ORCHIDIST OF THE YEAR



Kay and Don Pruden were awarded the Stanley Norton Orchidist of the Year trophy for 1996 at our annual picnic on June 23rd. Don, ably assisted by Kay, has been our American Orchid Society awards photographer at the Palm Sunday shows for over 20 years. This process usually takes 3‹4 hours. Each plant that receives an award from the AOS judges has 36 slides taken of it for distribution to the various judging centers.

In addition, Don and Kay travel to the Ann Arbor judging center on the third Saturday of each month for that judging session. Another 2‹3 hours is spent, each judging day, taking the award slides. They have been doing this for 20+ years. I forgot to ask them if they have worn out any cameras over the years. A few years back, Don spent most of Friday night and early Saturday morning taking pictures of the trophy winners at our Palm Sunday Show. He developed them and had them ready for showing at the banquet on Saturday evening.

Kay and Don have been members of the society for over a quarter of a century. We thank you for your continuing service to the Society. Congratulations for a job well done.

Respectfully,

The Orchidist of the Year Committee:

Karen Muir
Joe Fischer
Don Farrelly