Santa Anita Bonsai Society
A community dedicated to the study and appreciation of the ancient art of Bonsai.

Bonsai Notebook

There will be no regular club meeting in June.  Instead, I ask that we all support the Descanso Bonsai Society by attending their annual show reception on June 13.  The reception will be held at Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge at 6:00pm.  The event includes a raffle.  In addition, bonsai trees, pots, and accessories will be on sale each day of the show, Saturday and Sunday.  Many of our members also belong to the Descanso club, so it will be a chance to socialize with familiar faces while enjoying the trees on display.  I look forward to seeing everyone at the Descanso reception. The Arboretum will have a concert on the night of our regular meeting in July.  As an alternative site for July, we will meet at Peter Macasieb’s home in West Covina.  Details will be included in the July newsletter. We will be back at the Arboretum for the August meeting.

President’s Corner

As time passes, we all go through changes in our lives.  A big change is about to take place for long-time club members Bill and Lois Hutchinson. On July 4 they will be moving to Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburg.  You may have attended their bonsai sale recently where they sold their trees and related items.  They are moving into an apartment in a retirement community without the space to maintain their collection. Bill and Lois moved from Pennsylvania to southern California in 1980.  Lois had the initial interest in bonsai, and she met Melba Tucker and took classes from her.  They don’t remember for sure, but joined the Santa Anita Bonsai Society in either 1982 or ’83.  Jim Barrett was the president and members included Melba Tucker and Marybel Balendonck.  Bill wasn’t interested in bonsai at first,  but as always he helped out and soon got the “bug”.  They were asked to be on the board of directors and served several terms before becoming “permanent” secretary/treasurers.  They have performed the same tasks for many clubs in our area over the years, and we were very fortunate to have both their expertise and friendship for many years. We will miss their presence at the meetings, but they will be keeping up with events through the newsletter.  We wish them all the best on the next part of their life’s journey. ~Dave Miles

May Meeting & Annual Show Highlights

May was a big month for the club with both our regular meeting and our annual show.  Bob Pressler  treated us to a demonstration at the meeting and displayed his talents on  a ficus nerifolia, or narrow-leaf ficus.  I was unable to attend the meeting, so I can’t   provide the details.  I know Bob did an excellent job and the meeting was well     attended.  Emma Janza was the lucky winner of Bob’s tree in the raffle and added a beautiful tree to her collection. The show over Memorial Day weekend was a success.  We had a total of 34 trees on display and  featured seven saikei, our theme for the show.  Thanks for the great participation.  The sale table was full and the proceeds will help fund our meetings over the next year. “Thank you” to Jim Barrett who, once again, agreed to be our show judge.  If you saw Jim working on Saturday, you would have noticed how much time he spent with each tree and the thoughtfulness that goes into his scoring and comments.  He provides invaluable feedback to those of us who are striving to improve our trees. The display judged “Best Theme Tree” belongs to Marge Blasingame for her saikei.  Marge also won with the display judged “Best Shohin”.  The “Best of Show” award went to the beautiful shimpaku juniper entered by Gary Lai. Thanks to Marilyn Tyler who made and presented the show awards.  A few years ago, Marilyn originated and provided the “21st Century Award” to the entrant with the highest score who had not previously won an award in our show.  This year that award went to David Nguy for his beautifully detailed juniper. “Thank you” to all the members who donated their time to the show and especially Marge and Ray Blasingame, Peter Macasieb, Marty Hagberry, Kathy Boehme,  and Marilyn Tyler. The show is a group effort, and we have a great group. Best of Show Best Theme Tree – Saikei Best Shohin 21st Century Award

Upcoming Events

June 13-14 Descanso Bonsai Society 46th annual exhibit 9 am to 4 pm and demonstrations at 11 am and 1:30 pm each day, in Van De Kamp Hall, Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Drive, La Canada Flintridge. Reception on Sat. 6 pm to 7 pm with raffle at 8 pm. Bonsai trees, pots and accessories on sale.  Events free with garden admission.

New Members

Don & Patty Allen Alex Dunn Victor Aguilar

Come Join Us

No Regular Meeting in June Next Meeting Date: July 11, 2015 Time: 7pm Location: in West Covina At the home of Peter Macasieb

2015 Monthly Meeting Dates

June      —  No meeting: please attend the Descanso Bonsai Society Reception July  11 —  Peter Macasieb Aug  8   —  Demo  TBA

2015 Refreshment Schedule

June– something special is planned (details in the next newsletter)

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