Is it a reception, party, grand get together, or friendly competition? I have to say its all of the above. It is a time for bonsai friends to talk about the show and how the year has shaped up for most people. It is also the time of the year the first main show dawns upon us as this marks the beginning of the show season for 2016.
We had a ton of visitors coming from around the area to the reception this year. But the masses came from San Diego Bonsai Club on their annual bus trip North. It was gracious of them to support this activity. I'm jealous because they were able to visit House of Bonsai and San Gabriel Nursery before come to the show/reception!
They were not the winners for the catagory for "longest distance traveled"! John and George Egert from New Mexico won that this year hands down. John and George were also our guest Saturday demostrator at our 1pm demostration show for our general public visitors. John also donated his creation to the club raffle table the same night! Thank you John and George for your support!
I can not say more about this part of our club support! This is our kitchen crew, the unsung heroes of the reception. They are the heart and soul of the reception and never gets recognized for their hardwork. Debbie Shiba is the captain of this ship and her crew is always awesome!
I can not say more about this team! Barely having enough time to even take a photo!
Here is Gary Lai, another club member that springs into action without complaint.
This is a final photo for the kitchen crew of 2016!
If you wonder why I say they are the heart and soul of the reception just look at this line! Roughly 150ish people and everything went without a hitch!
This year we did not have the taiko drummers as entertainment but had the best styling competition ever! We had Lyland Cypress for ready for our 3 clubs to attack!
TEAM - Dai Ichi
Mel Ikeda and John Van de Wouw
TEAM - San Deigo
Bob Hale and Michael Sykes
TEAM - Santa Anita
Dave Miles and Peter Macasieb
Each team played to their strongest suit while adapting to their chosen material of the night.
Team Dai Ichi went for the raft style. It true that Dai Ichi goes big or goes home! Dai Ichi had planned to do a raft without seeing the rough stock before hand. Such a gamble!
Mel also throw some of his magic dust at me during his styling....or was it just dirt?
Team San Diego went for the path of least resistance and saw a windswept style.
Team Santa Anita saw a nice sokkan style and was the first to finish in the competition.
Here is a picture of all the trees from the competition. Honestly, I could not have done any better than these guys put in for what it seems only minutes. Congrats Team-Dai Ichi, San Diego and Santa Anita!
Here are the final pictures of each tree:
Last but not least what I like to reflect on is our 2016 Nagata-Komai Award Recipient - Marge Blasingame for her excellence in teaching and encouraging the art of bonsai. Marge really has been a corner stone in every club she has been part of. Marge continue what you have been doing and have an awesome 2016!
Well all thats it for this year's show. If you like to read more about the show and reception, Shirley Quan wrote up a nice special issue about it! Click Here for Special Issue Newsletter