Sensei: Kunitoshi Akabane (925) 736-7600
Acting President: Bob Evans (925) 820-0268
Acting Editor: Don Meeker (925) 933-4472

Heather Farms Garden Center,1540 March Banks Drive, Walnut Creek, CA.

All meetings are 7:30pm - 9:30pm.

Combined:Monday September 13
Refreshments:Daryl Bunch, Blanca deAnda

Combined:Monday September 20
Refreshments:Bob Evans, Kathleen Gerner

Monday September 7
The Club Board meets at CalFed Bank, on Crow Canyon Road, San Ramon at 7:30 p.m. All October show committee chairs and club officers should attend.

September 13 and 20
Joint meetings at Heather Farms Garden Center, 1540 Marchbanks Drive, Walnut Creek, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. All members should attend one of these monthly meetings, your choice which. Bring the trees to class that you plan to donate to the plant sale at the October show so they can be priced. Also bring the trees that you plan to exhibit at the Show so Sensei Akabane can see them and if necessary make suggestions.

At the September meetings the Show committee work assignments for Saturday and Sunday will be finalized as will the food signups for the show hospitality room. Be Sure you are signed up for Show duties The full support of every club member is essential to make the Show a success.
Show chairman Barney Montoya submitted the following list of committee chairs. Please contact the appropriate person to sign up for your preferred duty(s) at this year's Show. All club members will be contacted to assure their participation.

Show Chair, Barney Montoya 443-8554
Co-Chair, Tom Fong 825-9737
Construction, Bob Eden 687-7187
Plant Sale & Raffle, Bill Magee 689-4377
Hospitality, Don Meeker 933-4472
Publicity, Norm Wanek 837-7528
Greeting, Rebecca Harris 906-0777
Education, Nancy Norris 253-1854

Lastly at the September meetings the sign-up for the trees you plan to exhibit will be taken. You will sign up the common name, age of the tree and how long you have been training the tree as a bonsai. This information is needed so the I.D. cards can be prepared for the show. These are two very important meetings, please attend one of them.

Ed Burns has resigned from Diablo Bonsai Club and First Vice President Bob Evans will assume the duties of President until new officers are elected in December. If you have any club business, newsletter items, etc. give Bob a call at (925) 820-0268.

For the Show, October 9th & 10th. There is an established and traditional dress code for our shows. Men - slacks, shirt and tie. Women dress, skirt and blouse or nice slacks and blouse. All members working should have Happi coats. Happi coats will be available for purchase before the show. They are being hand made for us. The more formal appearance is in keeping with the traditions of bonsai, which is as much a respected art form as a horticulture hobby.

Another requisite for the show are the stands on which the trees are displayed or ?dais?. It is each club member?s responsibility to prepare a tree for display and to have a dais to display it on.

August 28th & 29th.
Redwood Empire Bonsai Society 16th Annual Bonsai Show at Santa Rosa Veterans Memorial Building, 1351 Maple Avenue (opposite Sonoma County Fairgrounds). Demos at 1:30p.m. both days. Saturday, Kathy Shaner. Sunday, Mas Imazumi. Show hours Saturday 10:00a.m.-5:00p.m.; Sunday 10:00a.m.-4:00p.m. There is an excellent bazaar of Bonsai related items at this show.

September 18th & 19th.
San Mateo Bonsai Club 36th Annual Bonsai Exhibit at Central Park Recreation Center, 50 East Fifth Avenue at El Camino Real (highway 82) in San Mateo. Demo both days at 2:00p.m. Show hours Saturday 12:00 noon-6:00p.m., Sunday 10:00a.m.- 5:00p.m.

September 26th only.
Santa Cruz Bonsai Kai 11th Annual Bonsai Show at the museum of Art and History, 705 Front Street, Santa Cruz. Demo at 2:00p.m. Show hous 10:00a.m.- 4:30p.m.

October 2nd & 3rd.
Sei Boku Bonsai Kai 16th Annual Bonsai Exhibit at the San Mateo Garden Center, 605 Park Side Way (off Alameda de las Pulgas between 26th and 28th) in San Mateo. Demos at 2:00p.m. both days. Show hours 11:00a.m.-4:00p.m. both days.

October16th & 17th.
Yamato Bonsai Club 28th Annual Exhibit in Centennial Hall, Room 4, Foothill Blvd at City Center Drive in Hayward. Demo at 2:00p.m. both days. Show hours 10:00a.m.-5:00p.m.

October 4 - Basic I - Class topic group planting, workshop
October 5 - Board meeting
October 11 - Joint meeting. October show report, workshop.
October 18 - Advanced Class, topic Black Pines, workshop.
November 1 - Basic I
November 2 - Board meeting
November 8 - Joint meeting
November 15 - Advanced Class

After having been an enthusiast and poorly informed and untrained bonsai hobbyist for many years, and after seeing many shows of the Diablo, East Bay, San Francisco and other clubs I joined Diablo Bonsai Club after the 1997 show. The show was the real decision maker for me. I was really impressed by the quality of the trees shown and the show itself. I had thought for years, I should join?, but this show really moved me to act.

Last year, 1998, my first year in the club I volunteered (with Bob Edens towering over me saying ?I need a Hospitality Chairman, you will volunteer won?t you!?). It was a lot of hard work but Mrs. Akabane and Mrs. Montoya were an inspiration and a guide so, inept as I was, we made it, and this year because I have a feel for it, at least for Hospitality, I know it will be even better.

But I learned a lot more than what Hospitality really means. I learned how really important the show is to the club, and more importantly to the bonsai enthusiasts who are the club members. It is we the members who really benefit in many ways. First we learn about displaying our trees, and in displaying them properly we see them differently than we have ever seen them before. And seeing them differently we see what we can do, should do, to make them even better. Then we gain inspiration from the other trees displayed. I always get better ideas from the displays. As much as I like to look at all the pretty pictures seeing the real thing is much better. We also gain because we get feedback from other bonsai enthusiasts and experts who come to our show and give us valuable information on our trees.

Finally, the show is of critical value to the club, it allows us to keep going, to keep growing, to reach other enthusiasts, and through donations and tree sales it provides additional funding to make the monthly meetings and workshops possible. So I join the Board members and Sensei Akabane in urging every fellow member to participate in the show by working on one or more committees, convincing your significant other to help if they can so we can all take pride in a show well done.