Santa Anita Bonsai Society

CLUB MEETING  SATURDAY JULY 10, 2021 at 6pm

At long last we are having a meeting!  The Arboretum wasted no time in scheduling summer concerts, so our July 10 meeting will be held at the home of Peter and Marissa Macasieb in West Covina . The meeting will start at 6:00pm, so we have the extra daylight for this outdoor event.  Masks will be optional, but we hope everyone will be comfortable coming to the meeting to restart our regular schedule.  It will be great to see each other after such a long pause in our routine.

It is always a treat to walk around Peter’s yard and admire his large and diverse bonsai collection.  I am sure he will be glad to answer questions about how he does it all! Peter will do a demonstration for us, and there will be a raffle table.  Bring bonsai related items you would like to donate to the raffle.

There will not be any refreshments provided as we do our best to navigate through these  post-pandemic times.  You are welcome to bring your own snacks and beverages.

Join us for a fun summer evening as we rekindle our bonsai interests. Directions to Peter and Marissa’s home can be found here.

CLUB ACTIVITIES UPDATE

I am very sorry we were not able to have our annual show this year.  We are already scheduled for the Memorial Day weekend in 2022.  Although the Arboretum has been open to visitors for walking through the gardens, their buildings have been closed to meetings and events.

As you know, the state opened up from the pandemic closures June 15.  The Arboretum notified me a week before our scheduled June 25 set-up date that they would allow the show to proceed.  However, a number of requirements were added.  These included mandatory monitoring fees and limiting entry to the show to our members only.  Others could attend by  pre-registering and paying admission to the Arboretum.  Having only a week’s notice, the Board agreed there was insufficient time to try and comply with the new restrictions and put on a successful show.

The Arboretum is now being managed by the Arboretum Foundation rather than Los Angeles County.  The Foundation has made a number of changes in fees and other operational issues.   I will share the changes with the members when I have the details.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Lorraine & I at [email protected] or via our website at www.sabonsai.org  

I look forward to seeing all of you as we restart our meetings in July.

Dave

Santa Anita Bonsai Society Members,

This year will be our 58^th annual show, having skipped last year due to the Covid pandemic.  I hope everyone is safe and well.  I mentioned in the last letter we were considering an outdoor show option.  After much input and discussion, our Board decided to drop the idea of an outdoor show because of a number of complications it would create. 

The Board wants to continue having the show inside Ayres Hall.  If our Memorial Day weekend date (5/28 – 5/31) is cancelled, the Arboretum has offered us the weekend of June 25 as an alternative.  We hope that between the two dates, we will finally have our live show once again.  I plan to have a general membership meeting before the show if allowed by the Arboretum. 

The Board agreed to waive membership dues this year.  It is our hope that all our members will consider entering at least one tree in our show and be part of the return of a live bonsai event.  The sale table will be included in the show, so our members will have the opportunity to market their bonsai items.  This could be the first live bonsai event in Southern California this year.  We are excited to see it happen.

The entry form for the May 28-31 Show is available upon request.  If you would like to enter in the SABS 2021 Show and/or have any questions please feel free to contact Lorraine & I at [email protected] or via our website at www.sabonsai.org  Thank you all for your patience during the last year.

Many of you may already know, but our long-time member and treasurer, Bill Hutchinson has sadly passed away.  Bill and his wife Lois were our Secretary/Treasurers for many years, as well as providing the same services to other local clubs.  Bill died peacefully on April 1, at age 94.  He had been living in Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania where he and Lois moved to be close to family.  Rest in peace Bill, and our thoughts and prayers go out to Lois and family.

As always, stay safe and well,
Dave

Santa Anita Bonsai Society Members,

Hello everyone.  I hope you are all managing well through the pandemic and chaotic year.

We are not able to have a club meeting on April 10 but in an effort to move toward normalcy,  the Board is hoping to host our annual Memorial Day Weekend Show as a live, in-person event.  We want all our members to prepare a tree for display.  We will dispense with having a theme, so pick your favorite tree; multiples if you like.

The Arboretum does not know yet if Ayres Hall will be open for our use.  I made a proposal that we display our trees, as an alternative, outside the Hall entry doors on the patio area.  They liked the idea, but could not approve our show, inside or out, until they get updated guidelines from the County.

We are hoping that by the end of May, the pandemic restrictions will be relaxed enough for a safe and worry-free show.  Of course, if there is anyone who would still be uncomfortable with participation, we understand.

If you are open to the idea of a show, prepare a tree (or two), and we will let you know the show status as soon as we can.  The Board will be meeting to plan the details so we are ready.  If you have any questions, call me at 909-519-5391.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Lorraine & I at [email protected] or via our website at www.sabonsai.org  

As always, stay safe and well,

Dave

Santa Anita Bonsai Society February 2021 meeting is cancelled

Santa Anita Bonsai Society Members,

Greetings to everyone and welcome to a new year, and hopefully new beginnings. There will be no meeting for our club on February 13. I have asked about opening up the Arboretum for meetings, but there is no plan in place yet. Now that we have the vaccines and a lot of illness-related immunities, I am looking forward to us resuming our club schedule.

