Naples Orchid Society celebrates its 50th with some beautiful prizes for a good cause

Naples Orchid Society

LORRAINE THOMAS A boat plies a sea of white phaleanopsis orchids, spewing a wake of tiny purple orchids, one of the sights from World Orchid Conference in Singapore last year.

Michael Coronado

Photo by Lorraine Thomas

LORRAINE THOMAS This lion maks, surrounded by dozens of stems and trails of orchids, is among the exhibitions at the World Orchid Conference. A photo tour of the experience is part of the Naples Orchid Society dinner.

Photo by Lorraine Thomas

LORRAINE THOMAS Naples Orchid Society member Lorraine Thomas traveled to the World Orchid Conference in Singapore last year, where intricate tableaux such as this sea them with jellyfish, were created nearly entirely of blooming orchids.

Photo by LORRAINE THOMAS

LORRAINE THOMAS Giant blooms such as these gold medal-winning ascocendas were part of the marvel of the World Orchid Conference. Attendees at the Naples Orchid Society dinnner will get a visual tour of the conference, which was in Singapore.

Come for the exotic armchair travelogue by orchid expert, Michael Coronado, vice president of R.F. Orchids in Homestead.

Come for the delicious dinner from by Wynn's Catering.

Or come to bid on one of the fabulous silent auction items such as the $500 orchid landscaping, featuring a dozen Dendrobiums supplied and mounted in your garden by EcoBotanic Designs, owned by Thomas Hecker of Naples.

For whichever above lure entices you, the Naples Orchid Society is inviting Southwest Florida to come and help it celebrate its 50th anniversary with a rare, open fundraiser dinner and auction at 5:30 p.m. Feb. 2 at Moorings Presbyterian Church.

Proceeds will benefit the education program for second and fifth grade elementary students and teachers at the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. They will learn about how orchids, panthers and the water humans depend on are all interconnected.

The feature of the evening is a visual tour from Coronado of the World Orchid Conference jaw-dropper orchids and orchid displays that bring entire tableaux to life in orchid plants and blooms. Coronado is a well-known orchidist who, along with Robert Fuchs of R.F. Orchids, led a 71-member group, including several Neapolitans, to Singapore last November to attend the conference.

Two large boxes of R.F.'s most beautiful and perfect cut orchid flowers also flew to the event with them, and 11 of R.F.'s orchids received gold or silver medals in the worldwide competition.

"It was a great honor to receive these awards," Coronado said. "Especially as this part of Asia has many excellent orchid growers, and we competed against some of the best. We were the only exhibitors from the U.S., so these awards are especially meaningful for us."

Coronado literally grew up at R.F. Orchids, working there since age 13. He started out in the greenhouses, literally learning about orchids from the ground up. He has traveled extensively, developing his skills by meeting with other growers around the globe and has participated in many orchid and flower shows, both as an exhibitor and as an American Orchid Society judge.

Up for bid in the silent auction are family memberships from the Naples Botanical Garden and other organizations, and private swamp walks in the Fakahatchee Strand State Park with professional orchidist Mike Owen. (See the website for more information about silent-auction items.) Also among the items are an array of "staycation" getaway prizes in Everglades City, featuring a stay at the Ivey House Bed and Breakfast with a four-hour kayak tour for two, many dining certificates — and orchids galore.

Naples Orchid Society: A quick timeline

The Naples Orchid Society didn't start small: its first president was the city's mayor. There are a number of growth point along its way shown below. However, there's no precise date on when its popular fall plant sales began. It was during the '70s, say its historians, that the society organized an orchid auction, and then an annual plant sale. The plant sale continues to be the main fundraiser for the society.

■ May 3, 1962: Perry Coppins organizes the first meeting of 21 people to begin the Naples Orchid Society, held at Voodoo Orchid Range. Lloyd Easterling, then the mayor of Naples, was unanimously elected NOS' first president.

■ March 1963: First orchid display by the club at the Naples Garden Club's Flower Show; this became an annual event for several years.

■ 1972: Naples Orchid Society holds its first show under the direction of Laban and Jean LeBuff.

■ 1977: Jean LeBuff, as show chair, begins the professional development of the show by getting it accredited and judged by the American Orchid Society.

■ 1977: NOS incorporates as a nonprofit and receives 501(c)(3) tax-free status. Beginner and advanced orchid classes are started.

■ 1983: NOS reaches 275 members and average attendance of 110 at the monthly meetings.

■ 1989: NOS moves its meeting, show and sale to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida auditorium, until 2009 when renovation of the building begins for an expansion.

■ 2007: NOS' website goes live.

■ 2009 — Meetings, as well as shows and the plant sale, are moved to the Moorings Presbyterian Church on Harbour Drive when Conservancy expansion means its building can't be used.

■ 2012 — The Ghost Orchid is made the symbol of NOS' 50th anniversary year and its celebration is planned for Feb. 2

More on the history of NOS is available at www.NaplesOrchidSociety.org.

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