Gary White Elected AIS President

Posted on November 24, 2015 by wrmesser

Region 21’s own Gary White was elected AIS president at the Board of Directors meeting in Omaha. A number of Lincoln Iris Society and Region members were there to help celebrate his election and installation. Congratulations to Gary and thank you for your service.

Some photos from the festivities. Jim Morris and Gary. Gary and Linda Wilkie. Gary and Ron Crampton who made the centerpiece shown in the last photo. It was made from irises reblooming at the time.

Thank you to the Greater Omaha Iris Society and Linda Wilkie for organizing and hosting this outstanding meeting.

Region 21 Fall Meeting – August 7-8, 2015

Posted on July 18, 2015 by wrmesser

The Sioux Empire Iris Society is hosting this year’s Region 21 Fall Meeting in Sioux Falls, SD. Join us for Judges Training in the morning and afternoon, the business meeting, the evening banquet and an iris auction. Also, please bring rhizomes from your own gardens or club sales for a bargain table.

In case you did not receive the notice and registration form, here is the Region 21 Fall 2015 notice as a PDF for you. So send your registration soon and make your room reservations.

Hope to see you there.

AIS 2017 Organizational Meeting – June 6, 2015

Posted on June 4, 2015 by wrmesser

Region 21 is hosting the 2017 AIS Convention in Des Moines, Iowa May 23-27, 2017. Our next planning meeting for this is Saturday, June 6th. It will be a Region 21 business review and AIS 2017 Convention Organizational Meeting which is open to all interested AIS members.

Details: Saturday, June 6

Lunch at 1:00 p.m. in Trellis, Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden (group seating, pay your own). Menu (changes monthly): http://www.dmbotanicalgarden.com/visit-us/dine/

Meeting at 2:00 p.m. in the Walsh Room, Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden

Hope to see you there.

Reminder – No Spring 2015 Regional Meeting

Posted on April 27, 2015 by wrmesser

With the AIS 2015 Convention in Portland, we are not having a Region 21 Spring meeting. We hope many will be able to take advantage of the Portland Convention to enjoy irises and fellow irisarians. Immediately following it is the Siberian/Species 2015 convention.

For those of us not attending, you can sample some of the gardens that will be visited with these videos. And everyone can start thinking about 2017 when we will be hosting the AIS 2017 Convention in Des Moines!

Update Your Bookmarks

Posted on April 17, 2015 by wrmesser

You probably do not need this; because you are already here. However, it’s something to share with your friends: The Region 21 website has a new address. It is now aisregion21.org (with or without a www prefix). The AIS list of Regional Websites has been updated; but, there may be other sources still having the old address (which was dot com rather than dot org). You can help us by letting us know where they are or updating them yourselves.

Thank you for encouraging everyone to get the new address.

Region 21 Fall Meeting – August 8-9, 2014

Posted on July 9, 2014 by wrmesser

It’s that time again. The Region 21 Fall Meeting is approaching rapidly. The Region 21 Fall Meeting this year is in Ames, Iowa on August 8th and 9th. You should have received your registration form already. If you did not, here is an AIS Region 21 Flyer (PDF).

We have a great lineup of speakers for you. And following the banquet will be the irises auction. So send your registration soon and make your room reservations.

Saturday morning August 9th from 10 to 12 is the Public Iris Sale!

Thank You Lincoln Iris Society for Hosting Spring Convention and Gardens Tour

Posted on June 1, 2014 by wrmesser

Thank you to the Lincoln Iris Society for hosting the 2014 Region 21 Spring Convention. There was a great turnout. The weather cooperated! And we toured 6 gardens. We saw lots of blooms and learned about garden judging from Judy Keisling and judging historic irises from Gary White.

Thank you to these irisarians for opening their gardens to us:

Gary White and Linda Rader
Jean Pedersen
Dottie Ladman
Jenny and Mark Cich
Dean and Judy Douglas
David and Marjorie Lionberger

You can read more about these gardens and the meeting in the upcoming Regional Newsletter where we have six authors each reviewing one of the gardens.

