Wow, the entire year of 2008 has nearly passed. Can you believe it? While facing the busy Holiday season this month, make sure to take a break and spend some time with your trees. December is really the premiere time of the year to perform major work on your trees so they move another step to becoming great bonsai. This year, we have decided not to cancel our December Third Thursday Workshop. So take a break from your shopping, cooking, and traveling to join us at the Hall of Flowers on Dec. 18 for some bonsai friendship. If you have been coming to our workshops the past few months, you have noticed that they are very busy. In November, the workshop was standing room only. It’s great to see our new members attending the workshop and more experienced members helping with their trees. If you haven’t joined us for a third Thursday, make sure to drop by and bring a tree.

Third Thursday workshops are a great place to bring in your show trees. Yes, our show is in March, but now is the time to start prepping your trees and developing a schedule that will have your tree in perfect condition by show time. If you can wire and position your tree’s branches now, the new foliage that emerges in the spring will form the perfect silhouette by March. We encourage all our members to show at least one tree at our display.

This month we will be having our annual Holiday Party. Make sure to bring some tasty dishes to share with your bonsai friends. We encourage all members, new and old to attend, have some food, dessert, and cheer with your BSSF friends. This year’s party will be extra special. After each year’s Holiday Party, Tim Kong begins searching the area for fantastic items for our curator’s raffle. This year he has outdone himself with 11 different prizes that range from an old twin trunk juniper originally styled by John Naka,hand-painted scrolls, a fat little shohin corked-bark oak, display stands and pots, to a nice Japanese Black Pine. We will also have the docent raffle where we honor BSSF members who have contributed their time as docents at the GSBF Bonsai Garden (Collection North).

What about 2009? Well, the schedule for 2009 is already on paper and we have a great lineup of bonsai events for you. In addition to several hands-on demonstrations at our monthly meetings, we have already scheduled four Bonsai Basics classes, which for the first time, includes Bonsai Basics II, a entire course dedicated to wiring techniques. Two of the classes (Bonsai Basics I & II) will be held in the spring and two more in the Fall. We encourage all of our members to take the Bonsai Basics Classes. Stay tuned to your Fog City Bonsai Newsletter for dates and times to enroll in the courses.

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