Newsletter – June 2019

Bonsai Notebook

The June 8 meeting will feature Steve Valentine, coming all the way from San Diego. Steve has been a bonsai artist for many years and been active throughout the state.

Steve saw his first bonsai exhibit at the Del Mar Fair in 1965. He studied ornamental horticulture and agriculture in high school and college. He started his own business specializing in building and pruning Japanese gardens and became a certified arborist in 1980.

Since 1989, Steve has been actively involved in the San Diego Bonsai Club. He is a demonstrator, teacher and past president of the California Bonsai Society and many other clubs. He has studied with Moss Takahashi, Harry Hirao, Kathy Shaner, and John Naka. Steve has served on the board of the Golden State Bonsai Federation for over 20 years and is the Convention Chair for the GSBF convention this year.

Steve will be working on a cork elm for his demonstration with us. Join us June 8.

Meeting Time And Place:
June 8, 2019 at 7pm
LAC Arboretum/ Palm Room

President’s Corner

I am very pleased and relieved at how well our show went this year. Leading up to it, you never know for sure whether the show entry numbers will be sufficient or if enough people will be available for set-up and take-down. As usual, everyone came through. Our members provided what we needed for a great weekend.

Special thanks go to Marge Blasingame for being our show chairperson and handling our sales table. She knows how to do it all and was flawless. Wendy Tsai was invaluable to us again this year, helping Marge with the sales table. She was there throughout the weekend and did a great job keeping things in order and flowing.

Thanks also to Marty Hagbery, who after more than 30 years with the club, still shows up to help manage both the set-up and take-down. He also interacts with the guests passing through the exhibit and provides great explanations of what we do. Thank you Ray Blasingame for all your help with set-up and take-down also. Ray and Marty know exactly what to do, and it gets done.

Thank you Lorraine for handling the food supplies and kitchen set-up. I know everyone appreciates being able to take a break and sit down to lunch and snacks each day of the show. As she has for many years, Marilyn Tyler provided our show awards, It is a lot of work to get the judging results, take photos of the trees, and produce the awards. Thank you, Marilyn.

Finally, thank you to all our members who volunteered their time to help set up and take down the show and look after the trees and guests each day. Members also helped with the sales table and kitchen. We could not do this without everyone’s help. Thanks to all!

~Dave

May 2019 Meeting Highlights

The May club meeting and annual show make it a very full month for us. The saikei workshop with Al Nelson was a lot of fun. The participating members had a great time, with their own personal helpers as they constructed their saikeis. Al explained the process in stages, so we were able to follow the development of the saikeis step by step. Each saikei was unique from the others based on individual choices throughout the process. They all looked amazing. Saikeis are definitely crowd pleasers.

Thank you to Al and his entire crew for their generous help. Also, we couldn’t let Al finish without one of his famous jokes, and he shared one with us.

2019 Show Highlights

Our Memorial Day weekend show was a big success. We had 32 entries and a good variety of material. The sales table was full, with its own variety of plant material and bonsai related items. We had steady attendance by Arboretum guests. It was a little slower during the rainy Sunday, but people came through none the less. Interest in bonsai is always high with the audience, and several people asked about joining the club.

Thanks go out to Jim Barrett who did the judging for the show. He always provides valuable feedback on members’ trees. In the “Best Tree” category, Robert Alderette won with his Foemina Juniper group display. The “Best Theme Tree” honors went to Carol Upston and her elm cascade, and Joyce Gibbs won “Best Shohin” with one of her two displays. The “21st Century Award”, given for the highest score by someone who has not previously won an award in our show, went to Mike Kelly for his beautiful elm group. All of the trees looked great, and we got a lot of positive feedback from those who attended.

Best Tree
Best Shohin
Best Theme Tree
21st Century Award

Thank You to our May Meeting Raffle Donors

Shai Amiel, Louis Camerota, Y.S. Farn, Edgar Fukutaki, Dave Miles, Richerd Ryerson, Wendy Tsai, Frank Yee

Members Corner

  • If you have a knack for writing, a story to tell, a photo or something you would like to share in our newsletter please submit it to Lorraine prior to the 20th of any month at [email protected]
  • Visitors always welcome at our meetings….come check out SABS anytime

Upcoming Events

June 15
Bonsai Stock Sale
At the home of Jim Barrett
480 Oxford Dr., Arcadia, 9am-5pm

June 15-16
Descanso Bonsai Society Annual Show
Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Dr., La Canada, 9-5p
demonstrations daily, sales area
Reception Sat at 6pm, raffle & auction at 7:30pm

Come Join Us

Next Meeting

Date: June 8, 2019
Time: 7p
Location: LAC Arboretum, Palm Room
301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia, CA 91007

2019 Monthly Meeting Dates

June 8 — Steve Valentine
July 13 — Peter Macasieb (Potluck at the home of Peter & Marissa)
Aug 10 — Nathan Simmons

Refreshment Schedule

June 8: David & Jenny Tsai, Eunice Jee, Richerd Ryerson
July 13: Potluck– bring a favorite dish
Aug 10: Gabriel & Linda Gonzalez, Victor Shelton, Eunice Jee, Marge Blasingame

More sign up opportunities will be available at upcoming meetings