By Sonia Isaacs
THE Glass House Orchid Society’s longest-serving member, 88-year-old Noela Frizzo, is celebrating nearly half a century with the club she joined just two years after its inaugural meeting in 1978.
Despite now managing her collection with the use of only one hand, Mrs Frizzo’s passion for orchids remains undiminished.
“I’ve been in the society about 48 years,” she said. “I decided I’d join the Orchid Society to find out more about what I was going to do with these orchids. And here you are, nearly 50 years later.”
From an early membership of barely a dozen, the society has grown to around 80 members, moving venues several times to accommodate the increasing numbers.
Meetings that once struggled to reach a quorum in the CWA rooms at Beerwah now fill the Glass House Community Hall.
“We struggled in the beginning because we only had a few members, 10 or 12,” Mrs Frizzo recalled. “Sometimes we didn’t even have a quorum… But then we gradually built up, and now we have 80 members.”
Mrs Frizzo is believed to be the last woman remaining from the society’s early days, with most of the founding generation having passed on. “Most of our members are now gone,” she said. “Yes, I’m the last woman standing.”
Her journey with orchids began long before the society, on the family farm where she and her husband, Italo, grew passionfruit.
One day, a regular customer arrived with striking bouquets. “One day she had beautiful bouquets in the back of the car, and I admired them so much,” Mrs Frizzo recalled.
“So the next time she came out, she dropped me two orchids in flower.”
A bowling acquaintance of her husband, a keen orchid grower, later supplied her with a large batch of cuttings.
“He said, ‘Come out to my place after we’ve finished bowls and I’ll give you some orchids for her.’ And he gave me a whole lot of back cuts of cymbidiums,” she said.
“I didn’t have the faintest idea what to do with them… so I decided I’d join the Orchid Society.”
From those early plants, Mrs Frizzo’s collection grew dramatically.
“We had 15,000 at one stage,” she said. “Three big hot houses, tunnel houses, and another shade house.”
While not a commercial grower on a large scale, the couple became well known on the regional orchid show circuit.
They exhibited and bench-planted with Brisbane societies, sold surplus plants to the public, and even supplied a local service station.
The scale of her commitment has been matched by her persistence. Even now, with limited mobility, Mrs Frizzo continues to care for her plants.“I still gotta go out there, even though I’ve only got one hand to do it,” she said.
For Mrs Frizzo, the friendships formed through the society have been just as meaningful as the orchids themselves.
“I love the friendships and the social side of the club as much as learning about orchids. Many members became lifelong friends that Italo and I truly cherished. To me, that’s what a club is all about ; friendships, social times, and learning from each other.”
She describes orchids as both demanding and rewarding.
“They’re beautiful and they’re a challenge,” she said.
“I like to experiment a lot. If something wants to die, I’ve got to revive it somehow. I try to grow things that are suitable for our area… but trying to grow one from a different, like a cold climate, is quite a challenge.”
Mrs Frizzo is clear about the need to bring in younger members. “It’s an enjoyable challenge and it’s a great learning experience,” she said. “The younger you join, the more knowledge you get.”
Her advice to new growers is practical and grounded in decades of experience: “Start small and gradually build up your collection. Grow ones that are adaptable for your area, and don’t get too adventurous too early. Try and buy a flowering plant each month so you’ve got continuous flowering.”
To mark it’s 50 year milestone, Glass House Orchid Society is hosting its inaugural Autumn Orchid Show at the Glasshouse Community Hall on Saturday, April 11 from 8am-4pm, free entry.