SCHOOL DAYS / Reading, Writing and Roses, our Illinois Indiana Conference and Rose Show, has come and gone but what a weekend we had. Teresa Byington and Linda Kimmel served as co-chairmen of the event with a large cast of others who helped make it all happen. Thank you to each of you! To see the list of chairmen, click here.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS:
Friday night was our Rosy Social Hour where we had the chance to meet new friends and catch up with long time friends while munching on rose flavored treats and drinking Rosé. (Thanks to Teresa Byington and Eloisa Garza for the fun treats.)
THE SCHOOL BELL RANG EARLY!
ROSE SHOW:
Saturday started early at 6 am. The cars and trucks filled with roses came into our room. Fortunately we had a cargo door since is was raining cats and dogs. Even with all the people and all the activity — the room was filled with calm as the creative juices started flowing. I wish we could have a video of the whole process.
We had masters. We had novices. We had watchers. We had helpers.
All at their tasks — helping the rose be her very best self.
HORTICULTURE:
Our room was filled with beautiful roses! Below are two masters at work! Thank you John Hefner for serving as Rose Show Chairman with all of those duties and along with your beautiful partner creating rose perfection and winning 8 out of the BIG 9 awards. Oh my. I wish every novice in the world of exhibiting could observe their artistic gifts. Donna was not only working hard on the roses, she handled our finances and many of our decorations. Yes they are rose super heroes.
ARRANGEMENTS:
There were tables of beautiful arrangements by William Carlson, Mary Ann Hext, Linda Kimmel, Renee LaFollette and Andy Plasz. Adding to the fun, three of our novices, Teresa Downham, Carolyn Lloyd and Trudy Struck did a group arrangement.
To see the full list of winners, click here.
Below is a gallery of pictures from our day. Click on any picture to enlarge them.
CONFERENCE:
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Bob Martin (ARS Incoming President presented a fun, comprehensive look at growing roses — in a Dr. Suess style. This was super fun — he had everyones attention. )
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Ron Daniels (Nashville Rose Society President – PROGRAM 1: Gave us product ideas and techniques for using them. PROGRAM 2: Tips for successful container growing. He made is sound easy. Now for us to take his tips and try them ourselves!
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Dr. Andy Plasz (This award winning rose educator, presented an excellent program on managing disease and chemical resistance that gave us so many options!— both organic and synthetic!)
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Jeff Sommers and Corkey Thacker (A dynamic duo of rose show and exhibiting information – the Q & A session was fantastic. We just needed more time!)
WINNING THE SILVER:
Dr. Andy Plasz, one of the most gifted educators in all of “rosedom,” was awarded the silver medal. A much deserved award!
SPECIAL ACHEIVEMENT:
Larry Jones was presented a special award by Roger Brueckman, Incoming Regional Director, for his years of excellent service to the IL IN District as Horticulture Judge Chair. Larry is retiring from this position and leaves big shoes to fill. Thank you Larry.
WHAT’S NEXT?
We are busy planning for our spring conference to be held in March. We hope to see you there! Details coming soon.
Indianapolis Rose Society 
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