EVIS History
FROM THE LAND OF ENCHANTMENT
Comes the “Enchanted Vista Iris Society”
By founder Patricia Randall
It all began with an “Invitation To Join” flyer that I posted around Rio Rancho, Bernalillo and Corrales, New Mexico in early 2011. The flyer stated that if you love growing irises and were interested in joining a group of iris lovers to contact me.
On Sunday, May 15, 2011 thirteen people met for the purpose of organizing a local iris society. The group selected the name “Enchanted Vista Iris Society”. After officially selecting our society’s name we began reviewing copies of society by-laws and determining which laws and guidelines we wished to incorporate into our By-Laws.
Our chief goal is to promote the genus iris through educational programs for our members and the general public. We also elected to host an annual iris show to promote our beloved iris. Our shows are not only open to member participation but for the general public as well.
Being this was a new organization, with many of the members unknown to each other, we decided not to hold a formal election of officers. We did, however, allow the members to volunteer to serve in an office of their choice instead. The volunteer officers, for the remaining months of 2011 were, Barbara Striegel, President; Patricia Randall, Vice President; Glenda Mowry, Secretary; Karen Bergamo, Treasurer and Phil Doonan, Member-At-Large.
Programs our first year, and over the course of the ensuing years, have been geared to inform our members, and the general public, about the numerous varieties of irises available to us for our gardens, as well as the proper culture of each variety. We were off and running. Programs held that summer and fall included: The Iris Family, Iris Culture, Digging and Dividing Irises, Artistic Design Workshop and our first iris raffle. The year was concluded with a holiday party and white elephant gift exchange.
The biggest highlight of our first year was coordinating with the Rio Rancho Parks and Recreation Department for a strip of ground at the Rio Rancho Veteran’s Memorial Park. This acquisition would be for our community iris project. The allocation was approved with plans to develop and plant the garden in the fall of 2012. Irises featuring patriotic names were purchased and donated to our group to emphasize our goal of recognizing and honoring our veterans and first responders. Our group members met in the latter part of the summer of 2012 to develop the site and prepare it for the official planting in September. The garden was officially dedicated in the Spring of 2013.
Our society became an official affiliate of the American Iris Society in 2012. Also, we hosted our first annual iris show on Saturday, May 12, 2012. In conjunction with the Centennial Celebration of New Mexico’s statehood, we selected the show theme “Enchanted Centennial”. Our artistic division depicted the history of New Mexico, from the beginning to present day living. The six classes chosen were: “In the Beginning: The Native Americans”; “Coronado’s Search for the Lost Cities of Gold”; “Down the Mighty Rio Grande”; “The Turquoise Trail”; “High Desert Sunset” and “Exploring New Frontiers—Space Travel”.
Like all societies, we gain a few and lose a few, so our annual membership increases and decreases accordingly. We currently have 33 members on our roster.
We continue to provide educational programs for our members at each of our meetings. With many of the presenters being certified American Iris Society judges, we also allow the programs presented by them, to serve as a one-hour credit training session. This is a great incentive to assist our society and regional judges to acquire the needed hours of training to remain certified.
We’ve come a long way over the past eight years. Our members are always looking for an opportunity to provide a program for various gardening, library and senior center groups. In addition, our very dedicated judges step up to the plate to provide training when called upon to do so. Our society membership includes seven AIS judges, with a couple of judges-in-training.
We are dedicated, and continue to promote our beautiful flower the iris.
We would like to share with you the following article that appeared in the Sooner State Iris News of June 1978, and so aptly describes us all, How to Become an Iris Nut. It’s easy. All you have to do is buy a bag of marbles at the same time you buy your first iris. Each time you buy a new iris and plant it, take a marble out of the bag and throw it away. When you’ve lost all your marbles, you automatically become an iris nut! (PS – how many bags of marbles have you gone through?)
To all the fantastic hybridizers here and abroad—–just keep ‘em coming!