Next Meeting: Wednesday, August 4th at 7 p.m.
Joint meeting Hosted byVeniceArea Orchid Society
Speaker: Marv Ragan
Topic: The Breeding and Judging of the Genus Encyclia
Marv Ragan has been growing orchids since 1965. He opened MAJ Orchids in 1969 and went into the AOS judging program. He became an AOS student judge that year and has been a certified judge since 1972. 
He retired from the U.S. Navy in 1976 as a Master Chief with 27 years of service, and went back to school under the GI Bill, receiving a degree in Biology. He worked with Dr. Sauleda and Dr. Correll and eventually became recognized as an orchid taxonomist. He has created more than 200 hybrids and is also involved in the propagation and thereby preservation of orchid species.
He is a recognized authority on Encyclias and spoke on this topic at the World Orchid Conference in Miami. Marv and his wife have traveled extensively, especially in the Americas, in search of orchids. He is very well known throughout Florida and beyond. His specialties are Caribbean orchids and Encyclias.