May 2006 Vol.
III No. 10
Ruth Loper, Director Lynn Sherrod, Director 3312 Gail
Tyler, TX 75701 jimshowen@aol.com Roberta Gustafson, VP Programs Sonnia Hill, Secretary/Treasurer Elizabeth Parks, VP Field Trips Jane Washburn, VP Membership 
Directors &
Officers
Jim Showen, President
Kay Fleming, Newsletter Editor
FROM
THE PRESIDENT
The
NPSOT Spring Quarterly State Board meeting was held in San Antonio on April 6
in the Marriott Hotel at the intersection of Loop 410 and Interstate 10. This
will be the location of the next State meeting in October. Laquita and I drove
to Fredericksburg the day before the meeting hoping to see some wildflowers. We
did, but they were kind of sparse. The only blue bonnets we saw going down were
the ones in the road rights-of-way. In Fredericksburg the motel we stayed at
had a wildflower meadow and if you walked around and looked closely, there were
a few in the dry, parched ground.
The Marriott Hotel seems to be nice enough with plenty of parking. A lot of
construction is going on in the vicinity, especially on Loop 410; so I imagine
the trips to field trip sites will be a challenge to us country boys and girls.
The Hotel put on a lunch to impress us with its capabilities. I was impressed
that they would charge us $15 for some ordinary sandwich makings. There is a
Subway and some other restaurants a short distance away.
The first discussion item was about recognition of the effort Sue Wiseman done
on repair of our overdue tax filings. The Board recommended to the General
Meeting that Sue be given a Life membership for her efforts. The president also
recommended that Sue be retained to complete and file future NPSOT tax reports.
The Board did not approve this recommendation. Our Treasurer who is a CPA
expressed confidence that she could handle those jobs as part of her elected
duties.
The Board also recommended a change to our bylaws to add a Vice President for
Education. A job description will be prepared for the next meeting and Bylaw
Change submitted to the membership at the annual meeting.
It was decided to establish a State Office library with donated books. Three
different local Clubs have folded and another 5 are having severe problems One
of the root problems for many of these clubs has been having too few members in
leadership roles in the chapters. Eventually this leads to too few ideas and
not enough excitement to hold an active membership.
Approximately $10,000 was spent to furnish and equip our new offices in Fredericksburg.
President Bill Lindemann reported that we had received a $10,000 grant from
Diane Stai of Abilene to cover these expenses. Jim Showen
MAY PROGRAM
The May 1st meeting of the Tyler Chapter of NPSOT will be a hodgepodge of activities. It is this meeting that we take nominations and elect chapter officers for the coming year. Traditionally we also have a plant “show and tell.” (Bring those weird plants for an Identification and try and stump the experts.) We will also have a discussion of future activities and field trips. If you know of interesting places to visit or speakers you would like to hear present a program at our meetings - let us know.
The following members have been
nominated for chapter officers and have agreed to serve.
If you wish to be considered
or wish to nominate someone let me know. Jim Showen
Director: Lynn
Sherrod Director:
Ruth Loper
President:
Sonnia Hill Secretary/Treasurer: Elizabeth
Parks
VP Field Trips: Liz Soutendijk VP Programs: Jim Showen
VP Membership: Newsletter Editor: Kay
Fleming
FIELD
TRIPS
Our May 6th field trip will be an "over-nighter" to DeRidder, Louisiana. Dr. Charles Allen will host us in DeRidder Louisiana. He will be giving us a tour of his property he calls “Allen Acres.” Dr. Allen has also extended an invitation to come by our motel on Friday afternoon and look any members that arrive early.
Since it is such a long drive from Tyler, it will be best to go down on Friday May 5th to DeRidder. Sonnia has checked out the motels there and says that the newest and cleanest is the Stagecoach Inn. She was quoted a price of $69 per night. Phone: 337/462-0022
Driving directions from the Stagecoach Inn in DeRidder to Allen Acres: Go South on US171-190 to the second red light and turn Left onto LA112 toward Sugartown. Follow LA112 for 10 miles and turn Left (N) onto LA399. You will travel north on LA399 for 6 miles. Turn left into Allen Acres. He has a street sign that says Allen Acres.