Come to the Region 21 Spring Convention and Garden Tour – May 23-24

Posted on May 7, 2014 by wrmesser

Dear AIS members,

I would like to extend an invitation to you all to come enjoy the
Region 21 Spring Convention and Garden Tour held this May 23rd – 24th.
The Lincoln Iris Society will host this annual event and it is sure
to be an excellent convention this year. There are six gardens slated
to be on the tour this Spring, showcasing the private iris collections
of LIS members.

On the tour are the gardens of Dean and Judy Douglas, Jenny and Mark
Cich, David and Marjorie Lionberger, Dottie Ladman, Jean Pedersen, and
Gary White & Linda Rader. This will be the first time on regional tour
for most of the gardens; back on the tour this year are the Douglas
and White/Rader gardens, both large gardens. In addition to a whole
lot of irises, the gardeners also dabble in an eclectic assortment of
other perennials, so there should be something of interest for
everyone.

There will also be an opportunity for Judges’ Training and a program
presented by immediate past AIS president Judy Keisling. This is a
not to be missed opportunity for lovers of iris.

There is often a hesitation to participate in large regional events
from novice iris lovers but I would like to say this is a perfect
opportunity to meet iris lovers of all levels of experience from the
master showman and hybridizer to those growing their first iris. If
you’ve ever wanted to learn more about growing or showing iris and you
love to see “real” gardens you will not want to miss this opportunity.
This is the perfect time to come see what the American Iris Society
and their affiliates are about, meet like minded gardeners, and enjoy
some beautiful gardens!

These events are open to non-AIS members as well and the Lincoln Iris
Society are superb and welcoming hosts so come and bring a friend or
neighbor.

Hope to see you in the gardens!

Linda Wilkie
Regional Vice President, AIS Region 21

Upcoming Iris Events

Posted on May 7, 2014 by wrmesser

While you can see these events listed on our Upcoming Events page, I thought it might be useful to have highlighted them here as well.

Lincoln Iris Society will hold their annual iris show May 10th. Contact Gary White for details.

Greater Omaha Iris Society will hold their annual iris show May 17th at Lauritzen Gardens in
Omaha. Show entries will be accepted from 7:30 AM through 9:45 AM.
Show schedule GOIS Show Schedule 2014 final (PDF).

Region 21 will hold their annual Spring Convention & Garden Tour in
Lincoln May 23-24th this year. An executive board meeting will be
held Sunday May 25th in conjunction with the tour. Information
Invite2014_Reg21Convention (PDF).

Can-West Iris Society 2014 Iris Show is Sunday, June 15th at Bourkevale Community Centre, 100 Ferry Road, Winnipeg MB. Details here.

Special Rates for Lodging Reservation Deadline – April 25, 2014

Posted on April 24, 2014 by wrmesser

Just a quick reminder, the deadline to be sure of obtaining the special rates for rooms for the Region 21 Spring Convention is April 25th! The lodging information from the meeting invitation is shown below.

Lodging Information

The location for the convention will be the Country Inn and Suites at 5353 North 27th Street in Lincoln, Nebraska — off the 27th St exit of I-80, then 1.6 miles south on the right (west).

*** Please make your own reservations with the Country Inn & Suites by
calling (402) 476-5353. To obtain the convention rate, be sure to mention the
Lincoln Iris Society and Iris Meeting when making reservations***

The cost of motel rooms is as follows:
Standard Room = $89.99 (plus taxes)

A block of rooms has been reserved at these prices. The hotel will only guarantee this rate, however, until April 25, 2014. After that date, you may still make reservations, but the above rates are not guaranteed.

The Country Inn & Suites offers a free hot breakfast and has a fitness room and indoor swimming pool and outdoor hot tub for your convenience and pleasure. The hotel also has free wireless internet access and a business center. Guests at the hotel also get a 10% reduction in meals at the Beacon Hills Restaurant.