JARS v61n3 - From the Executive Director

From the Executive Director
Laura Grant
Toronto, Ontario, Canada

It was a real treat to attend an ARS spring convention in beautiful San Francisco. It was a splendidly organized program of public and private gardens, wineries and other tourist attractions.

Fred Whitney stepped up to the president's chair and Don Smart became the Western Vice President. Our annual board meeting welcomed two new District Directors to their elected positions: Ron Knight, District 1, and David Royster, District 10.

American Rhododendron Endowment Fund approved a donation of $3,000.00 to Humboldt Botanical Gardens Foundation for the expansion of the rhododendron collection.

The board has approved printing of the Rhododendron of the Year 2007, full color, postcards and posters. These are now available to anyone wishing to buy them at a nominal cost to offset the cost of production. We hope to continue to produce them, every year and earlier in the season. They are good public educational tools about the best performers in the seven different areas of North America. Please call our office for details.

Many chapters held the flower shows and plant sales this spring and in turn attracted a good number of new members. Well done!

Very shortly the renewal packages will be in the mail and we would like to remind our members to send the renewals early to their chapter treasurers. A bonus 15-month membership is available to new members joining after July 8th and before October 8th for the price of one year.

Looking forward to the fall Eastern Regional Conference, hosted by the Great Lakes Chapter and The Holden Arboretum in Cleveland, Ohio, home of very hardy rhododendrons. Details in this issue.