Welcome Albert, From a fellow North Carolinian who knows Brigantine. NJ well. I am orginially from the Philla.area and spent summers in either Brigintine or Stone Harbor. Dell, I wish you long and pleasurable days and hours with what ever you plan to do with your freed up time now that the PBS finally has a new Executive Director. You did an incredible job for many years. Thank you. Albert you have taken on a demanding job with big shoes to fill but you are young. I wish you a smooth transition and easy sailing with the duties of the PBS. Look forward to many more great PBS's Anita R. On Tue, Dec 5, 2017 at 8:02 AM, Albert Stella <amstella1017@gmail.com> wrote: > Good Morning PBS! > > I’d like to start by first thanking the board for this opportunity. I’d > also like to thank everyone for graciously welcoming me and for all the > warm words of support. Last but not least, I again have to thank Dell for > all the years of service. I will do everything I can to maintain the same > standard of excellence. > > Now for a little about me. I’m 27 years old. I grew up in Brigantine, NJ - > a tiny barrier island just north of Atlantic City - and moved to Raleigh, > NC in 2009 to attend NC State University. I never left. I like it here. > As far as plants go my interests are pretty varied. For years my > particular area of interest has been plants from equatorial alpine > communities (predominantly Andean) and I have amassed a large collection of > such plants. Traditionally I only grew bulbs from these same environments; > I am most interested in South American amaryllids. More recently however, > I’ve been getting into some South African Iridaceae and rare Crocus spp. I > am rarely interested in hybrids (unless they occur in nature). I like > naturally occurring species, varieties or forms. > Unfortunately, summers are too hot, and winters are too cold in Raleigh > for me to grow most of what I’m interested in outdoors. I am therefore > relegated to growing indoors. If I have something that I just really want > to plant out, I typically do so into my father’s garden in Brigantine, NJ. > His garden is small but I’ve managed to fill it with what I think are > really cool plants (Musa velutina, Hymenocallis imperialis, and several > Amorphophallus spp. [henryi, dunnii, kiusianus, napalensis, thaiensis, > konjac, yunnanensis, bulbifer, yuloensis and krausei]). > While I am always open to growing and learning of new and exciting taxa, > my true love with bulbs will always be South American amaryllids. > > Lastly, let’s get into what you’re all much more concerned with I’m sure: > The exchanges! > There will be no immediate changes to anything. Some suggestions have been > thrown my way already, and I do appreciate those suggestions. I however, do > not imagine there will be any efficacy in changing a process that someone > else has taken 15 years to work out in a way that runs smoothly and keeps > everyone as happy as possible. I intend to run everything exactly as Dell. > If, in the future, we come across scenarios that may benefit from minor > changes to the process, we’ll cross that bridge together when we come to it. > I look forward to many years of good growing and working with all of you. > Feel free to email me with any questions. > > Make it a great one! > Al > > Sent from my iPhone > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… > _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…