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The Region 2 Symposium 2005 This and That from AHS to Region 2The 13th Annual Region 2SymposiumThe Cleveland Event.................Always at its BestBy Melanie Vassallo and Gisela MeckstrothWhat an event! Early-bird registrants started with tours at noonon Friday. After they returned, Dan Bachman led a Garden JudgesWorkshop 1 with wine and cheese in the AHS hospitality suite, asuite that turned magically into the Region 2 hospitality suite towardsthe end of the festivities.25 States and Canada RepresentedMembers from all 5 states of our Great Lakes Region 2 wererepresented. AHS members from 20 additional US states had alsotraveled to Cleveland, and those included 7 AHS Board Members—with some of them bringing their spouses and friends—and anadditional 5 great “neighbors from the far NORTH,” namely Canada,did the same!Service to AHS and its Regions is Volunteerism at its BestThree speaker presentations kicked off the Friday evening, 8presentations followed on Saturday, and three on Sunday morning.This was really a symposium that we hope the 1993 originatorshad intended it to be: An information exchange on many daylilyrelated topics that spanned all AHS regions! Richard Norris showedslides of seedlings from hybridizers of the North and the South,sending the viewers to bed dreaming of spring and daylilies. Youcan read the recaps of all presentations in the following pages, andwe hope that the accompanying images will bring them to life.Registrar Lee Underschultz was hard at work passing out thenecessary paperwork to all who had come from far and wide. Sheand her husband Kirk had brought beautiful daylily art work thatcould be purchased. Dan Bachman of “Valley of the Daylilies” wasready to supply all with daylily T-shirts, daylily stationery, andother useful items. Bobbie Brooks sold precious seeds from exceptionalcrosses, and JR Blanton brought “DeerScram” for those whoare plagued by those unwanted garden guests.Plant Auction Chair Heidi Willet set up the Silent Auction table.Right: JR Blanton (Digital Photography101) and Plant Auction ChairHeidi WilletBelow left: Silent Auction tablesBelow right: Kirk Underschultz, PaulLimmer, Bobbie BrooksAll images: Karen CiulaTalk about whetting one’s appetite. Each auction sheet, showed acolor image of the particular daylily along with a full description ofhybridizer, registration info, etc. Curt Hanson checked the progressof penciled-in bids off and on (with furrowed brow!) but he neednot have worried, because the rows of $-amounts grew in lengthand $-size. We can’t imagine how Lee and Heidi made it through thedays. We know how hard they had worked ahead of the actualevent. Our hats are off to them.No one could have expected such a delicious Saturday banquetmeal. Karen Ciula, a Metropolitan Columbus DS member, thoughtthat the meal was even better than what she had ordered Friday inthe hotel’s dining room! Then came Jamie Gossard’s digital slideshow of hybridizers’ seedlings, followed by the auction.You cannot imagine how organized this auction was. Everyonelamented the unavoidable absence of David Kirchhoff, who hasbeen a member of the “auction team” for a few years. But, Kay Day& Company, knowing very well that David would keep his eyes“peeled” on the auction from afar-away Florida, pulled out all stops.Auctioneering 101 classes were held in the hall while diners enjoyeddessert!Auction “runners” wore noticeable foot paths into the banquetroom’s plush carpet to Missouri bidders Larry Gooden and PatThirteen years of daylily information exchange! Think of it.Present at these 2005 festivities were the original 1993:♦♦♦Seeds That Bore FruitRegion 2Symposium 1993The first Region 2 Symposium was started witha “seed money” fund donated by the generousChicagoland Daylily Society.Symposium Co-chair Hiram Pearcy from Wisconsin,Symposium Registrar Joanne Larson from IllinoisSlide-show Organizer Bill Sevetson from IllinoisSpeaker Leo Sharp from Indiana:Daylilies of the 21st CenturySpeaker er Curt t Hanson from Ohio:Setting Hybridizing Goals......................and Working to Achieve ThemGraphics: Lee Alden of Frogsleap Gardens, MichiganPage 22 Spring-Summer 2005 AHS Region 2/Great Lakes Newsletter