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You mean like this one?

Yes -- thats the one -- was just wondering if the ARS was redesigning all of the certificates?

I sure hope not. Those new certificates are really cheap looking - like the table cards that get thrown out at the end of the show.

Part of the value of striving for and winning a certificate class in an ARS Rose Show is the beautiful embossed certificates. It makes you feel that you have accomplished something.

I sure hope the exhibitors band together in some way to protest this change in the certificates. Suggestions, anyone??? I'm ready to jump on the bandwagon.

Suzanne Horn

If that's what the ARS certificates now look like, then we might just as well print our own on our laser printers. I have not heard of the change, however I can report that I was extremely disappointed when I paid $400 to sponsor the production of The Most Fragrant Rose certificate only to have them printed in plain black ink on card stock. No embossing like the other ones. It looked like they were quickly produced at Kinko's. It really embarrassed me.

Not only that, Kitty -- when we ordered certificates for the District, they didn't ship the Fragrance Certificate.

Dick ordered one of everything.

I was really embarrassed when I saw those new certificates. What a joke.

I'm remembering my own first ARS embossed certificate, and how very special it made me feel to have earned it. I remember seeing the picture of my friend Evelyn Reed beaming with pride as she held up her very first beautifully-embossed ARS certificate. A beautiful certificate not only honors the exhibitor, it honors and dignifies the American Rose Society.

I spend about $10,000.00 a year on my rose exhibiting hobby, when you include cutting edge roses, the best of everything money can buy in fertilizers, spray materials, potting soils, transportation containers, cold ice, florist refrigerator, exhibitor tools, and countless other expenses to make my roses the best that they can be such as seminars and travel to national conventions. And I am not alone in this, not by a long shot.

When exhibitors scan the show schedule, we pay close attention to which categories offer ARS certificates. Those are the most important classes, and the prime targets of our hard work.

I work a full time job, but still I'm out in the garden until well past dark every night, getting the roses ready for a show. I push myself to the brink of exhaustion every single day of a rose show week in order to have no regrets on the morning of the show.

Like my other serious exhibitor friends, I never ask myself why I do what I do on the day of a rose show. I'd never do it again. I get up at 2:00 in the morning with only a few hours of sleep, throw myself together, pack roses into crates and into the car while my significant other keeps up a running monologue of complaints, drive hours to get to a show, set up in a cold parking lot (often in inclement weather), and work like a madwoman for the three or four hours I'm allotted in order to get the most rose entries into a show by the cut-off time.

Then there's clean-up, which is another half hour, and then we wait for hours for the outcome in the hopes that our efforts will be rewarded - when what we'd dearly love to do is lie down and rest somewhere... anywhere. But we wait.. and hope... before the winners are announced, and we head back home to unpack before we get to crash.

Trophies are lovely things... but in the end, they go into their boxes at the show and are rarely if ever seen again. The golden ARS CERTIFICATES are what we proudly display on the wall and in albums. They are a representation that what we have achieved has worth.

I therefore respectfully suggest that this is not the place for the ARS to cut costs. Keep the beautiful certificates that exhibitors have come to prize, and do honor to the American Rose Society.

Suzanne Horn, exhibitor

I grow roses primarily for exhibiting. The gold, silver, and bronze embossed certificates are the payoff for long hours spent on this hobby. Hopefully, I will not see any of the "NEW" certificates at any of our local shows. The certificates should reflect the royalty that they represent.

The ARS charges local rose societies for these ARS rose show certificates. $1.00 each for the royalty, and for some absurd reason they charge $2.00 each for all the other certificates. In the case of the Most Fragrant certificate, they told me I had to pay $400 to sponsor it. To add insult to injury, they not only charge the local societies $2.00 each for this certificate (after I've already paid for it), but it appears that they only spent 5 cents to produce them. Obviously, the ARS is doing this to make money. But, in doing so, they have cheapened their formerly classy and prestigious certificates that every exhibitor I know collects.

