2024 - Chuck and Sue Andersen

The New Hampshire Orchid Society is pleased to present the 2024 Diamond Award to Chuck and Sue Andersen.

2023 - Dick Josephson 

The New Hampshire Orchid Society is pleased to present the 2023 Diamond Award to Dick Josephson. Dick has been a member for over 25 years, and has served the Society on various committees. He has been a trustee, Membership Chair, and was an integral part of the formation of a Risk Management process. Actively involved for many years on the Show Committee, Dick arranged for annual signage, and annual changes to the dates. For many years, he facilitated obtaining benches loaned by local businesses for relaxing and enjoying the orchid show. His work with the By-laws and Handbook Committees resulted in major revisions over the years, many still in use now. Dick encourages new members, brings his flowering orchids to monthly meetings to share, and his pickled herring a holiday potlucks is legendary! Dick's unselfish, varied, and active involvment in NHOS epitomizes the values in the NHOS mission statement.

2022 - Daryl Yerdon

The New Hampshire Orchid Society presents the Orchid Digest Diamond Award for Excellence to Daryl Yerdon for his longstanding support of this Society.  Daryl has been a member since 1996 and was instrumental in developing the NHOS Website Steering committee, procuring our domain name nhorchids.org. He also served as our Webmaster for many years. Daryl has been a member of the, Nominating and Election committees and is a current member of the Show committee.  Daryl is now our Social Media Liaison: He manages our New Hampshire Orchid Society Facebook site.  Recently he created a new Facebook page "Friends of the New Hampshire Orchid Society" and regularly posts our events on many other community forums.  When one of our members decided he needed to retire from orchid growing, Daryl worked with the Auction Committee to organize and prepare his plants for auction and acted as a proxy bidder for growers unable to attend the auction.  An excellent grower, Daryl has received many awards, and graciously shares his knowledge and experience.

2022 - Brenda Campbell

The New Hampshire Orchid Society is pleased to present the Orchid Digest Diamond Award of Excellence to Brenda Campbell.  Brenda has been a member of NHOS for over 20 years.  She is a person who is always ready to step up and serve wherever and whenever a need arises.   Brenda was responsible for the Raffle Table for 10 years, served as Treasurer, helped to computerize the financial books and was show chairperson in 2005 and 2006.  Brenda was Show Co- Chair from 2015-2017 and has been the Show Chair from 2018 to 2023. In addition, she has been a valuable member of several committees including Hospitality, Nominating and the Picnic Committee. 

2021 - (not awarded)

2020 - Steve Tacopina 

It is with great pleasure that the New Hampshire Orchid Society has awarded the 2020 Orchid Digest award to Steve Tacopina. Steve has been a member of NHOS since 2006.  Steve has been very active and has served on the Executive Board as Trustee, Vice-President, President, and Past- President. 

Steve has volunteered at times as Librarian,  Nominating Committee Chairperson and Risk-Management Chairperson.  He can always be relied upon to help with our annual show from set up to tear down, giving tours and manning the co-op table sales.   

As a member of the Education and Conservation Committee, Steve has been instrumental in promoting the educational goals of the New Hampshire Orchid Society by helping to develop our relationship with the University of New Hampshire’s Macfarlane Greenhouse orchid collection in the past, and hopefully now with another local college.   He avidly participates in observing native orchids in their natural habitat, and in the supportive screening of applicants for the NHOS Grant program. 

Steve has been growing orchids for over 20 years.    He has experimented with strategies for modifying growing conditions, including terrariums and systems for humidity control and optimal growing conditions.    He is always available to assist in the emergency dispersal of orchid collections when members have passed, temporarily storing orchids until new homes for them can be found.   

Steve will be sorely missed as he relocates to warmer climate, but we wish him well, and great success in the future.

2019 - Jean Stefanik

At the 28th New Hampshire Orchid Society's annual Orchid Show, held this year in Nashua, New Hampshire, Jean M. Stefanik was awarded the 2019 Orchid Digest Diamond Award.

Jean is a Lifetime Member of the New Hampshire Orchid Society, and has been a member since 1990. She has volunteered in many capacities since the first NHOS show, including Registrar of plants, Ribbon Judging Chair, and AOS Judging Chair. 

Early on, she served on the NHOS Board of Trustees, and was instrumental in creating the NHOS Education and Conservation Committee nearly 20 years ago, a position she continues to Chair. Within that program her initiatives have been many. She answers online/website questions presented by members and the public, leads native orchid walks throughout the state, developed the Grant Program, including collaboration with and revitalization of the orchid collection at the University of New Hampshire's MacFarlane Greenhouse, and other grant recipients.  Jean's Education and Conservation displays continue to educate and win awards at the annual show.

Jean began the practice of organizing orchid caravans to various locations and growers in past years. She also encouraged the now very popular Member Co-Op sales table at the annual Orchid Show, both successful practices directly benefitting members. For several years she was Co-Editor with Ovid Slavin of the NHOS Newsletter. In the early 2000's, Jean often coordinated speakers tours with other societies, sometimes providing shuttle services.

