North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Chris Garriss <cgarriss@garriss.net>]

Of late there has been discussion / announcement of scion swaps /
exchanges, grafting workshops by groups or in areas of the United States.
 Insofar as I can tell, none of these have been in North Carolina or even
reasonably feasible to drive to / attend.  I know that there are quite a
few hobbyists in NC, but don't have / know of any sort of directory nor
know if they subscribe to this list, so have no idea how to connect with
them.

I know that there is at least interest in the topic of preserving heirloom
fruits, grafting, etc. in my area - when Lee Calhoun gave a talk on
Southern Apples the space was full.  It was held in the basement meeting
room of the local county ag extension office - I estimate 70+ people
attended.  I live in a small community, and while I am not far from some
larger urban areas they are in different counties, and so served by
different extension offices.  As far as I've been able to tell the only
"announcement" of the meeting was via a mailing list from the local
 extension agent and then by word of mouth.  I recognized a number of the
people attending, and they were all from the local area.

I only know of one other meeting in NC - this one was not about Lee, but
was a grafting workshop.  I believe it was also held in or sponsored by a
county agricultural extension office.  I learned about it several months
after it had been held, in a casual conversation with someone that lives in
that county.  That one was well within easy driving distance, and might
have afforded the opportunity to connect with other interested parties.

Is there any interest in pursuing such an event in NC - or more widely
distributing information if something like this is already in existence?
 Beyond my own interest that is.  Is it feasible / worthwhile to consider
setting up a list that could serve as a forum for the NC area?  While NC
encompasses several different climatic zones, it's not like it ranges from
zone 10 to 2, so there would be quite a bit of continuity across the state.
 If there is interest, contact me off list; if something like this already
exists I, and I presume others, would like to know about it - a short
posting to this list would be great.

Chris