I have the responsibity of coming up with the programs for next year for our African Violet club meetings.
Here are my problems: I have never been part of an AV club before, so I have no idea what I am doing.
We have a very small inexperienced club who basically have no idea what AV are all about; but a handful of faithful attenders do show up for each meeting
There are no other AV clubs anywhere near our area, so I see no resources for speakers, etc
I want to plan something that is educational, interesting and motivational. Any suggestions would be apprecated. D-mail replies welcomed.
I need help !
We had a club very organized as we had men in our club belonging to West Point. Had our meetings in a wonderful old library there sometimes.
The business part. You need to try to do this according to the AVSA requirements. then Programs, then coffee and cake (hostess appointed for each meeting).If you have a permanenet home your hospitality can be left there (paper stuff and maker).
Show and tell, then perhaps 2x a year a paid person.
propagation is always good.
The part I have somewhere with grooming the viloet."Just sharing" (take one that is not important to you and peel off leaves and re-plant.
soil mixture discussion,
pot size discussion.
Bringing in pictures for discussion. Good violet looking violets. pictures of health/insect probs. so newbies can learn.
learning about "working toward a show" That is intense, because the RULES from the AVSA. There is a book out there "Growing for Show' Pauline Bartolamuhe ?spelling. Discuss the contents of this book or other.
Fund raisers toward paid program. Selling leaves .25c to .50c .Peeps expect to get them for nothing.
Trip to Volkmanns. Door prizes - selling chances toward this. I'll think up other things we did.... Also thinking of what Garden club used to do... similar.
helenethequeen, thanks for these suggestions, I look forward to any others you might want to share.
Hi There;
The club i belong to has a new program every month, we meet at a fire station. one of the girls brother in law is a fireman, we don't even have to pay for the place, has everything we need also, kitchen etc. so nice. we also play bingo & win violets as prizes, members bring in plants to sell also.You can buy or maybe even rent the convention discs, we have had also the tech, of growing trailers etc. there are quite a few you can get from avsa..
mrsbonnie
You might also want to present a "Daves Garden" informational session. You can tell them what great growers are here and what a wealth of information there is available on this site on the "Sticky " threads and all the links that they contain. I think you can get promotional material for the site also. We need all the growers we can get and each new member brings their own special talents and knowledge and we all learn from them. Just a thought! Lou
Lou,
That is a very good idea!
I am wondering if the folks on here would like to send some extra leaves/seeds/rhizomes, etc for one of your meetings? I know that all of us throw out so many leaves. Then you could have a leaf planting meeting, LOL!
I just trimmed most everything but I will have more in the fall that I could send.
Pat
I would send some leaves also. Lou
Thanks for the offer of the leaves. That is one thing we did do last years after I became associated with group, now we all have a bunch of babies.
Growing them into blooming plants is a present challenge and what we are concentrating on, right now.
Our deceased club founder offered our club as a host for the DAVS convention 2012, so we have A LOT of learning and growing to do. Quite a challenge for a novice group!
So the next program should be:
taking your little plantlets to club, have each member bring two that they don't mind (perhaps losing) Bring soil and additives.Each should bring next size pot or solo cup. Bring $ for soil share.
Now - show how to mix the soil in your personal choice - then have each person groom the plantlets. (hence two if you lose one you have the other) as shown in a thread here.
Now show how to repot these groomed plants. This is good interaction. Peeps get to know each other. (you know do I remove this look etc). This can make another program down the road as the plants grow and perhaps bloom....
It is imperative in your situation to buy the book "Grow to show". Gives such accurate information. Make it a "Club library book". Have the club pay for it. EBAY...Of course now you do need liabation....Helene
I had grown violets years ago and consider "Grow to Show" the AV Bible. My first effort when I started with group was to talk about the book and encourage them to get a copy for club library. We also donated a copy to the library where we meet each month.
You folks are a fountain of info and encouragement. Please keep the suggestions coming, I am to make a presentation at our planning session this week end of programs for the coming year.
We are determined to mature as a club, I look forward to 2010-2011.
I would be thrilled to hear from any hobbyist in South Carolina (we're in Myrtle Beach). To our knowledge the only other group in the state is in Spartanburg, SC.
One of our projects last year was to create a Yahoo group for our club; but we welcome any one to join in as we grow. D-mail if you would like to investigate.
Lane
To all of you who offered suggestions: Just want to let you know that as a result of your help we had a fantastic first meeting for the new year.
Our first program: Plants, Pots, Mix and Moisture was enthusiastically received. Using pot scrubber, chopped up sponge, and cat food to explain the component functions of a typical 1-1-1 potting mix really got a lot of discussion and "oh, I see now" comments.
Now I need help to describe why the club has a project plant each year. We are using Mac's Virtually Velvet starter plants.
I was surprised at how many commented "but I wanted a REAL red" as we discussed the Standard's description. I kind'a thought "well, duh!"
Well, the purpose reeally is to see different growing habits.perhaps
Everyone uses different soil mixtures, fertilizing habits, light exposures matter such as natural versas growing under lights, Water and ph give different results.hence if all use the same cultivar you'll see different end results.Some may even loose the plant. All kinds of variables happen if the same plant is used. So after 6 mo or 12 mo all of the above can be discussed.
These are just key thoughts. Elaborate upon each. Helene
well said Helen.
bonnie
This is a part of the presentation on potting mix.
http://africanvioletsonabudget.wordpress.com/2010/09/14/newbie-soil-is-a-dirty-word/