June 2021
SATURDAY, 3:00 PM, JUNE 5, 2021, MISSOULA IRIS SOCIETY MEETING
Includes the
ICE CREAM SOCIAL
3:00 PM, SATURDAY, JUNE 5
Location: The home of Judy Blunt, 1901 1/2 So. 4th Street West
Directions: Most of you know where Russell Street is located. If you are going south on Russell from the bridge, turn right at 4th Street and continue to the 1900 block. If you are going north on Russell, turn left on 4th Street and continue to the 1900 block. Do not go over the bridge. Call Betty Ann at 370-1696, if you need further directions. See you all there!
MISSOULA IRIS SOCETY ANNUAL SHOW, SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 2021, SCHEDULE OF EVENTS AND REGULATIONS.
LOCATION: SOUTHGATE MALL, 2900 Brooks Street, in the common area near the old JC Penney court, now the new Schells store.
FRIDAY, JUNE 11: 5:00 PM, load supplies from the Fort storage shed and transport to the Mall.
7:00 PM, set up for the iris show at South gate Mall. Includes setting up tables, skirting tables, etc. Volunteers needed.
SATURDAY, JUNE 12: 7:00 AM – 9:30 AM, entries received. NO CARTS ALLOWED THROUGH GLASS DOORS. If you need to use a cart, you must go in the entrance at the back of the mall near the security offices and the mall office.
9:30 AM, Judging begins. Staging materials must be removed from the area prior to judging.
12:00 PM, Lunch provided by Hoagieville in the Mall, owner, Ryan, son of Cindy Davis and compliments of MIS. Lunch will be brought to the show site. Menu choices will be available at our June 5th Ice Cream Social and meeting.
(Please RSVP to Betty Ann Gustafson, 370-1696, if you plan to have lunch,)
SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 9:00 AM, take down of the show exhibits. Volunteers needed.
IRIS JUDGING CLASSES, SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 2021
The Missoula Iris Society is hosting Siberian Iris expert, Patrick Spence, from Cascadia Iris Gardens in Lake Stevens, WA. Two classes will be given from which judges can get credit to keep up their judging credentials. There will be a Garden Judging Class at our Fort Missoula Iris Garden and a class on Siberian Iris at the Grace United Methodist Church. There will be an attendance fee of $5.00 which will help to offset the cost of bringing Patrick Spence to Missoula. These classes can be attended by all our members, not just iris judges. We strongly suggest that you as a member attend. You may also bring a friend interested in the world of iris.
SCHEDULE FOR THE CLASSES:
GARDEN JUDGING CLASS: Saturday, June 12, at 1:30 PM, at our Fort Missoula Iris Garden. This class has the judges looking at iris blooming in the garden as to condition of stalks, quality of bloom, is it named correctly, etc. You, as a member, may watch this process and listen to comments from Patrick Spence and our judges. A lot can be learned about the iris in our garden by everyone.
SIBERIAN IRIS CLASS: Saturday, June 12, at 6:30 PM, at Grace United Methodist Church, 1756 South 10th Street West. This class is a power point presentation which will inform us of the history and growing of Siberian Iris. This is open to all our members.
ATTENDANCE FEE: $5.00 per person.
PLEASE RSVP to Betty Ann Gustafson, 370-1696, your intent to attend! Hope to see you at these classes.
MISSOULA IRIS SOCIETY, MINUTES OF MAY 1, 2021 MEETING
Place: Home and garden of Gary Clark and Steve Hesla
Present: 11 members
President, Betty Ann Gustafson called the meeting to order at 3:10 PM. No corrections to the April meeting minutes as presented in the May newsletter.
Treasurer, Swede Gustafson's report was the same as in the newsletter with the exception he had sent Anita Cervenak, newsletter coordinator, a check for newsletter printing and mailing. Anita is very frugal with her expenses.
Annual Iris Show June 12, 2021.
