Monthly Meeting

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VAOS Monthly Meetings The VAOS meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:00 pm at the Venice Community Center, 326 South Nokomis Ave., Venice, Florida.  We start with a brief business meeting and announcements of upcoming events, following by a speaker presentation, refreshments, plant table presentation and raffle. The speaker will often bring plants available for sale at the meeting. Guests are welcome to attend.

Meeting Program Speakers are invited to present on a variety of topics ranging from orchid culture to how to prepare your plants for display. Most speakers include power point presentations or demonstrations and will bring plants to sell at our meetings.  The VAOS has been fortunate to bring in some of the most authoritative experts in orchids – topics are always informative and focused on our south Florida growing conditions.

 

RefreshmentsFollowing the speaker’s program, we take a refreshment break.  All members are encouraged to bring in treats that may include homemade sweets, crackers and cheese, fruit or snacks for the refreshment table. Coffee and sodas are provided. The refreshment break offers a great opportunity to mingle with and get to know other members.

Plant TableMembers bring in their blooming plants to share and display on the plant table. Plants of all varieties and sizes are always evident and provide helpful insight into how others grow.  A judging team comprised of three members designated at the beginning of each meeting select and award first place, second place and third place ribbons. Ribbons are also awarded for Best Species, Member’s Choice and Speaker’s Choice.

Following the refreshment break, the lights are set up and each plant is presented and described by an expert grower and the speaker. They discuss the heritage of the plant, characteristics, attributes and culture and the member-grower may offer suggestions on how they grew their plant. This part of our meeting is always extremely informative, providing culture advice and plant background information.

RaffleEvery monthly meeting ends with a plant raffle.  Members and often the speaker bring in plants and plant divisions and raffle tickets are sold. This is a great way for members to share divisions of their plants or to give away plants they no longer wish to keep. This is also a great way to expand your collection. All donated plants and divisions should be healthy, pest-free and labeled with the name of the plant. Proceeds from the raffle support VAOS activities.