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Re-Cap of Montreal Annual Meeting:Margot Bridgen, Executive Secretary/Treasurer and Charles Heuser, Program CoordinatorThe 57th Eastern Region Annual Meeting was held in Montreal, Quebec from September 16-19, 2007 at the Hyatt Regency Montreal in beautiful and exciting downtown Montreal. Our meeting space at the Hyatt was transformed by the staff of Abbotsford Nursery who brought in a truckload of hydrangeas, mums and evergreens greatly enhancing our surroundings. This year's conference was attended by a total of 269 people from all over the U.S. and Canada as well as The Netherlands and Chile. There were 127 attendees on the pre-conference tour on Sunday and 185 on tour Tuesday. Those who attended the Spouse Tour raved at their fantastic tour guide and the wonderful day they had. Over one hundred people stayed the final night of the conference to attend the Lantern Tour at the Montreal Botanic Garden. It was truly a magical event to stroll through the gardens at night surrounded by great glowing lanterns while traditional Chinese music was performed live. I cannot say enough about the spectacular weather we enjoyed for the entire conference – sunny, dry and balmy. It simply could not have been better. The conference program, developed by Brian Maynard of the University of Rhode Island, was very well received. Two full days of talks with the theme "Look to the Future: Trends, Challenges & Opportunities" featured morning combined sessions and afternoon concurrent sessions allowing for a generous selection of topics for the attendees. All sessions were simultaneously translated from English into French and vice versa. The process was seamless and went off without a hitch. Those fluent in both languages were impressed with the quality of the translations. Keynote speaker Brian Minter connected well with the audience during his talk on Surviving the Global Economy. I heard multiple attendees positively reference his presentation as we toured nurseries on Tuesday. Bill Barnes of Lorax Farms organized this year's poster session which featured posters on a wide variety of topics of interest. The poster session continues to be a vital part of Eastern Region conferences serving as a great way to generate conversation and discussions among attendees.
The Eastern Region Awards were presented during the first morning of General Session to allow for maximum time for the recipients to be recognized by their peers. Tom Intven, of Canadale Nurseries in St. Thomas, Ontario was presented with the Award of Merit. Don Cross, owner of Cross Nurseries in Lakeville, MN was named a Fellow of the Eastern Region. Congratulations to both of these dedicated IPPS members!
Two full day tours were held – the pre-conference tour on Sunday, September 16th and a choice of conference tours on Tuesday. Again, the weather was spectacular both days and from all comments I received the tours were among the best ever at an IPPS conference. The bus captains gave great background as we traveled to each stop and kept us on schedule. We were welcomed with knowledgeable tour leaders, special signage and displays, and an array of refreshments! Pierre Paquette of Abbotsford Nursery hosted the tour lunch on the South Shore tour. He provided a delicious hot buffet lunch complete with a beverage bar featuring quite the selection of Canadian beer and wine. We sat at tables decorated with seasonal centerpieces to enjoy our meal and topped it off with a special IPPS cake. I hear that the North Shore tour participants received equally gracious treatment at Villeneuve Nursery. We thank ALL of our tour hosts for their time and effort in preparing to host our tours; each was presented with a plaque and round of applause in front of the group in recognition of their generous hospitality.
Yvette Forget, of Les Plantons A et P organized this year's plant auction which followed a delicious banquet for 160 attendees on Tuesday evening. The auction featured a great selection of items, plants and otherwise, for both the silent and live auctions. The live auction was led by a professional auctioneer aided by members of the local site committee who even sang and danced! A total of $2847.00 was raised for the Eastern Region Foundation. We thank Yvette for her enthusiastic approach to this job as well as her other roles as bus captain and tour host.
We owe our sincere appreciation to the members of the Montreal Local Site Committee for the tremendous amount of time and effort put into organizing this year's conference. Marie-Claude Limoges, Executive Director of the Quebec Institute for the Development of Ornamental Horticulture (IQDHO) was a most organized and capable Local Site Committee Chair. Other members of the committee included: Luce Daigneault (Executive Director of the Ornamental Horticulture Federation of Quebec or FIHOQ), Paule Ratte (FIHOQ), Yvette Forget (Les Plantons A et P and the Quebec Association of Nursery Producers or AQPP), Pierre Paquette (Abbotsford Nursery), Robert Prevost (Hortigalau), Marc Legare (IQDHO), Mario Comtois (IQDHO), Marylaine De Chantal (IQDHO), Tom Intven, (Canadale Nursery), Paul Jensen (Jenco Int.), Denis Bernard (Pepiniere Villeneuve) and Daniel St-Jean (IQDHO). Thanks are also due to local site committee members Yvette Forget and Robert Prevost for their assistance at the registration desk this year, lending their language and other skills as needed. Robert also prepared traditional Quebec music CD's and served as 'DJ' at the welcome reception. Mark Bridgen continued to provide his invaluable behind the scenes support during the entire conference doing everything from printing name tags to loading presentations to working with the hotel staff.
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