Dear BCSB members and friends,
Thanks again to Sebastian for creating yet another terrific newsletter!! I hope you will take time to read all of it, as this month’s content seems particularly timely when our club is growing. You don’t want to miss the article by our VP, Mark Britton, on de-candling pines. Now is the time!
A reminder – meetings are always at Bethany Congregational Church at 556 Hope Ave., at 7pm. Workshops are also held there, unless there is a conflict with the church activities and then we will notify you otherwise. Dates may vary – check the newsletter’s running calendar.
A second reminder – meetings are open and free to the public! Workshops are reserved for members only, because the professional artists who lead these have a limit for students. When we have club workshops that can accommodate more, we will alert you to that fact.
Important dates and events coming up – mark your calendars! ::
- Thursday, July 17th, 7pm — BCSB meeting with professional bonsai artist, Sam Tan presenting (see newsletter for details)
- Saturday, July 19th 9am-noon & 1pm-4pm — workshop with Sam Tan (rsvp by paying $50 in advance to Diana Boydstun – details in the newsletter)
- Saturday, August 2nd – bonsai show at Ventura Botanical Garden (BCSB is not a sponsor of this show, but club members are invited by VSB to enter a tree — see newsletter and Diana Boydstun for details)
- Saturday, August 9th – BCSB Potluck! We do not hold a meeting or workshop in August, but we do have a club-wide potluck in the early afternoon at Bethany. All members are welcome and asked to bring a dish. We hold an auction that tends to be quite lively — if you have something bonsai-related you want to deaccession from your collection, bring it and we’ll auction it off. You will get 90% of proceeds — 10% of proceeds go to BCSB. More details about the potluck will be sent to you in a few weeks. That said….
- Tuesday, August 12th – You can tune into a Zoom presentation by professional bonsai artist, Michael Hagadorn, on determining design concepts for bonsai. Details to come.
- August 16th and 17th – The John Naka Memorial Bonsai Exhibition will be held at The Japanese American Community Cultural Center, 244 S. San Pedro St., Los Angeles. For more info: mailto:nakamemorialexhibit@gmail.com. Julian Tsai, who was our June presenter, is curating this exhibit of exceptional bonsai. Here’s more info about John Naka, to whom CA bonsai practitioners owe much: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Naka.
- Tuesday, September 9th — For this monthly BCSB meeting we will have a club workshop to work on guardian trees that we train and then sell at Lotusland to raise funds for the club. Everyone is welcome – this is a great opportunity to watch and learn, do and learn. Details to come.
- Saturday, September 20th — Beginners Workshop! For those of you who are on the waiting list, I will reach out to you separately to get you signed up.
- October 24th, 25th, 26th — Golden State Bonsai Federation will be be holding their annual Bonsai Rendezvous in Santa Nella, CA. Info about the show and how to register: https://www.gsbfbonsai.org/rendezvous2025
Questions? Email me!
Looking forward to seeing you next Thursday!
Gwen
BCSB president
Download the July 2025 Newsletter