Gary Clark and Betty Ann Gustafson met with Southgate Mall representative, Lauren Poppen. Space has been reserved for the June 12, 2021, show in the new space near the entrance to Scheels, formally the JC Penny space. Swede will need help, June 11, at 5:00 PM, in loading and transporting the vases from the shed to the mall site. Roger Muir, Ron and Donna Dowell, offered to help. Judy Blunt will help at the mall site.
Judging will begin at 9:45 AM, June 12. Judging needs to go quickly as 2 judging classes will be given by Patrick Spence of Cascadia Iris Garden in Lake Stevens, WA. A Garden Judging Class begins at 1:30 PM, at the Missoula Iris Society Garden and a Siberian Class at 6:30 PM at the Grace United Methodist Church, 1756 South 10th Street West.
Discussion was held about a meal after judging or between classes. Cindy Davis's son has Hoagieville in the mall and we will use his expertise to provide us with a meal. Cost will probably be $5.00 a person. More details to come at the June Meeting and in the newsletter. There will not be a banquet this year.
The show schedule has had some revisions since it was printed. Judy Blunt will make corrections and take care of printing the schedule for the show.
Fort Missoula Historical Museum grant.
Swede Gustafson reported on funds being available for improving sites at the fort from a grant by the Fort Missoula Historical Museum. A possibility for our society would be to apply for the grant to install a handicap accessible walkway within the garden.
Swede has drawn a map of the iris garden showing a handicap accessible walkway within the confines of the garden, whereby all garden plots can be viewed by visitors. The grant is for $10,000, however, no more than $5,000 will be given to one entity.
A cost estimate is $7,300 plus securing a bid to relocate parts of the automatic sprinkler system. Also in the application for the grant, we have to reveal how much the society can assist in the cost, either in money or labor. This could be up to 20% of the cost. A question was raised, can the project be completed over a second year of work? Swede said yes, but the majority agreed the best solution is to do it all in one year. MIS will meet with the contractor. (Marchies Nursery has given a bid).
Possible assists with construction to help satisfy the 20% assist in cost according to requirements of the grant:
Removing the sod once contractor cuts it away.
Removing the soil once contractor cuts the trench to the proper depth.
Assisting in the lawn edging installation.
Assisting with moving sprinkler system components which will be moved to enable a walkway to be installed.
Renovation of one iris plot to enable the walkway to pass through the area.
The owner, MIS, will be responsible to lay out the general design of the walkway. Hours spent designing the walkway will be given a value toward the end cost of the project.
President, Betty Ann Gustafson, asked for a motion to accept the project. Motion carried without objection.
Ann Bowman, member, offered to contact some non profits who also may be willing to contribute to this garden project.
Judy Blunt passed out beautiful soaps in the shape of iris and the state of Montana made by her daughter. She would like feedback on how we all liked the soap.
Cindy Davis won the May Presidential Rhizome.
Meeting adjourned at 4:30 PM.
Submitted by Swede Gustafson
TREASURER'S REPORT: as of May 24, 2021
SAVINGS ACCOUNT:
May Newsletter reported balance........ $6305.58
Interest Income ............................................0.11
Sub-balance ...........................................6305.69
Transfer to checking to pay expenses .....400.00
May 24 balance ...................................$5905.69
CHECKING ACCOUNT:
May newsletter reported balance .........$ 452.88
Transfer from Savings ............................400.00
Membership dues deposited .....................20.00
Sub Balance ............................................872.88
Expenses Paid .........................................322.00
May 24 balance ....................................$ 550.88
Expenses paid in May include: Southgate Mall – $250.00 for the the rental fee for reservation of the June Iris Show; American Iris Society - $46.00 for the purchase of show entry tags and the shipping and handling fee; Erling Gustafson - $26.00 – for the purchase of two new Siberian irises for the Beardless Garden at Fort Missoula.
Respectfully submitted, Swede Gustafson.
