Convention Report 2006

The following is the Convention Report of Heather Eakins, AVSC's 2006 Convention Chairman. Her message conveys the whirl of activity and excitement that accompanies a major plant convention and show. Yes, it is fun and the plants are beautiful. We hope you will join us to view a future show. Perhaps you will even become a member and join in the other fun as well. This report was published earlier in our Chatter magazine.

Our AVSC Convention is an annual event and our local affiliate societies take turns being the host society. In 2006, Ottawa African Violet Society was the host.

AVSC Convention 2006:
Convention Chairman’s Report

It’s amazing how quickly the convention begins and ends after a year of planning and work by the Ottawa African Violet Society….in a flash its over! For the most part, the convention went smoothly with only a few unforeseen problems.

Thank you to all our OAVS members and AVSC Members who so generously contributed in so many ways it’s not possible to list them all. Special thanks to Bill Price, Paul Kroll, Paul Despres and Olive Ma Robinson for their wonderful presentations. The delegates and public attending were pleased to have an excellent selection of plants to choose from, provided by the commercials attending and the amazing selection donated by OAVS members for our club plant sales table. The Hospitality Committee went “above and beyond” even providing an unscheduled and much appreciated late night snack for the “night owls” who attended the Gesneriad Walk, Friday evening.

We were honoured to have the High Commissioner of Tanzania officially open the show. The ooh’s and aah’s were audible as the doors opened and the delegates and public had their first glimpse of the show. Congratulations to all the exhibitors and particularly to those who traveled long distances and managed to arrive with prize winning plants safely. Best in Show was awarded to Tony Hulleman for “Frozen I Time”, which was only one of many beautifully grown specimens by Tony and Bill Price’s Saintpaulia tongwensis #3397 (Uppsala Clone) was judged 2^nd Best in Show, congratulations gentlemen. Also to the OAVS members who were so successful, winning many prizes and sweepstakes in Horticulture, First Time Exhibitor, Gesneriads and Design; I know how busy you all were preparing for the Convention and Show, so it is really quite an accomplishment, congratulations!

We hope you enjoyed “Ottawa in Bloom”. Our best wishes to the Lakeshore AVS of Toronto, in their hosting of the next AVSC Convention in Mississauga, Ontario, October 10–14 2007, we look forward to seeing you there.

Heather Eakins
 

Everyone gets involved at an AVSC Convention. Bill Price, our President, was kind enough to bring gifts for everyone (plant cuttings and tubers on the table) who attended his presentation on Sinningia, one of his favourites in the Gesneriad family which includes African violets.

The Convention activity missing from this page is the show plants. Please visit our Photo Gallery 2006 to see some of the winners.

Olive Ma Robinson, well-known grower, hybridizer and exhibitor, was one of several delegates who made a presentation to the other delegates. Her topic was Container Gardens which are an important component of the Design Division of our African violet shows.