest number of points on specimens and arrangements. Horticultural Tips/Violets : Present information on some aspect of growing African violets at monthly meetings. Tips can be from personal experience or publications such as the African Violet Magazine. Publicity : Notify local media of meetings, programs and other special activities. Library : The library consists of books, pamphlets, and African Violet Magazines. In addition, the Gesneriads have been added since 2016, and the MAAVS Memo for one year that are kept in three medium sized tubs which could be reduced to two if the magazines were kept for only 5 years. That would be one tub for storage and one to transport back and forth to the meeting. A cumulative form titled “Who Borrowed What” keeps a record of what is taken out and subsequently returned. One book and/or one AVM can be borrowed at a time. The member must notify the librarian before the meeting if they want a particular item. The material is due back at the next meeting that the member attends. However, they can renew by arrangement with the librarian for one time if no one else has requested the material. The member is notified by e-mail before the meeting if they have material to return. To promote use of the material, there is a section in the newsletter called “Library Spotlight” that features one of the books. Typically each book would be featured once a year. Also, possibly, an index of one of the AVM’s could be sent out each month independently of the newsletter, like is done with the supplies. Finally, the featured book and two or three of the most recent magazine issues can be brought to each meeting and displayed for the members. Deadline for the September Newsletter is Tuesday, August 23, 2017. Send articles, pictures, etc. to vbcarr@comcast.net

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The National Capital Area Chapter (NCAC) of the Gesneriad Society show and sale was held at Springfield Town Center the weekend of May 20-21. Barbara Stewart and Bill Schmidt had lovely entries in horticulture and design. Here are a few of their entries. Achimenes Eucodonia Cerelda

Barbara’s designs using all gesneriads.

This is a design from Jim Roberts. I loved the line material. Can you identify it? Come to the meeting to find out the answer

I hope everyone has a safe and happy summer break!

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Richmond African Violet Society Meeting Minutes

May 6, 2017 Call to Order : President Barbara Greenawalt called the meeting to order. Roll Call: Bill Schmidt called roll and announced the presence of 15 members. This was a quorum. Inspirational Moment : Vergyl Cabbagestalk read a poem in recognition of Mother’s Day, author unknown. Announcements: Minutes from April: Barbara Stewart complimented interim secretary Leslie Lawing for minutes contributed beginning with the RAVS February 2017 meeting continuing through to our April 2017 meeting. The nominating committee presented a slate of officers; their names were listed in the April minutes. Barbara Greenawalt asked if any other members wanted to be presented for offices before the final submission of names. There were no other names announced. All those selected as officers were unanimously approved by the membership. Corrections for April Meeting Minutes ….A) Clarification needed concerning the election of officers. B) There was a question as to whether a motion was made regarding the election of new officers. The April minutes were motioned and approved by Barbara Greenawalt, second by Kitty Hedgepeth. Correspondence: Barbara Greenawalt shared the Thank You card message received from Sue Hoffman, who expressed how much she enjoyed being invited as a judge, as well as having an opportunity to see the creativity, and diversity in design using the African Violet. Sue congratulated the members on the success of the RAVS 2017 show. Treasurer’s Report: prepared by Sharon Long, shared by Kitty Hedgepeth The balance in RAVS checking was $2,668.92 as of the April meeting. Deposits totaling $4,103.79 have been made since the last meeting date. Checks have been written for a total of $2,674.66. Checks were written for Gesneriad Society dues, benevolence, show expenses and member sales. Show expenses totaled $1,547.84, which includes plant purchases from Lyons and provisions of potting supplies from RAVS’ inventory. Plant sales totaled $3,942.75. Of that amount, RAVS received $1,993.16. The difference between RAVS plant sale income and total show expenses results in a difference of $445.32. This represents the largest profit in many years. A detailed show report will be available at the June meeting. We have received $44.00 for Glenna Hasslacher’s donated plants to date. The available balance in RAVS checking is $3,407.13. We currently have $25.35 in petty cash. Hospitality: Josane passed around two forms to members to sign up, refreshments for the June Open House meeting, she suggests appetizers only and signup for hospitality for the 2017-2018 year. MAAVS Rep: Kitty H. the show schedule will be published in next month publication.

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Other Reports: Barbara Stewart request for volunteers to help set up, prepare and serve dinner for the Ruritan Club which will be held on July 27, 2017. Barbara S. will send out an email to those on her list who have volunteered. Other members interested in participating should contact Barbara Stewart. Horticultural Tip: Kitty H. suggests for the show the judges prefer for you to cover the top of the soil, one idea would be to use small black rocks as covering. Bags can be purchased at the Dollar Tree store. Be sure to wash the rocks you will use in your display. Judging of plants and designs Judges: Kitty H. Bill S. Barbara Stewart – Gesneriad Primulina Species – RED Bill Schmidt –Achimenes Glory –BLUE Bill Schmidt – Episcia –Pearl Drops – BLUE Membership Report 2016-2017 Bill Schmidt The Society started the year with 26 regular members and 6 honorary members. Three members passed away, Glenna Hasslacher who had been a member since 2005, and two honorary members Ruth Tate and Mary Sue Hudson. There were four new members who joined and one former member who rejoined which gives us a current regular membership of 30 and an honorary membership of 4. Last June’s Open House was successful, yielding five new members. The Open House will be repeated this June. The Society has six members who also belong to The Gesneriad Society which met the 20% requirement for the society to become an affiliate of the Gesneriad Society. Submitted by Bill Schmidt Second Vice President, Membership Raffle Winners Barbara S. won Kholaria ‘Gunsmoke’ Vergyl C. won Streptocarpus Hybrid After the recess for refreshments, the Installation of New Officers for 2017-2019 was held. The meeting adjourned after the program Submitted by Leslie Lawing