December 2002

President's Message

by Candy Hansen

One week ago most of us were all basking in the glow of a convention that was very well received by attendees, and very well executed as hosts by the Austin and San Antonio Bonsai Clubs. My hope is we all had a chance to learn something new, enjoy our guest speakers, and make some new friends from many places. By Wed, maybe, most of the committee chairmen had probably caught up on their sleep, too? Our meeting and program for December is our annual Holiday Party. Plan on coming to Elaine White's home on Lake Travis (map elsewhere in newsletter) to enjoy a social evening with our club members and their guests. Everyone is asked to bring a dish to share, the club buys the meat course. Elaine says if you wish to enjoy the sunset, come about 5:30 pm to watch it from her deck. Supper will be served at 6:30 pm. She would like some idea of how many to prepare for, so please call her at 266-2655 to RSVP.

This will be my last article to you as club president. I've enjoyed the two years I have spent in the position, and it could not have been as much of a joy as it was without the Board of Directors you all elected to serve with me. Thank-you all so much for a good two years of good friends, good growth, and good bonsai!

Happy Holidays! - - - Candy

Calendar of Events

Dec. 7 Christmas Party This is a Saturday!!! at Elaine White's home see map on pg. 6 Club provides meat & drinks.

All attending members provide a covered dish or desert.

Come at 5:30 PM to see the sunset Dinner at 6:30 PM

Dec. 18 NO Board Meeting

Dec. 25 MERRY CHRISTMAS No Members Workshop

2003 Jan. 11-12 Bay Island Bonsai Hayward, Ca.

Feb. 27-Mar 2 The Philippine Bonsai Society Manila, Philippines

July 3-5 Mid-Atlantic Bonsai Assn. Cincinnati, Ohio

July 11-13 LSBF Symposium Austin, Tx.

Sept. 5-8 BCI in Taipei, Taiwan

General Meeting Minutes

by David Gordon

The November meeting of the Austin Bonsai Society was called to order by President Candy Hansen at 7:30 P.M. on November 13, 2002.

New members were introduced; Greg Bell and David Konopka. A guest from the Longview club, Mike Morgan, was also introduced.

The minutes from the October meeting were approved as written in the newsletter with no corrections.

Pat Ware gave the treasurer's report.

Old Business

Chuck Ware discussed the upcoming LSBF Convention.

Members were asked to keep track of the time spent working at the convention and give the hours to Charlotte for reporting to the Garden Center.

New Business

Elaine gave the annual report regarding the Permanent Texas Bonsai Collection. The report can be found in the newsletter.

The budget for next year was presented and approved by the membership.

Del DeLos Santos conducted the elections for the officers for next year.

The results were: President - Glenda Konopka, Vice-president - David Gordon, Treasurer - Pat Ware, Secretary - Del DeLos Santos, Member at Large - Carl Quisenberry, Member at Large - Connie King, Member at Large - Larry Gfeller.

Candy announced the meeting for December will be our annual Christmas Party at Elaine White's house.

Our speaker for the evening Mark Noelanders, was introduced by Gloria Norberg. He spoke on Bonsai in Europe.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 P.M. by President Candy Hansen.

Board Meeting Minutes

by David Gordon

The November board meeting of the Austin Bonsai Society was called to order by President Candy Hansen at 7:15 P.M. on November 20, 2002.

Board members present: Candy Hansen, Pat Ware, David Gordon, Gloria Norberg, Carl Quisenberry, Jim Baumann and Tammy Bieri. Club members present: Alisan Clark, Chuck Ware, Del DeLos Santos and Glenda Konopka.

The minutes from the previous meeting were approved as written in the newsletter.

The treasurer's report was given by Pat Ware.

Old Business

The Christmas Party at Elaine White's house was discussed. It will be held on December 7, 2002. Dinner will be served at 6:30 P.M.

Legal issues regarding raffles were discussed. Candy handed out information regarding raffles and this as discussed by the board. It was decided that we are essentially within the law regarding the raffles the club holds.

New Business

Positions for the various club jobs were discussed. Jim agreed to stay on as librarian. Charlotte will be asked to continue as the Garden Center representative. Other positions will be filled as needed.

The digs for next year were discussed. The dates and places will be finalized so information can be published in the January newsletter.

Programs for next year were briefly discussed.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:20 P.M. by President Candy Hansen.

ATTENTION ALL CLUB WORKERS & ATTENDEES TO THE 2002 CONVENTION

Give yourselves a LARGE "pat on the back"!!

You did yourselves and your club proud!!!

IT WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!!!!!

Our guest artists had a good time.

LONE STAR BONSAI FEDERATION

Minutes for October 12, 2002 Austin Area Garden Center, Austin, Texas

President, Chuck Ware called the meeting to order at 1:00 pm.

