Region 21 Fall 2025 Meeting Invitation

Posted on July 7, 2025 by wrmesser

2025 Fall Regional AIS region 21

Hosted by the Sioux Empire Iris Society, Sioux Falls, SD

Friday August 8^th and Saturday August 9^th

The 2025 Fall Regional will be held in Sioux Falls at the Springdale Lutheran Church on the Southeast edge of Sioux Falls. 26946 480th Ave, Sioux Falls, SD 57108.
Guest Speaker will be Hugh Stout of Stout Gardens at Dancing Tree Nursery Oklahoma City
The auction will include a selection of newer iris from both Mid-America and Shreiner’s. We are gathering items for a silent auction as well.
HOTELS: These are the 2 closest hotels. They both have it all..ice machines, color televisions, indoor bathrooms, free parking(outside) and even free breakfast. We were not able to get a rate specific to our group. They do offer discounts for AARP, AAA and military as well as their own rewards programs.

The closest hotel is GLo by Best Western. The AAA/AARP rate is $199 plus tax per night.

The 2^nd closest hotel is Super 8 by Wyndham. The AARP/AAA rate is 108.90 plus tax per night. They are at the I229 exchange on a divided road so one would have to do a u-turn at an intersection both coming and going.

GLo by Best Western
1211 S. Darryl Place
Sioux Falls SD 57110
(605) 275 4000
833 320 6810

Super 8 by Wyndham
2616 E 10^th St
Sioux Falls SD 57103
(605) 338 8881
888 807 7155

Meeting Registration Form (shown below) is available as a pdf to print.

Meeting Registration includes check-in with munchies on Friday 5-8pm and both lunch and dinner on Saturday.

Members: $45 Youth Members: Free Non-Members: $60

Registration Form – Region 21 Fall Meeting August 8^th and 9^th 2025

Registration deadline is July 31^st to meet caterers deadlines

Name: ____________________________________________ Addition Names Can Be Listed Below

Email: _____________________@__________

Phone: _______________________________________

____Member ($45.00) ____ Youth Member (Free) ____Non-Member ($60 which includes a 1year membership in AIS.)

Judges training ______YES ______YES but not for credit ______NO

Mail this form with payment to:

Dorothy VerHey / Region 21
47115 277th St
Lennox, SD 57039

Saturday lunch will be a selection of subs, chips and salads.

As of now, the Saturday dinner menu is beef in gravy, glazed carrots, potatoes and fruit salad depending on the caterer’s availability.

Please list any dietary restrictions here and we will try to accommodate them

Siberian/Species Iris and AIS Region 21 Convention

Posted on February 6, 2025 by wrmesser

Aim for Ames for Irises

May 23 & 24, 2025

Ames, Iowa

We are pleased to host the 2025 Siberian and Species Iris Convention in conjunction with the spring meeting of AIS Region 21. The convention will begin Friday afternoon, May 23, and conclude Saturday evening, May 24. It will include tours of three gardens, two with guest Siberian and species irises, in-garden judges’ training, and silent and live auctions.

The host hotel is the Gateway Hotel & Conference Center, 2100 Green Hills Drive in Ames, www.gatewayames.com. Twenty guest rooms have been reserved on Friday and Saturday nights for convention attendees at the rate of $132/night (U.S. funds) plus 12% tax for two queen or one king bed. Guest rooms have recently been renovated. Please contact the hotel directly at 515-292-8600 and mention the Region 21 Iris Convention to receive this pricing. Pricing is good until May 2, 2025 but we encourage making your reservation as soon as possible so that we can request additional rooms if needed.

Convention Registration is $120 U.S. funds if postmarked by April 1, 2025 or $140 U.S. funds if received between April 2 and April 20, 2025. No refunds can be given for cancellations made after April 20, 2025. Convention registration includes a welcome dinner and garden tour at the Jurik garden on Friday evening, continental breakfast on Saturday morning at the Girton garden, Saturday lunch and tours at the Iowa Arboretum and Gardens, judges’ training at the Jurik garden, and an evening banquet, speaker, and auction at the Gateway Hotel Saturday evening.

A charter bus for 40 passengers has been reserved for transportation on Saturday. We will rely on ride-sharing on Friday evening for the across town trip from the hotel to the Jurik garden with sign up available at the registration table Friday afternoon.

The closest airport is the Des Moines International Airport (40 miles south of Ames). You may elect to rent a car there or to contact Kris Jurik, k.jurik@yahoo.com, to arrange for pick up by a volunteer.

Details, tentative schedule, and registrations form: https://siberianirises.org/convention2025.pdf

Thank you to Region 21 and the Lincoln Iris Society for providing logistical and financial support.

Co-Chairs: Lois Girton and Kris Jurik

Region 21 Fall 2022 Meeting – Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Posted on July 20, 2022 by wrmesser

Everyone is invited to the American Iris Society Region 21 Fall Membership Meeting! We will be having presentations from iris hybridizer Hooker Nichols on Tall Bearded Irises and on Louisiana Irises, two of the many types of irises he has hybridized. Join us Friday evening August 12 and all day Saturday August 13, 2022

Details and the registration form were mailed to all Region 21 members last month. In case they did not reach you, here are copies (pdfs).

Invitation and Details

Registration Form

Hope to see you there!

Region 21 Fall Meeting – August 13, 2022 Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Posted on June 12, 2022 by wrmesser

Pleas join us for the Region 21 Fall Meeting Saturday, August 13, 2022 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Our speaker will be Hooker Nichols presenting Judges Training on Tall Bearded and Louisiana Irises. More details and invitations will be coming soon.