Jean became an accredited American Orchid Society Judge several years ago and continues to give both formal talks to regional and international audiences, including NHOS, other orchid societies, and garden clubs. She now serves on the Board of Directors of both the Native Orchid Conference and the Orchid Digest, as well as the AOS Species Identification Task Force. 

But her connection to the New Hampshire Orchid Society remains high in her priorities...  the friendships, and the opportunities to share and learn abound.  She steps up and helps out, sometimes quietly and behind the scenes, like ensuring personalized hospitality for international visitors attending the show. She has set up displays at neighboring orchid society shows on numerous occasions over the years. At monthly meetings, she often joins the team of members judging the NHOS monthly show table, and adds information about the plants being presented for all to enjoy.   

She shares her personal experiences and expertise with a smile.   It's with great pleasure the New Hampshire Orchid Society awards the 2019 Orchid Digest Diamond Award to Jean Stefanik

2018 - Norm Selander-Carrier

The 2018 Orchid Digest Diamond Award was presented to Norm Selander-Carrier by recommendation of the New Hampshire Orchid Society Officers and Board of Directors. 

Norm has been a member of NHOS since 2004 and has held the offices of Trustee, President and Past President.  His quiet but effective leadership style is greatly appreciated. Norm steps up to fill the need, whether it be picking up the mail at the Post Office, setting up for monthly meetings, and following up on the progress of projects. His flowering orchids regularly grace our monthly show table.   Several years ago, Norm created a now very popular tradition of leading guided tours at our annual Orchid Show. To this day, no matter what a person's growing experience may be, there is still something to learn from him.   

Norm has been the Auction Chair, organizing and acquiring plants for fundraising for the Society. He has assisted in creating exhibits at neighboring society shows for many years, tirelessly picking up plants, driving a distance, setting up and picking up the display at the conclusion of the shows.    

This year he co-designed the centerpiece NHOS orchid display at our own show.   As another NHOS member shared, “Norm is always there for new members, welcoming them to the Society and gives great advice”.    

It was with great pleasure and honor that we presented him this 2018 Diamond Award.  Congratulations, Norm.  Well deserved!

2017 - Lee and Bob Brockmann

Since joining the  New Hampshire Orchid Society in 2004, Lee and Bob Brockmann have been real worker bees for our Society, creating a positive energy for us all. Lee started out as a Trustee and branched out from there. She became website editor, donations manager, event manager, and co-chair on the membership committee.  

Each month she photographs the awarded plants on our show table so they can be entered in our newsletter and website to make them what they are today.   Lee is always ready to banter about the show table plants and her personality is what makes things so interesting. 

Lee also organizes the new member repotting meeting that we have the month following our annual show. Each year she gets the plants for the meeting and runs it successfully. Bob is always ready to help out wherever needed. He crafted the boxes that we use in our show displays, as well as the stand we use for admissions at our show.  We needed someone to run the hospitality tasks at our monthly meetings and he stepped in, even going so far as to running out to get extra food when we were short.  

Both Lee and Bob are the first to show up at our storage locker for show set up, and the last to leave after take down. Our previous Show Chair stated that she didn't know what she would have done without their help.    

It is with great pride and satisfaction that we present the 2017 Orchid Digest  Diamond Award to the team of Bob and Lee Brockmann.

2016 - Les and Peg Regenbogen

Les and Peg Regenbogen have been active members in the NH Orchid Society since early 2000 when they moved to NH.  In addition to growing and showing a fine collection of orchids, these two orchid lovers have been avid supporters of our annual orchid show. 

Les served as Trustee on the Board, VP, and President, including during some challenging times. Both Peg and Les have been seen by the public as the “face” of NHOS at our annual show; they organize the admissions table for the show, schedule volunteers, greeting and welcoming visitors, answering questions with a smile, humor, and sometimes banter when needed – they uphold a very high standard of NHOS hospitality.  

Exceptionally noteworthy is that Peg and Les have continued their active participation in NHOS even after moving to Rhode Island in 2008. They attend monthly meetings showing plants, we all enjoy Peg’s signature fruit salads, and they continue to commit to organizing and managing the admissions each year for our annual show.  

We honor Peg and Les Regenbogen with the Diamond Award in appreciation of their dedication, commitment, and contributions to the New Hampshire Orchid Society.

2015 - Jean Hallstone

The New Hampshire Orchid Society proudly presented the 2015 Diamond Award to Jean Hallstone during our annual show. She became a member in 2003 after moving to New Hampshire and was elected to the Board of Directors. Jean served admirably as secretary and was indispensible to the president who served with her. While managing her secretarial duties, she also handled checks and bills for more than a year after a treasurer abandoned the post.

If our society had a historian, Jean would be perfect for the position. Detail oriented, she thrives on timelines, schedules, and job descriptions. She has admirably represented our society during the holidays by making sure that one of the Friends of NH Symphony houses is well decorated with orchids and postcards to promote our annual show. Having served as vice-chair of the show, she has been show chair for the last 5 years.