FORT GARDEN UPDATE: The Median Bed irises are blooming and survived the recent cold spell fairly well. The cold did cause some blooms to go down quickly. Judy and Swede have been checking the irises often to ensure the colors of each variety are as described in the AIS Enclyclopedia. We did find some which were incorrect and are keeping track of these. There are many rhizomes in the lower front plot of the Median Bed which have no name tags so Judy has dug these out, planted them at her home and will keep them there until they bloom and their names can be determined. If no names arrive she will place these in the rhizome sale.
Swede ordered 21 newer median rhizomes from Schreiner's Irises and these are scheduled to arrive in early August. The open spaces Judy created will be home to some of these newer varieties.
Swede dug out a volunteer elm tree from the south side of the east rose bush arbor which was 14 feet tall with a plus 2-inch trunk. One of the roots grew under the rock wall on the east side of the median bed so he had to tear down part of the wall to get the root out. Another root grew around the sprinkler valve box and over towards the north side of the rose arbor. The root was removed without too much damage to the lawn. The rock wall was rebuilt so as to add a larger space to the north planting area. Swede desires to clean up the east wall of the median bed as it is just a jungle of rocks which were placed there when the radial beds were removed in 2018. He had planned to begin this month but the cold rainy weather interfered.
Siberians irises ordered in February from Ensata Gardens in Michigan arrived about May 10 and have been planted in various spaces in the Siberian Bed.
Plans are still being finalized for the new walkway for the interior of the entire garden space. We had to reduce the length and design of the walkway due to the high value for construction costs.
Take time to visit the garden. Judy and I have received many great compliments on how nice the garden looked this Spring with the daffodil explosion and now with the irises beginning their display. Judy has now relocated a lot of daffodils which were interfering with the irises’ growth. So the field of daffodils will be expanded next season with these re-locations.
Respectfully, Judy and Swede - Fort Garden Chairs
MORRIS NYQUIST
Members of the Missoula Iris Society were saddened to learn of the passing of good friend and fellow member Morris Nyquist. He and his wife Marie have been members of the society for several years and they have shown their dedication not only to iris, but gardening in general. Our hearts go out to Marie. Morris will be missed.
Maurice “Morris” Wayne Nyquist, 82, of Missoula, MT, passed away on Thursday, May 20, 2021 at home with his wife and both daughters by his side. He was a model to all for never complaining after 30 years of suffering multiple cancers and their effects. He was born Oct. 16, 1938 to Irving and Edna Nyquist in Great Falls, MT.
As a boy, Morris was a good boy but always looking for a little fun in a time when boys could be boys. This “fun” continued into attending Great Falls High School. In the meantime, the pranks perpetuated into college where the only print worthy story is of the football goal post ending up back at the dorms. After matriculating, he quickly rose to working as the Vice President of the Nyquist Finance Company main branch in Great Falls from 1960 to 1978. During that time, he married Janice Brill on Sept. 10, 1960 and had 2 daughters. He also served for 6 years in the Air National Guard.
During that same time the glint of mischievousness in his eye remained but a new phase of industrious optimism exuded as he held different positions and multiple memberships in multiple civic organizations. He was the president of the Montana Consumer Finance Association, the Great Falls Credit Bureau, the Great Falls Police Department Investment Club and the High Noon Optimist Club. He taught Credit Principles and Business Practices to college, high school and civic groups. He was a lobbyist for the Montana Consumer Finance Association and founded along with his dad and two brothers (Don and Paul), the Consumer Credit Counseling Service. Other organizations include the National Consumer Finance Association, Great Falls Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Business Council and the Ad club. He held positions and volunteered at the American Heart Association, United Fund, Elks Lodge, Campfire Girls, St. Thomas Youth Camp, and the Red Cross as well as donating 26 pints of blood in just those years alone.
His political activities during that 18-year time span include being the president of the Cascade County Young Republicans and the Three County Chairman for the Business and Industry Committee to re-elect the President. He worked on many campaigns for candidates running for political office at 6 different levels of government. Morris was also on the committee that brought Ronald Reagan to Great Falls and was the Campaign Manager for his father Irv Nyquist who was elected to the State Legislature. Lastly, he was a poll watcher.