Chuck called for a vote to approve the minutes. Several errors were mentioned and have been corrected on the attached revised minutes.

Libby Huffman moved the minutes be approved with the corrections and motion passed.

Pat Ware distributed the September 30, 2002 Standard Trial Balance sheet. Report was reviewed and Kathleen Williamson made a motion to accept the report as presented. Dennis Corley seconded. Motion passed.

Pat presented a request for $150 to be approved for the 2002 Convention budget to replace broken six year old LSBF credit card machine. Yvonne Padilla made a motion to approve the request and Libby seconded. Motion passed.

Pat stated that LSBF has received an inquiry from the North American Bonsai Federation to continue our membership. After discussion regarding this inquiry, Dennis Corley made a motion to decline membership. Buddy Allen seconded. Motion passed.

Pat asked if LSBF will have a June meeting next summer or wait until the July Symposium. Yvonne moved that the meeting be held at the convention in July. John Miller seconded. Motion failed with five votes against and four votes in favor. Dennis moved that LSBF have their meeting in June and John Miller seconded. Motion passed with five votes in favor and four votes against the motion.

Pat stated that Zilker Garden Center is seeking donations to upgrade their kitchen with new cooking items and Pat asked if LSBF would like to participate. Kathleen made a motion that LSBF donate up to $30. Suzanne Scott seconded. Motion passed.

Chuck reported that the 2002 Convention has 147 full and 20 partial registrants. Chuck said there are only three 'goodie" boxes left for full registrants. The "goodie" boxes are a $20 value and are included in the full registration. Convention pins also come with full registration. Chuck stated that preparations are going very well. Both sponsoring clubs are working together very well. Chuck said there are 4-6 people on waiting list for the workshops. Chuck asked Buddy Allen to follow-up with the Texas Speakers and their trees.

Yvonne reported on the progress made on the 2003 Symposium to be held at the Omni Hotel on July 11-13th. Room rate is $79/night for 1-4 per room. The symposium will include four meals, three lecture/demos, nine workshops and three educational programs. The artist will select their own materials. Ted Matson from California will do a lecture/demo (weeping style) and workshop with Tamarisk plus a "bring your own tree" workshop. Ed Trout from Florida will do a lecture/demo and workshop with Black Olives and a Buttonwood workshop. Mike Hansen from Texas will do a lecture/demo and workshop with Chinese Elms. Yvonne Padilla will do a Saikei with nine Fukien Tea. Greg Setter will do a Texas Natives workshop. Chuck Ware will do a Trident Maple workshop. Butch Wilken will do a Kingsville Boxwood workshop. Jeff Holmes, Warren Hubbard and Marty Klajnowski will lead educational events for viewing stones, container selection and bonsai design respectively. Yvonne said there will be a door prize for the early registrants on Friday night. Yvonne requested that each club donate a nice styled bonsai in a ceramic pot for the Symposium. The club donated and lecture/demo trees will be included in either a raffle or auction to raise funds. Reports from each Symposium Committee will be presented in the January 2003 LSBF meeting.

Buddy Allen reported that Houston will host the Convention on May 21-23, 2004 at the Omni Hotel. Guest artist will be Kathy Shaner, Guy Guidry and Mary Miller.

John Miller reported that LSBF can not get liability insurance from the Golden State Bonsai Federation in California. Their by-laws will not allow an out-of-state organization to get insurance coverage under their policy. John, Yvonne and Libby will check with garden clubs in their areas to see if a policy is available to present to LSBF at a future meeting.

Chuck handed out Roy Nagatoshi's fall 2003 tour schedule and said the cost will be $250 per program. Chuck said Roy fee is normally $350 but Roy has agreed to the $250 due to the number of programs scheduled.

Chuck said that LSBF has not determine the amount of the reimbursement to the clubs and that this will be an agenda item for discussion and voting in the January 2003 meeting.

Buddy Allen, chairman for the by-law review committee offered thanks to Dennis Corley and Howard Smith for their participation. Buddy presented several recommendations from the committee which were discussed in detail by the attendees. The revised draft of the by-laws will be prepared for review and voting at the next meeting on January 18, 2003.

Chuck handed out an outline of the visiting artist guidelines and asked each delegate to provide feedback from their respective clubs regarding the roles and responsibilities of the club and coordinator. Chuck reported that Carl Quisenberry will be the next coordinator for the Texas Tour Artist. Carl will gather the feedback from the clubs and summarize the results for a vote in the June 2003 meeting.

Terry Ward handed out the proposed Texas Bonsai 2003 budget and reviewed the 2002 budget versus expenses, and recognized the faithful advertisers. Terry asked for more Texas originated articles and requested that the clubs get accurate counts for next year. Buddy made a motion to accept the budget of $960 for Texas Bonsai next year. Yvonne seconded and motion passed. Terry reported that there are more CD's available at $12.50 each.