Region 21 Virtual Fall 2021 Meeting

Posted on August 11, 2021 by wrmesser

Reminder – This year’s Region 21 Fall Meeting is virtual! Please join us Saturday, August 14, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. Central Time (9:00 a.m. Mountain Time) on Zoom for Judges Training by Bonnie Nichols on Novelty Irises. Bonnie is the AIS Judges Chair as well as president of the Novelty Iris Society. Note: This is a new Judges Training available for credit even if you have already participated in the JT Bonnie presented as two AIS Webinars last year.

Registration (free!) is required. Please send your name and email to Wayne Messer wrmesser@gmail.com so we can get a count and send you the details for attending.

There will also be a Region 21 Board meeting at 9:00 a.m. Central Time (8:00 a.m. Mountain Time) and a Region 21 Business meeting following Bonnie’s presentation. Everyone is invited to attend and participate in both meetings. This year the business meeting includes the election of a first-year director. Please consider volunteering for this position.

Region 21 Covid-19 Related Announcements

Posted on April 14, 2020 by wrmesser

The pandemic has caused many cancellations and changes in Region 21 and the American Iris Society:

The Region 21 Fall Meeting has been cancelled. Thank you to everyone in the Sioux Empire Iris Society who has been working to prepare for this meeting.
Region 21 Fall Board Meeting – Plans are being made to meet via video conferencing this fall.
The Region 21 newsletter has been temporarily suspended. Updates for Region 21 will be posted to the Region 21 website.
All Region 21 clubs have cancelled their iris shows. Anyone wishing to can send pictures of their garden for inclusion in a Region 21 virtual garden tour to be posted on our website.
Because judges training opportunities are extremely limited, judges needing hours in 2020 have had their eligibility extended for one year. Those that have satisfied requirements will be advanced. Judges will receive credit for any judges training already completed.
Kelly Norris has stepped down as Region 21 Judges Training Chair. Until a new chair is named, all records and questions should be sent to me.
The AIS 2020 Convention, three mini-conventions, and all Regional Spring Meetings have been cancelled.
The Garden Awards voting for 2020 has also been cancelled due to limited opportunities to view the eligible irises in gardens.

Other AIS changes will be posted, as they occur, on the Cancellations page, the AIS website News & Events page, and in the AIS electronic newsletter, News & Notes.

Check the Region 21 website for ongoing announcements and updates.

Wayne Messer
AIS Region 21 RVP
wrmesser@gmail.com

Greater Omaha Iris Society March 14, 2020 Meeting -Cancelled

Posted on February 26, 2020 by wrmesser

UPDATE -In an abundance of caution and at the advice of our public health officials we will be cancelling the March meeting scheduled for tomorrow March 14th due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We will post updates to other scheduled activities on our website and Facebook pages as information becomes available. You may reach out to an officer by phone or email if you have questions or concerns.

If you have concerns regarding the pandemic a reliable source of information can be found at: https://www.nebraskamed.com/patients/covid19. This information is updated daily and is a trusted resource for our community.

MARCH 2020 MEETING – Our next meeting will be Saturday, March 14, 2020 11a.m. at our normal meeting location, in a meeting room, just to the left when you enter the library at 28th & Q.

We will begin with a Potluck lunch, followed by our own past National American Iris Society President Gary White talking on Iris of New Zealand.

Learn more about the Greater Omaha Iris Society and irises on our website.

Region 21 Fall Meeting August 16-17, 2019

Posted on August 4, 2019 by wrmesser

Time is fast approaching for the Region 21 Fall meeting. The Fall meeting, educational sessions, keynote speaker, and auction will be held in Omaha and all events will take place August 16th – 17th at the conference hotel, the Hampton Inn, Omaha AkSarBen Area.

The featured keynote speaker for this year’s event will be renowned hybridizer Paul Black. Educational sessions will be eligible for three hours of judges training c.e. credit for those in need of additional credit hours. Additionally the Regional Rhizome auction will be held on Saturday, August 17th.

A block of rooms has been reserved for attendees at the conference hotel for $114/night. This block of rooms will be held until August 1st after which room pricing will revert to the prevailing rate. Details and a registration form can be found here.

Questions may be addressed to meeting coordinators Linda Wilkie (402-493-3808 or lrwilkie@gmail.com) and Gary White (402-890-3689 or in2iris@yahoo.com).

Update 8/12/19: The final schedule is available here.

Region 18 Fall Meeting is October 5-6, 2018

Posted on September 16, 2018 by wrmesser

Other Regions of The American Iris Society also have fall meetings that members of Region 21 can attend. This is another way to learn more about irises, obtain more judges training, and meet other irisarians. Region 18 (Kansas and Missouri) is particularly convenient for many members of Region 21 to visit.

This year the Region 18 Fall Meeting is in St. Joseph, Missouri at the Remington Nature Center on October 5th and 6th. Bonnie Nichols, president of the Novelty Iris Society, is the speaker. She is also presenting 2 hours of judges training on Novelty Iris. More details on the schedule are here and the registration form (PDF) is available.

You can find details on all the 2018 Regional Fall Meetings in this table. Hope to see you at some of them!

Reminder: The Region 21 2018 Fall Meeting is August 10-11

Posted on July 24, 2018 by wrmesser

Another great chance to see old friends and meet new ones. This year we are meeting in Ames, Iowa Friday evening and Saturday, August 10-11. Mike Lockatell is our featured speaker and judges training presenter with Cool Season Reblooming Irises. The registration form (PDF) has the details.

After the meeting, you will be able to explore the Reiman Gardens grounds and butterfly wing. The current exhibition is the 13 kinetic sculptures “Wind, Waves, & Light Sculpture Exhibit” by George Sherwood.

Hope to see you there!