New Board of Directors:
             As a non-profit organization, the AVS is required to have a formal Board of Directors. Our organization has been fortunate to engage the collaboration of such distinguished violet experts: Dr. Harvey Ballard, Jr., Ph.D. from the University of Ohio, Mrs. Christine (Kim) Blaxland, a well renown international viola expert and author, and Dr. Arthur Tucker, Ph.D. from Delaware State University (Dover). We heartily welcome them to our midst.

New Presence on the Web!
             Early in February, the AVS launched a brand new, comprehensive violet site on the World Wide Web to replace our old one under the name of International Violet Association. http://www.americanvioletsociety.org

             This lovely AVS 'storefront' gives credibility to the organization. And it is rapidly becoming the most reliable source for violets on the Net and a true home for violet fanciers around the world! New sections and features are added daily. Watch us grow!

             Of particular interest to violet aficionados is the Public Discussion Forum. Here you can post your questions, comments or just share with others your growing passion for violets.

             In addition, the AVS site issues a free, monthly bulletin or e-zine: The Republic of Violet to all those who subscribe online. This communication alerts readers of news in the field of violets and provides net-related sources on a variety of pertinent issues.

             For your information, this new site would have not come to see the light were it not for the outstanding efforts given by a new AVS member and volunteer, Gary W. Sherwin. Gary is our talented and generous web master. On behalf of all of us at AVS, we wish to extend Gary our most sincere appreciation for the work he's doing for the benefit of us all!

             The nature of the Internet does make it possible now to offer the AVS membership, and the general public, an affordable pictorial and informational archive.

             Our Violet Gazette( online version will be featured in the Members Only section, that is, available to anyone who is a paid member of the AVS and is able to access the Net. These members, upon registration and payment, will receive a User ID# and a password by return email. Members who do not have access to the Net will receive the issues in a printed version, by regular mail.

             These new arrangements will provide the AVS (that is, all of us) with a substantial savings in printing and postage costs.

Latest news is that the AVS site is available to WEBTV users!

Click here for Membership Information.

Membership Issues:
All IVA members who paid their dues for 1999 will be spared fees during 2000!

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS:

* VIOLET GAZETTE(, the premier quarterly journal featuring the latest information to be found anywhere on the subject of violets.

* Direct participation and discounts on AVS sponsored events and activities

* Registration of your violet and viola garden in the AVS' National Collection

* Participation in AVS sponsored violet cuttings and seed exchanges

* Discounts on violet plants ordered from AVS appointed suppliers

* The opportunity to be a key player in promoting the cultivation of the violet, and to enable the violet to recover its deserved role in the horticultural and ecological landscapes.