Yvonne moved that the meeting be adjourned. John seconded. Motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 3:20pm.

Attendees: Chuck & Pat Ware (Austin), Carl Quisenberry (Austin), Dennis Corley (Beaumont), Yvonne Padilla (Corpus Christi), John Miller (Dallas), Suzanne Scott (Fort Worth), Jackie Paul (Fort Worth), Steve Hendricks (Fort Worth), Buddy Allen (Houston), Todd Davis (Longview), Libby Huffman (San Antonio), Kathleen Williamson (Shohin), Terry Ward (Texas Bonsai)

Keep your face to the sunshine
and you cannot see the shadows.

Helen Keller

THE TEXAS STATE BONSAI EXHIBIT, INC.

Second Annual Report, November, 2002

In February 2001 we signed an Adopt?A-Park contract with the present Zilker Botanical Garden manager, Dr. Justin Williams, and volunteers proceeded to clear brush from our proposed bonsai garden area while we waited for Parks and Recreation to review our plans. I made daily calls to the Directors office and had several meetings with the new Zilker Park Manager.

A year after the signed contract and 2,600 volunteer hours working on this project, we received a letter from Jesus Olivares, Director of Parks and Recreation. These are direct quotations: "This proposed project envisions a fenced enclave with a docent building controlling access into an area of outdoor displays of bonsai art.

This proposal is quite different from other requests that the Parks and Recreation Department receives for accepting new gardens and other improvements. Your request appears to solicit city approval for a plan that allows a private organization to control visitor activities on City parkland and may require the City to undertake the liability of protecting valuable private property on its property for an extended period.

After your request to provide general information to the Parks Board, a Parks and Recreation Team met with me to discuss the merits of your proposal as well as the relevant details of the bonsai exhibit compound.

It has been decided that the Parks and Recreation Board cannot support your proposal at this time. The ëHot Button' issue of liability for valuable private property on public land, potential new costs for PARDÖ. to support the new venues public visitors, and the difficulty of administering a perceived private fenced enclave within a high visibility public park."(unquote) I requested a meeting to clear up misconceptions about their liability, limited access etc., and met with Assistant Director, Dr.

Juan Valera. I thought we had a very good meeting and there were no new objections other than those stated in the letter.

He did talk about problems such as vandalism in the Dinosaur Garden. (my cue to press the need for bonsai security) He sent word via the President of the Austin Area Garden Council that our request was still denied.

In June the Directors of The Texas State Bonsai Exhibit voted to discontinue discussion with Zilker about a permanent exhibit but will continue to display our painting in the park for publicity and public contact.

We had favorable contact with a private corporation with vacant adjoining acreage in July and had an invitation to look at the land, at which time we talked with their Director of Community Services and Facilities manager.

In August we were invited for a formal presentation of our proposal, which Mike Hansen presented via computer. It was very well received and we are now waiting for their lawyers' review.

Kathy Shaner, curator of The Northern California collection has consented to become our advisor and has already offered helpful suggestions.

The Reverend Neil Hern of the Dallas Society has very generously donated a medium size maple over-rock to our collection, along with its history. It had belonged to George Gray who had talked of the need for a permanent exhibit in Texas.

Helen Brown of San Antonio donated to the Shoin Society of Texas, a rare Pyrachaenomeles, which has been accepted into the permanent exhibit. Terry Ward is taking care of both of these trees.( Note. All directors vote on the acceptance of trees).

We also have been the recipient of 10 slated (18 X 8) benches for our work area and the promise of a large greenhouse (27 X 54) in 2 years by Vito Megna.

Terry and Sheila Ward have been working on necessary forms for the donation of all items to our exhibit. They have been reviewed by a lawyer and will be distributed to all clubs in the State.

The economy has not improved since last year and all 450- plus non-profit projects in the Austin area have funding problems.

I have attended a meeting with a grant writer, am on the mailing list of the Austin Community College non-profit group and have attended 18 hours of seminars gathering information on fund raising and the requirements of local fund givers.

Looking Ahead:

Fund raisers for the November 2002 LSBF Convention in New Braunfels will be our logo tree pin, designed by Terry Ward and Alisan Clarke, bonsai tree note cards designed by Sheila Setter and Christmas bonsai tree cards designed by Alisan Clarke. We will also have our information/fund raising brochures for hand outs to all registrants.

We have reserved a booth in the parking lot at Zilker Garden Fest March 30th. to style and pot beginning bonsai. Our member vendors will sell trees and appropriate pots for customers to choose. We will then pot them and provide care instruction brochures, charging for the potting.

These are all very small steps. I feel that it is paramount that our fund raising intensify state wide. The whole bonsai community needs to join in this effort especially for the essential first building project. Not only all clubs but individuals.

Lets put The Texas State Bonsai Exhibit on our Christmas list!

Chairman: Elaine White