History of the Greater Lansing Orchid Society

A small group of orchid growers came together in a bank's meeting room during the spring of 1977 and formed the Greater Lansing Orchid Society, of Lansing, Michigan. (The orchid enthusiasts met at Capitol Federal Savings Bank, 2119 Hamilton Road, Okemos- now Independent Bank). From this humble beginning, GLOS has grown to a membership roster of 140 today. The person responsible for calling that initial group together and shepherding the Society through its formative years was Jack G. Brechtelsbauer, 6/6/1924 – 12/17/2007.

In addition to an annual show during the last weekend of February, the Society holds meetings on the third Saturday of the months of January, March, May, September, and November. At these meetings, there is usually a presentation, illustrated with slides, on some aspects of orchid growing. Society members bring blooming orchids to the meetings as well as other orchids and orchid-related items to auction or raffle.

Other Society activities include a picnic in the summer, field trips to commercial orchid establishments, exhibits of members' plants in other shows around the region, an orchid-book-buying service, and open houses at members' homes to show others their orchid-growing environments.

The Society mounted its first show with ribbon judging only at a local mall, the Meridian Mall in Okemos, in 1981. Thus emboldened, they held their first AOS-judged show in 1984, again at a local mall, Frandor Shopping Center in Lansing. Each year from 1984 to the present, the Greater Lansing Orchid Society has held AOS-sanctioned orchid shows during the last weekend of February; after eleven years in two area malls, the Society moved the Show to the Michigan State University Conservatory in 1996. This facility features a large greenhouse conservatory with good humidity and natural light. The 2008 Show marked the 25th consecutive AOS-judged orchid show and was dedicated to the memory of the Society's founder, Jack Brechtelsbauer.

In 1994 GLOS hosted the Fifth Mid-America Orchid Seminar in Lansing. This was one of the Seminar series' most successful, in terms of attendance, program quality, and financial performance. Shortly thereafter, the members volunteered to host the 1999 Spring Mid-America Orchid Congress, which took place during the fourth weekend of May 1999.

~Doris H. Asher,Society Archivist
December 31, 2007