Vonne began the meeting by welcoming some guests and thanking Les & Donna for all the wonderful food they brought (many of us were sorry we ate dinner before the meeting). The club was happy to have former president Rob Skillin at the meeting tonight. We then discussed a date for our annual Yard Sale and April 28-29th was given the nod. Lynn asked us to set a date for a rock collecting trip into the desert with March 18th being the best candidate. Also, she mentioned that a trip out to Cactus Data Plants for one of Woody’s spring sales would be nice – anyone who hasn’t been out to see the nursery needs to treat themselves and make the trip.

The speaker tonight was our old friend and member Woody Minnich. He continued what is now becoming a series of presentations on South America with "Argentina: Bolivia to Patagonia." As usual, his photographs were outstanding (he says he took over 8000 digital photos this trip!). We were treated to a wide variety of succulents, geologic features, ruins, villages, and even a few animals as Woody and his companions trekked south along the Argentine side of the Andes. Among the succulents we saw were the world’s smallest cactus, Blossfeldia lilliputana, and some gigantic Trichocereus. If you weren’t at the meeting, here’s some of what you missed: Oreocereus celsianus, Tephrocactus, Parodia, Lobivia, Gymnocalycium, Cleistocactus, Tillandsia, Opuntia, Liolaemus darwinii (A lizard), Maihueniopsis, Pyrrhocactus, Llamas, Vicuna, Rhipsalis, Goats, Echinopsis, Acanthocalycium, Abrometiella, Austrocylindropuntia (that one would earn you 28 points in Scrabble!), Dyckia, Soehrensia, Denmoza, Pterocactus, the amazing-looking Tephrocactus geometricus, Stetsonia, Jatropha, Puya, Oxalis, more gymnos, Austrocactus, Maihuenia, Araucaria, Notocactus, Gunnera, a Southern Lapwing (bird), Penguins, more lizards and Yavia cryptocarpa – a newly described cactus.

The meeting ended with a look at some of the unique ways that Les and Donna have potted some succulents. Then was the raffle with many members going home with a wonderful plant.