The 2015 Diamond Award was presented to Jean Hallstone in recognition of her distinguished service to the New Hampshire Orchid Society.

2014 - Chuck Crisler    

The New Hampshire Orchid Society takes great pride in presenting the Orchid Digest Diamond Award to Chuck Crisler, a long-time member whose commitment has helped build the very foundation of our society.

Having established good working relationships with other societies, he has represented us at New England orchid shows for many years. He has also generously provided his plants for other annual events such as The Holiday House Tour and cultivated relationships with expert orchid growers, inviting them to speak at our meetings. 

Generous, hardworking, and super-reliable, he has held every position on the Board of Directors. As president, he established and updated policies that stand to this day. He stepped up to fill the position of secretary and treasurer when no one else would. For more than seven years, Chuck has been the backbone of our annual show as Vendor/Exhibitor Liaison. Finding the right balance of plants to satisfy both the hobbyist and expert growers, he has also brought in non-plant vendors of items such as jewelry, pottery, and textiles to round-our and expand the appeal of our show.  He graces our monthly show table with his beautiful plants, many of them large and showy cattleyas and cymbidiums.

Thank you, Chuck, for your many contributions to the New Hampshire Orchid Society. 

2013 - Bert Consentino

Bert is a founding and still active member of the New Hampshire Orchid Society. Bert has willingly participated in NHOS activities, helping at shows since early 90s, supporting picnic and meeting food offers, along with providing plants for “away” displays and the monthly displays.

Bert volunteered early on to produce the newsletter and did so for many years. He had to step away when job demands conflicted. A few years ago, he stepped up again to be editor. Bert does “Plant Sitting” for members who are traveling, helps new and old members with culture. Bert is a long time quiet pillar of support within NHOS who deserves recognition.

It is for these reasons Bert Consentino is the 2013 Orchid Digest Diamond Award of Excellence winner.

2012 - Chuck Wingate

The New Hampshire Orchid Society has awarded the 2012 Diamond Award to Chuck Wingate. 

Chuck has been a member of the New Hampshire Orchid Society since the Spring of 1989 when NHOS was meeting at the Lutheran Church in Manchester, New Hampshire. After growing in the sunroom of his home, he built a greenhouse in 1991 and used an auction that year to begin filling it. He won the Dick Valentine Hobbyist award in 1992 and 1993 and had 3 AOS AM awards in 1993, 1995 and 1997. On October 22, 1998 the American Orchid Society awarded Chuck the Robert B. Dugar Award  for the best Odontoglossum Alliance for 1997. He won the NHOS Sawyer Family Advanced Grower Award in 2003. 

He has actively promoted the monthly meeting show tables and tallies the points for the annual Dick Valentine and Sawyer Family awards.  Members have learned that he will ask them about their plant - questions like "Where does it grow in nature?" and encourage them to share their culture strategies.   

Since the very beginning of the NHOS, Chuck has actively participated in orchid shows in a variety of ways.  Following the tradition begun by Gordon and Rita Labonte who hosted the judges' luncheon when the show was in Manchester, he and his wife Vera continued the tradition for many years when the show moved to Nashua.  They also graciously hosted many guest speakers over the years.  His greenhouse consistently provides plants for the NHOS displays at our show, creating his own exhibits, as well as loaning plants for many years for neighboring Society shows, actively supporting the Co-Op table, and joining others in "Ask the Experts" talks.   

Chuck is known for his willingness to emcee announcements and pick up a microphone with a smile and sense of humor.  Annual auctions (HIS FAVORITE MEETINGS) - that's where Chuck shines. His sense of humor, knowledge of plants and their value, always is appreciated during fundraising events.  Bidding wars are often instigated by him,  and everyone ends up watching and waiting to see how high the bidding will go, and who will end up with "a real bargain".  Chuck is an orchid SPECIES enthusiast, having decided early on that he preferred species to hybrids because that's where it all began in nature as opposed to a toothpick, agar, and a bottle.    

It is with great pleasure that the NHOS Board has awarded Chuck Wingate the 2012 Orchid Digest Diamond Award.

2011 - Ulla Jurrissen

New Hampshire Orchid Society is honored to present the 2012 Orchid Digest Diamond Award of Excellence to Ulla Jurrissen.

Ulla has been a member of NHOS for more than 25 years. Besides serving on the board in many positions including President, she has been an avid supporter and contributor to the success of 20 annual orchid shows. Ulla's special touch has positively impacted every project or interest of NHOS, including our library collection, plant auctions and speaker programs.

Our society recognized Ulla as an excellent orchid grower by giving her the Dick Valentine Hobbyist Award. In addition, her orchids have won awards at orchid shows throughout New England, including two AOS awards.

Longtime proprietors of Kelley's Korner Orchid Supplies, Ulla and her husband Jan turned over the reins to new owners last year. Ulla and Jan continue their support and participation in all NHOS events.

We are so lucky to have had Ulla as an NHOS member. We wish to acknowledge her unwavering commitment and numerous contributions with this well-deserved award.