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YANKEE
DISTRICT CONVENTION 2008
You may well know that the Yankee
District Convention, held on the third weekend in March, rotates throughout
the District. This year the Connecticut Rose Society is the host society.
The committee has been hard at work and we are looking forward to the
weekend of March 14, 15, 16, 2008.
There should something for everyone. Friday night
will feature a wine tasting. Saturday there will be lectures and a lunch
with a book signing. We will also have vendors for your shopping pleasure,
a raffle and door prizes. Saturday evening will be a banquet. Our keynote
speaker is Ping Lim, head rose hybridizer for Bailey’s Nursery. His
specialty is a family of beautiful, low maintenance, hardy roses. Yankee
District awards and a rose auction follow. Sunday morning there will be a
breakfast followed by a District meeting.
The convention will be held in scenic,
historic Mystic at the Hilton Mystic Hotel. The Hilton is conveniently
located next to outlet shops, across the street from the Mystic Aquarium and
Olde Mystic Village (more shopping). The historic Mystic Seaport, which is
a replica of a whaling village, is less than two miles away. Both Foxwoods
and the Mohegan Sun Casinos are within a fifteen minute drive from the
hotel.
Although there are plenty of attractions
in the area, the best and most fun part of the weekend is spending time with
fellow rose growers who share your hobby. It is a memorable and rewarding
experience to share a weekend with people from all over the North East who
all have a common bond – a love for roses. Come to the convention to learn,
exchange ideas, enjoy old friends and meet and make new ones.
Friday, March 14, will be a wine tasting
in the hospitality room. Bring your favorite wine to share and say hello to
old friends and meet new ones.
Saturday promises to be a
busy day packed with rose knowledge, vendors and fun. Registration will
open at 8:00 am the vendors shortly thereafter. The day will start with a
welcome at 9:00. Bob Linck PhD., a chemistry professor at Smith College,
will enthrall us all with a lecture entitled “A Rose Fable: Beware of the
Fox.” Bob will be followed by a coffee break and Jim LaMondia PhD. Jim is
a Fungus expert form the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in
Windsor, CT. He will lecture on diseases.
Our luncheon speaker will
be Aurelia Scott. Aurelia is no stranger to Yankee District conventions.
Although Aurelia enjoys growing roses, her true enjoyment is meeting rose
people. Aurelia is a gifted writer and has authored a book titled
Otherwise Normal People, Inside the Obsessive and Thorny World of
Competitive Rose Gardening. You will either know or know of many of her
characters – in the truest sense of the word. There will be books available
for purchase and she will be happy to sign them.
After lunch John Mattia
will teach us about his secret weapon in rose growing. Compost! John will
explain how to make compost and the uses of it in soil conditioning and rose
growing. Learn how to grow some of those famous “Mattia roses” yourself.
Mike Chute has agreed to chair a panel on sustainable roses. This is a good
precursor for the after dinner speaker. Take good notes for yourself about
easier care roses. The drawings for the raffle will take place just before
the break.
There will be a cash bar
from 6:00 to 7:00 when our banquet begins. At the conclusion of the banquet
will be our after dinner speaker Ping Lim. Ping is the head of the rose
breeding program at Bailey Nurseries. As such he has created a strain of
roses that he calls Easy Elegance Roses. These roses are not only beautiful
but are both very disease resistant and very hardy, many to zone 4. We are
very excited about having Ping with us. He is touted as an engaging speaker
and has roses to tell us about that thrive in our climate. After Ping are
the District Awards and the famous rose auction. The fun continues in the
Hospitality Room until everyone is rosed out or asleep – whichever comes
first.
Sunday, March 16, starts
with an elaborate buffet breakfast and is immediately followed by the
District Meeting. If you are interested in how your District is run or have
any questions or suggestions be sure to come to the meeting. As stated
earlier in this announcement there is much to do in the area. On your way
home why not take in one or more of the attractions.
Two reminders: To get the
group convention rate you must make your reservations with the hotel by
February 22, 2008 and you save $5.00 by registering by March 10, 2008.
See you there!
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