The Noosa District Orchid and Foliage Society celebrates 40 years with their big spring orchid show on 13-14 September in Cooroy Memorial Hall. The show will also feature entries from other regional societies and will have orchids for sale and hands-on potting workshops.
Life member Joyce Cunningham, 97, was one of the original founders of the society back in 1984.
Joyce and her husband Clyde had retired to Cooroy from Kenilworth and had been growing orchids for more than a decade when the idea arose. They were approached by two other local orchid growers who were keen to start a local orchid society.
“Coral and Barry Anderson came and asked ‘do you think we could start an orchid society in Cooroy’,” recalls Joyce. “We held the meetings at night at the Uniting Church Hall. Later some orchid growers from Tewantin wanted to have a closer place, so we moved to the Tinbeerwah hall and had the meetings on a Saturday afternoon.”
Joyce had long experience growing things, first in the Australian Women’s Land Army during World War II, as she wanted to help while her brothers fought in New Guinea. After marrying Clyde they farmed, trying dairy, sugar cane and pineapples before working at the cheese factory in Kenilworth.
“Clyde used to often say he’d like to try growing orchids but he thought they’d be too difficult,” says Joyce. Their daughter Ruth, then 16, decided to surprise her father on Father’s Day.
“She worked in Brisbane and she bought him a big cymbidium and humped it all the way home on the train,” says Joyce. “That was the start. We used to have to send over to Adelaide to buy orchids, we had some beautiful orchids from them.”
The couple built shadehouses and grew orchids in the trees of their Cooroy garden. After Clyde passed away, Joyce continued to grow and enter orchids in shows for many years.
Until the last few months Joyce has lived independently in her Cooroy home, but some medical issues have seen time in hospital and her family looking at options. Joyce will be an honoured guest at a special 40th anniversary dinner for members later in the year.
