MABA Convention News

MABA's next convention will be hosted by the West Michigan Bonsai Club and takes place June 25-27, 2010 at the Amway Grand Hotel in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The West Michigan Bonsai Club is pleased to announce that Kathy Shaner will be the convention's headlining bonsai master. See below for the newly released demonstration and workshop schedules. Registration forms are almost ready. Stay tuned.

MABA 2010 Demonstration Schedule

Friday, June 25
8:00 AM-Noon, Kathy Shaner - Japanese Weeping Willow
8:00 AM-Noon, Andy Smith - Ponderosa Pine
9:00 AM-Noon, Jose Cueto - Group Planting
2:00-3:30 PM, Jack Wikle - Growing Bonsai Indoors Under Fluorescent Light
7:30-9:30 PM, Kathy Shaner & Andy Smith - Side-by-Side Shimpaku Junipers

Saturday, June 26
8:00 AM-Noon, Jim Doyle - Coastal Redwood
9:00 AM-Noon, Pauline Muth - Blended Mame Planting
9:00 AM-Noon, Steve Pilacik - Japanese Black Pine
10:00 AM, Jack Wikle - Bonsai Display at Hidden Lake Gardens
2:00-3:30 PM, Jack Wikle - Things I Didn't Know as a Bonsai Beginner

Sunday, June 27
9:00 AM-Noon, Kathy Shaner - Species TBD

MABA 2010 Workshop Schedule

Friday morning, June 25
#1 9:00 AM-Noon, Scott Yelich - Dwarf African Strangler Fig, 8 participants, $90
#2 9:00 AM-Noon, Jack Douthitt - Species TBD
#3 9:00 AM-Noon, Frank Mihalic - Children's Workshop

Friday afternoon, June 25
#4 1:00-5:00 PM, Kathy Shaner - Japanese Weeping Willow, 7 participants, $250
#5 1:00-5:00 PM, Andy Smith - Ponderosa Pine, 8 participants, $195
#6 1:00-5:00 PM, Jose Cueto - Group Planting, 8 participants, $135

Saturday morning, June 26
#7 8:00 AM-Noon, Kathy Shaner - Shimpaku Juniper, 7 participants, $185
#8 9:00 AM-Noon, Steve Pilacik - Japanese Black Pine, 12 participants, $150
#9 9:00 AM-Noon, Scott Yelich - Buttonwood, 8 participants, $95

Saturday afternoon, June 26
#10 1:00-5:00 PM, Kathy Shaner - Bring Your Own Tree, 7 participants, $95
#11 1:00-5:00 PM, Jim Doyle - Four Shohin Trees, 8 participants, $175
#12 1:00-5:00 PM, Pauline Muth - Blended Mame Planting, 8 participants, $135
#13 1:00-5:00 PM, Steve Pilacik - Japanese Black Pine, 12 participants, $150

Sunday morning, June 27
#14 9:00 AM-Noon, Jose Cueto - Species TBD, 8 participants
$15 9:00 AM-Noon, Jack Douthitt - Species TBD, 8 participants

For More Information

Links to more information on our demonstrators, workshop leaders and vendors:

Jose Cueto
Jack Douthitt, past-president of BCI and author of Bonsai - The Art of Living Sculpture
Jim Doyle, Nature's Way Nursery, Pennsylvania
Frank Mihalic, Wildwood Gardens, Ohio
Pauline Muth, PFM Bonsai Studio, New York
Steve Pilacik, Matsu Momiji Bonsai Nursery, North Carolina
Andy Smith, Golden Arrow Bonsai, Deadwood, South Dakota
Jack Wikle, Bonsai Collection Curator of Michigan's Hidden Lake Gardens
Scott Yelich, Eagle Creek Bonsai, Indianapolis, Indiana

Additional information will be posted here as it becomes available, but you can also check the West Michigan Bonsai Club website for updates as well. To be put on the convention mailing list, contact Mollie Hollar, info@basicallybonsai.com.

If you'd like a taste of what to expect from a MABA convention, check out Vice-President, Steve Moore's report on the MABA 2008 Convention in Indianapolis. Follow this link for Steve's report. (Or find it in the Articles section on the lower left.)

March 2010

Welcome to the Mid-America Bonsai Alliance web site. The Mid-America Bonsai Alliance (MABA) in partnership with our host club, the West Michigan Bonsai Club, looks forward to seeing you at our upcoming convention in June. As noted in the MABA Convention News, an outstanding group of artists has been assembled to work with and I know they will have some great material in the workshops. As always there will be a large number of vendors at the convention to help you find whatever you may have been looking for to feed your bonsai desires.

As I write this I cannot help but think of our bonsai community and who we are. We are, to say the least, an interesting conglomeration of enthusiasts. We are diverse. We are eclectic. We are an assemblage of elements ranging from amateurs to professionals from every country, racial, religious and ethnic group there is. We tend to rise above our differences, be they economic, social, political, educational, generational, and cultural or gender related. In the bonsai world rocket scientists interact with laborers, loggers work hand in hand with conservationists, liberals befriend conservatives and professional nurserymen help and guide beginners. Enthusiasts from all over the world who otherwise might never meet find they speak the same language. This is what a bonsai convention is all about. You, too, are a part of this bonsai world, so come join us in Grand Rapids June 25-27.

Please consider attending this convention as it is centrally located in our region and except for the far reaches of the MABA area you are probably within a 4 to 6 hour drive away. And as everyone knows, you can get a lot more bonsai stuff in your car than you can get into the overhead storage compartment on a plane. If you have never been to Grand Rapids June is a great time to visit. Grand Rapids is large enough to have it all – the world class Frederik Meijer Botanical Gardens and Sculpture Park, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum and of course an amazing variety of restaurants and shops.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Mid-America Bonsai Alliance, it is a group of clubs located throughout the central part of the United States and our main purpose is to promote the use of plant species that are native to this region to be used as bonsai and to also provide a bonsai convention close to home that offers a good value for your money. We try to hold a convention every other year and move its location within the region so that all clubs that are within the MABA organization have the opportunity to host the event. These conventions are a good fundraiser for your local club as the host club keeps 65% of all profits from the convention. This can be a real boost to your club and the activities that your club can do with these funds.

The MABA board will be looking for potential hosts for the year 2012 convention and now is the time to start discussing with your club members about considering hosting the next convention. I will be honest there is some planning work that needs to take place and then there is the work during the convention, but the payoff is and has been the amount of money that is generated for your club. So please have discussions with your club members and consider being the host club in 2012.

The MABA region is comprised of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio and Ontario Canada. There is no membership fee and any club within the region is cordially invited to join. While we are organized as an alliance of clubs we realize there are those who have an interest in bonsai but do not live close to a club location. You are also welcome to join. Simply forward your name, address and email address to the MABA Secretary at the address in the Contact MABA section.

Again, thank you for visiting the MABA web site.

Paul Weishaar
President Mid-America Bonsai Alliance

If you have any comments or questions please let me, or any of the other board members know your concerns.

Paul Weishaar, President, e-mail: pweishaar3@comcast.net, phone: 317-846-2640
Steve Moore, Vice President, e-mail: treebeard20@gmail.com, phone: 574-268-7749
Janine Catchpole, Secretary, e-mail: J9-Catchpole@comcast .net, phone: 217-494-8510
Ron Fortmann, Treasurer, e-mail: rfortmann@charter.net, phone: 262-490-8733