2022 Convention (Tacoma, WA)
Gesneriads in the Pacific Gateway
July 4 to July 9, 2022
The Puget Sound Chapter of The Gesneriad Society hosted the Society’s 65th Annual Convention “Gesneriads in the Pacific Gateway” at the Hotel Murano in Tacoma, Washington. The Local Convention Co-Chairs, M.J. Tyler and Sally Robinson, along with many other Puget Sound Chapter members welcomed the 115 convention registrants, including many first-time attendees who also volunteered to help with various activities during convention.
The convention was a great success based on the enthusiasm shown by all the attendees whether they were just socializing and talking plants with other attendees, enjoying time together on several well-planned trips, listening and learning at judging school or during the various lectures, programs and meetings held all week, participating in or just enjoying the flower show, plant sale, and auctions. The annual meeting/dinner was well attended where Sadie Barber and Hung Nguyen were each honored with an Award of Appreciation this year.
The flower show displayed 149 high-quality entries from 42 exhibitors, including a record number of 5 first-time exhibitors at a convention show. A list of all awarded entries as well as the Flower Show images are now available on this website.
- Best in Horticulture – awarded to Bill Price for his Primulina Collection
- Best in Artistic – awarded to Karyn Cichocki for her arrangement “Octopus”
- Best in Arts – awarded to Rohm Gustafson for his Saintpaulia Bobbin Lace
- Best in Education – awarded to Alan LaVergne for his exhibit “Origin and Dispersal of the Gesneriad Family
- Sweepstakes in Horticulture – awarded to Li Huang with 4 blue ribbons
- Sweepstakes in Artistic – awarded to Pat Shandrow with 9 blue ribbons
- Multi-Division Sweepstakes – awarded to Karyn Cichocki with 3 blue ribbons
The featured speakers/lectures at convention were
- David Zaitlin (Kentucky) – “The Names of Plants”
- Laura Clavijo (Colombia) – “Geographic patterns in the evolution of the genus Drymonia”
- Stephen Maciejewski (Pennsylvania) – “Plant Hunting in Vietnam”
- Sadie Barber (Edinburgh) – “Gesneriaceae at one of the world’s oldest botanical gardens”
Downloads of all of the lectures and most mini-programs will soon be available to enjoy at your leisure complimentary to convention registrants and also will be available at a nominal cost to all others in The Gesneriad Society Shop.
Thank you again to the chairpersons, workers, and volunteers; to those who provided sale and auction items; to those who entered or helped with the flower show; and to all who attended and helped in any way to make the 2022 Convention a success. The long-awaited in-person Tacoma Convention may be over, but wonderful memories remain.
In 2023 we hope to see old friends and new gather in the U.S. Central East Coast area from July 3 to July 8 at the Westin Richmond Hotel to enjoy “Virginia is for Gesneriad Lovers.”