After that era, his life leaned towards homes and landscaping. He had a deep connection to Seeley Lake (for the last 53 years) due to owning a cabin in the area. But for now, he would work as a realtor at the Flaherty Agency in Great Falls. He then left the cold of MT to own his own business in FL as a waterfalls and landscape designer and builder. This led to waterfalls being built in FL, TX, CA, MT. Morris also built a climbing wall in Las Vegas, a housing development in Texas and an amusement park ride with waterfalls and volcanoes in Korea. His favorite though would be the three that he built in Seeley Lake, MT, as they would be the ones that he could look out of his cabin window to view. He was never known to complain about the endless hand-pushed mowing and watering that he did or the weeding, splitting of firewood and rock hauling. He always wanted it to look pleasing to any company that visited as he was always so grateful and eager for as many visitors as could come.
During the aforementioned time, he married Jeanette “Marie” Tremble Paulus on May 7, 2006 in Sun City, CA after lovingly knowing each other for 8 years. His hobby of gardening along with hers led them to adventures in traveling to visit new cities and gardens or attend home tours every weekend. In between they cared for the rose garden at the CA home and created and tended the church garden. They joined the Orchid Club, the Rose Club and the Koi Club. After moving to Missoula, MT they followed suit and joined the Iris Club and added plants/weeded their new church gardens as well as their neighborhood common area. They were always feeding the wildlife around them. In his downtime you would probably catch him fulfilling his former political prowess by watching the news on T.V., reading the paper and political magazines. His interest in travel, gardening and general knowledge were all on display by the multitude and variety of magazines he would read in the evening.
When in Mexico in his prior years, his care for others was even exemplified when traveling, by the fact that he set up free eye glasses for the indigent by contacting the Lions Club headquarters in the U. S. to get free glasses for the cities of Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta. No one can argue against the fact that Morris was a very kind soul with a passion for people and adventure… with a little glimmer of mischievousness. A beloved son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend, with his memory pressed close to our hearts.
Morris is preceded in death by his parents, Irving and Edna (Weber) Nyquist and his brother Don Nyquist.
Morris is survived by his wife Jeanette “Marie” (Tremble Paulus) Nyquist and her children, Kathleen (Kevin) Quick, Polson, Deanna (Jerry) Larson, Idaho Falls, ID, grandchildren Brittany (Mike) Newman, Florence, Costner Quick, North Augusta, SC, Colter Quick, Pullman, WA, Cameron Quick, Polson, Ceanna Larson, Pennelton, OR, Michael Larson, Pocatello, ID; great grandchild Sullivan; Also by his first wife Janice (Brill) Steensrud and her children Lonnie Strickland, Sun City, CA, Tami (Warren) Whalen, Spearfish, SD, grandchildren Kara Whalen, Spearfish, SD, Cory Whalen, Bettendorf, IA, Kelsey Whalen, Spearfish. Brother, Paul Nyquist.
Private graveside services will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, to honor him would be to plant some flowers, feed the wildlife or be kind to someone…
Previous Presidential Rhizomes: Linda Sadler, August; Lotte Bowen, September; Ron Dowell, October; Swede Gustafson, November; Judy Blunt, December; Carol Addeo, January; Roger Muir, February; Betty Ann Gustafson, March; Fred Frey, April; Cindy Davis, May
MEETING LOCATIONS:
Saturday, June 5, 2021, 3:00 PM – Meeting at the home of Judy Blunt, 1901 1/2 So. 4th Street West. Includes the Ice Cream Social.
Saturday, June 12, 2021 – Iris Show at Southgate Mall, judges training with Patrick Spence
Saturday, July 10, 2021 – To be announced
Saturday, July 31 – Rhizome Sale – final information to be announced
Saturday, September 11, 2021 – 3:30 p.m. An outdoor meeting. No pot luck, just snacks and drinks. At home of Mitch Hall – 1945 Alzina Drive (Rattlesnake area)
Saturday or Sunday, December 4 or 5, 2021– Christmas Party still under discussion.