The MOS Educational Exhibit
 
For Library & Flower Show Display
The Story
Orchids have stories to tell:  fantastic natural histories of cunning and deceipt, stories where botanical needs and human desires become tangled and blurred in the cloud-forest mist.  Charles Darwin pondered the mysteries of orchids. Captain Bly collected specimens during his voyages around the globe.  Susan Orlean chased orchid ghosts through the Fakahatchee to discover that they reside primarily in the human heart.  Orchid plants flourish in the woods and wetlands just beyond our backyards.  They bloom on our windowsills, enriching the life at hand while transporting us to worlds beyond our own.  30,000 individual species grow in awesome variety on every continent except Antarctica.  The Hawaiian Islands have two native species: Greater Boston has twenty-six.  The Massachusetts Orchid Society would like your help getting the word out.
 
The Exhibit
The nonprofit MOS, in conjunction with the Oakes Ames Orchid Herbarium at Harvard University, can bring the enthralling world of orchids to your community with an award winning educational exhibit designed especially for display in libraries.  A large, three- leafed free standing panel uses superb text, graphics and light boxes to explore six orchid topics.  One heading asks us “What Is An Orchid?” The next entices us with “Orchid Allure”.  Others address “Wild Orchids In Greater Boston”, conservation, growing orchids at home, and how you can find out much more about these fascinating plants through your local orchid society.  An illuminated orchid terrarium completes the exhibit with live, flowering plants tended by an Orchid Society member who visits once a week to maintain the display.
 
The Basics
The hinged panel system stands 7’-3” tall, and unfolds to accommodate a range of spaces, but when locked into position requires at least 6’-0” x 9’-0” of floor area.  The orchidarium sits on its own base which is 30”x 32” wide and 42” tall.  Both units require electricity, either from the ceiling or grounded wall outlets.  Vinyl cord covers adhered to the floor eliminate the trip hazard posed by power cords. Because of the size--72”L x50- 1/2”H x22 1/2”W in it’s case--and weight of the display, ramp or elevator access to your exhibit area is a must!  Orchid Society members can have everything up and flowering in an hour-and-a-half.
 
 
Displayed at various orchid and flower shows in the area over the past several years, the exhibit has received numerous awards, including an 95 point Educational Certificate from the American Orchid Society and a Bronze Medal from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.  A striking ensemble in building lobby, alcove or exhibit area, the display has generated great enthusiasm in local library patrons and staff.  Norma Gamon at Memorial Hall Library in Andover offered to keep the display past the agreed to period after having it for four weeks.  Director Chuck Flaherty at the Brookline Public Library was so impressed that he offered to personally recommend the exhibit to every library in the Metro West System. When the display left the Brookline Main Branch Library,  Orchid Society members were compelled to console several disappointed librarians with the gift of an orchid from the display.
 
Selected Venues:

Brookline Public Library
Main Branch,
Chuck Flaherty
Director
361 Washington St.
Brookline, MA 02445
617-730-2360
 
Memorial Hall Library
Norma Gammon
Director of Community Services
Elm Square
Andover, MA 01810
978-623-8401x49
ngammon@mhl.org
 
Dover Town Library
Kathy Killeen
Director
56 Dedham Street
Dover, MA  02030
(Voice)508-785-8118
(Fax) 508-785-0138
KKilleen@minlib.net
 
Thayer Public Library
Randall James
Reference
798 Washington St.
Braintree, MA 02184
781-848-0405 x4434
rjames@ocln.org
 
Interested? Contact:
Massachusetts Orchid Society
c/o Gerard Nadeau
1246 Commonwealth Ave., #44
Allston, MA 02134
e-mail: gfnadeau@aol.com
mobile:617-501-9618