JARS v41n3 - Welcome, Cape Cod And Islands Chapter!

Welcome, Cape Cod And Islands Chapter!
Paula L. Cash
Executive Secretary

In Eugene, Oregon at the ARS Board of Directors Meeting on April 29, 1987, the members of the Board unanimously accepted the Cape Cod and Islands Chapter as a Chapter of the American Rhododendron Society. Leadership in the formation of the Chapter has been provided by Dr. Richard W. Chaikin and District 6 Director, A. Richard Brooks. Elected officers are John O'Malley, President, Richard Chaikin, Vice President, Beatrice McDonald, Treasurer, and Secretaries Martha Drake and Elliot Ernest.

The new chapter will serve Cape Cod, Massachusetts, as well as the islands of Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and the Elizabeth Islands. Cape Cod is bounded on one side by the Cape Cod Canal and the other three sides by the Atlantic Ocean. As a result, the weather is different from Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut coastlines. Cape Cod has the advantage of 10 degrees warmer temperatures yet the disadvantage of negligible snow cover in winter. Microclimates vary in the area. R. rex can be grown in some areas on Cape Cod yet in other locations on Cape Cod H-3 rhododendrons are too tender.