For now, Baikoen Bonsai Kenkyukai has scheduled a “virtual” 57th Winter Silhouettes Show and Auction on February 6, 2021. It will be shown online. The show will go “live” online with pictures and videos of the trees and a narrative by Tom Lau and Joe Galgoul, followed by an on-line auction. Go to the links below for the show.

www.youtube.com/c/BaikoenBonsaiClub.

www.baikoenbonsai.com

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Lorraine & I at [email protected] or via our website at www.sabonsai.org.

As always, stay safe and well,
~Dave

Santa Anita Bonsai Society January 2021 meeting is cancelled

Santa Anita Bonsai Society Members,

NO MEETING IN JANUARY

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.  I hope you have been able to remain safe and well throughout this unique year. 

The Arboretum called me and said the money we paid for our 2020 meetings would be rolled over to cover 2021 without additional payments.  Our regular meeting and show dates for the new year are set.  We may lose some summer dates if concerts are scheduled, but I will let you know.  The Arboretum has not projected when we will have access to our meeting room, so we will not meet in January.

Baikoen will be putting on a virtual Silhouettes Show and Auction on February 6, to be shown online.  I will provide information as I receive it.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Lorraine & I at [email protected] or via our website at www.sabonsai.org  

Again, enjoy the holidays, and I will wait for word from the Arboretum on our return.

Dave

Santa Anita Bonsai Society November 2020 meeting is cancelled

Santa Anita Bonsai Society Members,

The fall season is upon us.  We have been having some warm weather, but forecasts are showing cooler weather soon.  My trees are trying to figure it out.  Some have dropped leaves while others are still holding onto leaves.  It is interesting to watch the variations.

The Arboretum is still closed for use of its classrooms, so there will be no meeting in November.  As long as the virus case numbers fail to meet County standards for opening, it appears nothing will change soon.

Searching “bonsai” brings up a lot information to pick through and explore. There is a great deal of bonsai activity online for those interested in exploring.  Tom Lau has done a series of videos for Baikoen, visiting bonsai collections and nurseries.  The YouTube link for the videos is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7fXUS6h9Dw0BFlhagik-wA

The California Bonsai Society also has a YouTube page you can view for interviews with visiting artists at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIceyAUJsaSjDlccfiZPM6w

For those of you interested in traveling: The 12^th Annual Fresno Bonsai Society Bonsai Yard Sale is Saturday Nov 14^th 2020  at the Clovis Botanical Garden, Clovis, CA. 9am- 1pm.  All things Bonsai to buy, sell or swap.  For more info contact Mike Saul at  tinytreeme@sbcglobal.net 

The committee planning the Bonsai-A-Thon is working with the Huntington to settle on dates and parameters for the event; possibly in February 2021, details when available.

CBS is planning their annual show for Mar 19-21, 2021 at the Huntington.  I will share details as they come in.

I am hopeful we will also have a show in 2021.  Plan for our usual Memorial Day weekend show at the Arboretum, and we will work out the details with the Arboretum.  I look forward to the Arboretum providing guidelines for a safe show.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Lorraine & I at [email protected] or via our website at www.sabonsai.org  

Continue to stay safe and stay well.  I look forward to hopefully seeing you soon.

Dave

Santa Anita Bonsai Society Members,

We will not have a meeting at the Arboretum in October.  They can not use their buildings for meetings yet.

I recently received the 2021 Reservation Form for our meetings year.  I reserved our regular second-Saturday dates, so hopefully, regular meetings will resume no later than the end of this year.

A bonsai-sale notice went out on our website and emails recently for the tree collection of long-time club member Heriberto Valdes.  Heriberto’s wife, Raquel, was pleased with the sale but still has many trees left.  We scheduled another sale at her home for Saturday, October 10, from 9a-4p. at the following address:

9209 Downey Ave., Downey, CA

Phone contacts:
Hm 562-861-8162
Cell 562-619-9033

There are some very nice junipers in the collection as well as other tree varieties.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Lorraine & I at [email protected] or via our website at www.sabonsai.org  

Continue to stay safe and stay well.  I look forward to hopefully seeing you soon.

Dave

Santa Anita Bonsai Society
September 2020 meeting is cancelled

Santa Anita Bonsai Society Members,

There will be no club meeting in September.  At this point, I could probably stop sending letters and repeating this message and just let you know when we can meet.  However, these letters are at least one way I can stay in touch with all of you.  The Santa Anita Bonsai Society still exists, and it is important to maintain our common interest in bonsai.  Even though we don’t meet, taking care of our trees is something we all share in spirit.  It is great therapy during the isolation caused by the virus.

We are coming to the end of summer and will soon be in the fall season.  The beautiful fall colors in our deciduous trees will put on a show for us to enjoy.  The strong summer growth patterns in most of our trees will begin to slow down.  We can start cutting back on pruning and use less nitrogen-based fertilizers.  Start turning to more potash and phosphorous feeding, and your trees will love it.

I hope you have had the opportunity to watch Peter Macasieb’s three-part twisted Itoigawa demonstration on our website.  Peter shares a lot of great information that is usable on any of our trees.  The videos are still on our website for viewing.  Thanks again to Peter, Matt, Song and Robert for making the videos possible for us.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact Lorraine & I at [email protected] or via our website at www.sabonsai.org

Stay well and I will stay in touch,

Dave