It will cost my local society approx. $69 to buy ARS certificates for our rose show this year. I know that I can produce classier-looking certificates (compared to these new inferior ones) for a grand total of $5.00 for 50 cards.

Which brings up another matter. Our local rose society long ago gave up buying those ribbons at 45 cents apiece. We now use stickers that cost about a penny each. The ARS entry tags are now 10 cents each, so it will cost us $120 to buy 1200 entry tags from ARS. I have noticed recently that some societies are having their own entry tags printed locally, obviously because they can make their own for much less than what the ARS charges.

Kitty -- when Pacific Rose Society agreed to host the 2005 District, I looked at printing our own entry tags. For a minimal amount with a die cut, we could have had them printed for about 6 cents each. And that was ater averaging in the dies for the special cuts.

Having said that, I do think that ARS should be able to make a reasonable profit on show supplies but they shouldn't cheapen the product.

I agree with all of you. So who do we contact at ARS headquarters with these issues? If we all call or e-mail that person maybe we can prevent these tacky certificates from being distributed.

Let me add that I do not believe there was any intention to slight the awards process by producing inferior ARS certificates. Instead, I would be willing to guess that the person in the office who made up the certificates is not an exhibitor and was simply doing their best to produce a cost-effective product in order to save the financially challenged organization some money.

I do not know the people at ARS Headquarters, but I do know Marilyn Wellan, our ARS President. My experience is that she steps up to the plate in every instance to correct any problem or situation such as this one. She is responsive to the members and committed to the organization.

I believe that should enough members make their feelings known on this issue, that the Marilyn Wellan and the ARS staff will find a way to correct the situation.

Suzanne Horn, exhibitor

Don't know for sure but I believe it would take the Executive Committee to approve a Certificate change. So if any Exec.Committee member would like to step up with an answer as to why they were changed to such a cheap looking document, it would be appreciated.

I remember when I got my first certificate and how nice it was. If and when I ever win my first Queen, I hope I don't get a cheap looking certificate. Why did the ARS change the certificates? Didn't they feedback from the exhibitors?

Evelyn

Just imagine what this does to the opinions of those who are contemplating joining the ARS.

Has anyone from the ARS confirmed this is the new style?
Suz

We have a group right now, with Chris as a member, that will be reviewing the show certificates and coming to some recommendations for the Board in Memphis. We aren't doing anything right now because I'm buried working on the Handbook, but as soon as that is done we will get going on developing something we hope everyone will be happy with.

Dear Phil,

I sure hope the review group rectifies the certificate issue and gets us back to the beautiful certificates we exhibitors have come to prize. I swept Mini-flora Queen, King & Princess today, and they were all those awful new certificates. To say the least, it took the "bloom off the proverbial rose", especially when our District webmaster wanted a picture of me and my three certificates.

However, that was the last show of the spring. Hopefully, the review group will have corrected the problem by the fall shows. I don't suppose I can trade in these pseudo table cards for real certificates with ARS???

Suzanne Horn

I guess the powers that be chose to take my last question as a rhetorical one.

Suzanne

Suzanne, can you clarify exactly what you are asking? Are you asking to exchange your miniflora certs for miniflora certs in the previous style? If so, that will be a problem since the miniflora certs were never printed in the previous style and doing so just for this would be quite expensive. If that is the point of your question, I'm afraid the answer is that it can't be done.

If you are asking to exchange them for the new style that comes out of our committee work, that might be possible, but no one knows what the new ones will look like and you might not like them either. Let's wait to see what they look like and then decide if we will make any exchanges.

Phil

Sounds like a plan, Phil.

Suzanne

I won mini queen, king and princess at one show. The next week I ggot ht queen and mini queen and I got the regular certificates.

Many societies have certificates left over from prior years. I know for our show this fall we have many rosettes and certificates already on hand. We have a meeting set to take inventory so we know how many we have to order to 'fill in' the gaps.

Suz