Hello fellow Orchid Lovers!
We are pleased to have Harry Gallis, MD who is involved with the American Orchid Society. Harry will be giving a talk on white cattleya history/current hybrids.
Join fellow members and Harry for dinner at The Dodo Restaurant located at 1355 E 2100 S staring at 5:30 pm.
We are meeting at the Utah Associated Garden Clubs Garden Center, 1602 E 2100 S, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Bio: Harry A. Gallis, MD
Dr. Harry Gallis has been growing orchids since 1980, and currently has about 380 plants. The largest groups are Cattleyas, Phalaenopsis and Dendrobiums, the latter being his current passion. His plants have received 41 AOS awards, and, says Harry, “I very much enjoy growing plants for shows and awards — I’m after the crystal!” He entered the AOS judging program in 1991, and is an Accredited Judge and Past Chair of the Carolinas Judging Center in Greensboro, NC. He is a life member of the Triangle Orchid Society, and belongs or has belonged to most of the societies in his region (he is currently most active in Triangle and North Carolina Piedmont in Charlotte [NCPOS]). Harry has chaired local shows, an EOC/AOS Trustees Meeting, and the Spring Show for NCPOS, in which he continues to exhibit, “always gunning for the Show Trophy.”
Harry is a native of Athens, Georgia, and his profession is medicine. “I did most of my training at Duke and specialized in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases … which, by the way, has not helped him much with the pests in his greenhouse!” Other hobbies (“fortunately not as expensive or consuming as orchids”) include gardening of all sorts (“roots or not — his greenhouse has the largest collection of cultivars of Tillandsia usneoides outside of the state of Florida”). He also enjoys cooking (his son is a chef in Durham, NC), Duke basketball, and golf. Harry and his wife, Susie, have two children and two granddaughters Taylor (“see namesake Rlc. Lisa Taylor Gallis ‘Taylor’ HCC/AOS) and Savannah (Dendrobium Linc’s Jewel ‘Savannah Hope’ HCC/AOS). His other favorite plants are Rlc. Susie’s Valentine ‘Harry’s Favorite’ AM/AOS, named for his wife and Den. Alex Gallis for his son (his first personal hybrid to win and AOS award).
He originally joined the AOS committee structure in 1996, on the Education Committee. Shortly after Harry became Chair of the Carolinas Judging Center in 1999, he was asked to take on the position of national training coordinator, and was involved in the daunting task of trying to produce a revised training manual for the AOS judging system. He currently serves as Chair of the Judging Committee and is also a member of Governance and Publications.
Harry has served on the boards of the following organizations: Charlotte-Mecklenburg Workforce Development Board, Alliance for Continuing Medical Education (President 2005-2006), Mecklenburg County Medical Society (President 2000), Arts & Science Council (Charlotte), Wing Haven Gardens (Charlotte, current), Triangle and NC Piedmont Orchid Societies and AOS (2003-2009).
“The AOS and other not-for-profits have many challenges before them,” says Harry. “I look forward to continuing to work with the Officers and Trustees to maintain and improve the position of the AOS as the strongest and most productive organization of its type.”