We will carpool from the Stagecoach Inn on Saturday morning
to Dr. Allen's place, leaving about 9am. Because this area is so rural,
we should plan to take our lunches. If you need further information,
please contact me. lizparks@peoplepc.com
or 903/876-3497 Elizabeth
Parks
An upcoming Special field trip has been
scheduled to the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT), Thursday June 1st
at 1:30pm. I was able to
arrange a tour of BRIT’s herbarium and library led by Leonhardt Chair of Texas
Botany and BRIT’s Publications Head, Barney Lipscomb. I’ll get a count of
how many will be attending and arrange a meeting place for carpooling at our
May 1st Tyler Chapter meeting. Any questions about the field trip please
call Liz Soutendijk 903-967-2026. Liz
Soutendijk
NEW MEMBERS
We want to welcome new members to the Tyler Chapter of the Native Plant Society of Texas. Its great to have you with us! If you haven’t come to one of our meetings or our field trips you are missing out. Also, if you have recently joined our chapter and are not listed below, let our Chapter President Jim Showen know. There’s always a possibility that our State office has failed to get the information to us on your membership.
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS
3RD LONE STAR
REGIONAL NATIVE PLANT CONFERENCE
The 3rd Lone Star Regional Native Plant Conference will be held May 24-28, 2006 in Nacogdoches and hosted by the SFA Pineywoods Native Plant Center. The Age of Aquarius may have ended in the 60's, but the Age of "aQuercus" and other natives are here to stay! The Stephen F. Austin State University Native Plant Center is proud to host the 3rd Lone Star Regional Native Plant Conference in association with the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Join a unique blend of plant enthusiasts, nursery professionals, landscapers, botanists, and horticulturists to hear nationally known speakers address region-specific topics such as East Texas ecosystems, landscape use, invasive and exotic plants, and conservation efforts. Enjoy the local flora on fabulous field trips and learn from experts during hands-on workshops. The talks are great, the speakers terrific, and the tours first rate. All that this conference needs is you! The Fredonia Hotel will offer a special conference rate. Remember to mention the Lone Star Regional Native Plant Conference when you make your reservations. Visit the PNPC website at: http://pnpc.sfasu.edu for more information.
AN
INVITATION FROM NPSOT STATE VP OF PUBLICATIONS, CAROL PERRY
The State officers are working to assure that your quarterly “NPSOT News” includes quality articles of interest to all of us, and look forward to including articles from our own native plant lovers. Those of you who are native gardeners, botanists, horticulturists and writers, please submit stories. It's easy. Simply e-mail 250 to 750 word articles in MS Word to State Vice-President of Publications Carol Perry at: vp_publications@npsot.org If you have digital photos, we may also be able to use them. Your article will go to our botanical adviser Dr. Lynn Sherrod who will assure that we're accurate, and then your article will go to layout and on to press.
Consider this an invitation to share the joy of native
plants with others who enjoy NPSOT News. Wishing you springtime showers and a
happy growing season. Carol
Perry
HAS YOUR EMAIL
ADDRESS CHANGED?
Just a reminder – If you have changed your Email
address please let our newsletter editor know as soon as possible. Email Kay at
kfleming@mycvc.net and let him know of
the change. We don’t want anyone to
miss out on any information or changes in an event. It also saves our chapter money if we can Email you instead of
sending your newsletter by postal service.
Contributions to Newsletter
The newsletter is normally printed monthly,
September through May. Members are encouraged to submit articles for
publication in the newsletter.
Contributions will be considered on the basis of interest, suitability,
and available space. Grammar and
spelling corrections will be made at the discretion of the editor. Email
your articles and announcements to the editor at kfleming@mycvc.net or mail
to Kay Fleming, 809 E. Clinton, Athens TX 75751. If you are able to receive your newsletter by Email, please send Kay
your Email address. This will save the Chapter mailing expenses.
If you have never attended one of our meetings, and
you are interested in learning more about native plants and their habitats, we
invite you to give us a visit. We have a good time! Our meetings are normally
held at the Walter Fair United Methodist Church in Tyler on the first Monday of
each month, September through May.
Walter Fair United Methodist Church is located just off 5th
Street (Highway 64) at 1712 Old Omen
Road, east of Loop 323.