May 2025 – 48th Annual Bonsai Exhibition

Dear BCSB members and friends,

May has arrived and we are now in the big push of final preparations for our 48th annual Bonsai Exhibition!

Attached is our May newsletter, loaded with general club information and a very important message from me about activities of the BCSB Board, and our impending show. Thanks, Sebastian!

The rest of this email is dedicated to show preparation. We are just over two weeks away! The leaders of your club have been hard at work to prepare, and this email is now a call for all hands on deck! We now need club members to sign up, step up, and support this annual event that is core to the mission of our club: to educate and promote an understanding and appreciation for the art and culture of bonsai, and to inspire people to practice and enjoy bonsai and our bonsai community.

Here’s where we can use your help:

PROMOTION! Help make the BCSB BOnsai Exhibition a success!
- We’ve put out press releases, ads and other promo efforts, but nothing is as good as word of mouth, and that’s where all of you come in! We ask each and every BCSB member to help promote the show! Attached are two versions of a digital rack card. Please post this on your favorite social media, email to your friends and family, and spread the word!
- We have physical rack cards and posters, but they need distribution! Please contact Mark Britton to arrange picking up some cards. We also like to distribute cards to local businesses like nurseries, art and community centers, restaurants — any place where locals gather – and we need to cover SB, Goleta and Carpenteria. If you are willing and able to help with distribution, contact Carol Hicks. Distribution is easier than you think. Yesterday I posted a card at the SBCC Schott campus and handed out cards to my fellow art students, and posted a card at my chiropractor’s office, and handed out a few to friends, today. Everyone who received a rack card was excited – that made it fun.
Plan your May 16th to come to Montecito Union School to set up. We have a core of volunteers to help in the early afternoon (I will be in touch with you all later!) but we need members to come around 3:15 to help with the final set up, and to bring items for the sales table and the auction table. If you have a tree in the show, please bring your trees on Friday afternoon – please do not wait until Saturday morning.
Start gathering the items you want to sell or donate for the auction. Mark Britton will chair the auction table, so look for him when you bring your items on Friday. Ernie Witham is chairing the sales table, so look for him to coordinate those items. Here are instructions from Ernie:
- ALL sale items must have two stickers attached, (which we can provide on Friday): one sticker with the price of the item, and one with your initials and a number on them that corresponds with the Sale Form you are also receiving with the emailed newsletter. Club Members receive 85% of sales. Besides bringing trees, pots, tools, and other bonsai-related items for sale, we want to remind everyone that donations for the silent auction are greatly appreciated. The silent auction has become one of the more popular events at the show and all proceeds directly benefit our club.
Plan to volunteer at the show on May 17 and 18! We need volunteers to help greet guests and give directions, talk about the art and practice of bonsai at the “trees in training” table, and generally engage with guests. We especially need volunteers to help Diana with sales check-out. It can get busy after the auction is closed, and some extra hands are helpful.

What did I forget? Surely something. So, if you have questions, email me or call. While I try to not overload you all with emails, please expect more communications from me as we get closer to the show dates.

I’ll be in touch, and Happy May!
Gwen

Download the May 2025 Newsletter