Midwest Bonsai Society
The Midwest Bonsai Society, It's Beginning and It's
Growth
From an article by Ruth Ladany
And interviews with: George Kay
Alex Alexander Louise
Rzeszweski
Jack Wilson Peter Voynovich
The history of the Midwest Bonsai Society has been
difficult to unravel because there were actually two
organizations called the Midwest Bonsai Society with almost
total overlaps of membership. For this reason, some older
members say the Society started in 1957 and others say it
started in 1967.
The
Midwest Bonsai Society started meeting at the D. Hill
Nursery sometime in the middle to late 1950’s. The first
show of the Midwest Bonsai Society had to have been held in
1958 at the D. Hill Nursery. Pictured here is a silver tray
award given at the 6th show which was held in 1964.
George
Kay had graduated from Michigan State with a degree in
horticulture and went to work at D. Hill. He had always had
an interest in bonsai and wanted to start some interest in
bonsai in connection with D. Hill. This was in the late
1950's.
About this time he met Alex Alexander and his partner, Ed
Sevcik, who were also interested in bonsai.
It is important to understand that in 1950 and 1960 there
was almost no information about bonsai in this country.
Tools were almost impossible to find. Pots were available
but they were almost invariably bright and shiny and blue.
I know about this because I had been stationed in Japan and
was interested in bonsai and could not find out anything as
late as 1962.
George and Alex and Ed held the first bonsai show at D.
Hill in 1958. George had found a Japanese architect who
knew something about bonsai and he would come to D. Hill
and give lessons and demonstrations.
In 1967 for some reason the group who were members of the
Midwest Bonsai Society at D. Hill decided to set up a
society to study and further the understanding of bonsai.
George Kay hinted that D. Hill had lost interest in keeping
bonsai at the nursery. Or it is possible that the group
decided it was too far to go to the nursery in Dundee.
There was a meeting in the potting shed at D. Hill Nursery
in 1967 where the Midwest Bonsai Society as we know it
today was established. At this meeting, officers were
elected and it was decided to hold meetings on the first
Monday of every month.
Officers elected: President - Lee Firth
V.P. Program Chairman - Alex Alexander
Treasurer - Ruth Ladany Corres.
Secy. - Jeanelle Kochin Rec. Secy. - Marge
Swenneson
In Ruth Ladany's article she named as members at that time
the following: John and Viola Clay, Norman Downing, La Vita
and Kenny Hill, Jules Ladany,Gay Laubsch, Betty and Paul La
Vigne, Harold Lenz, Alex Leighton, Joe and Lollie Price,
Ruth Rice, Pat Rockford, Irene Schmidt, Ed Scully, and
“perhaps a few more”.
The “few more” might well have included Virginia Ellerman,
Ron Fischer, Jack and Elizabeth Wilson, Les Lange, Harold
Tsunehara.
There is a sad story about Harold Tsunehara. He started a
bonsai garden on Dundee Road where trees and supplies were
sold. His first winter was one of the coldest we had ever
had. The temp dropped down to 20 below zero. He had
trenched his trees and trees for customers and used wood
chips for insulation. The wood chips came up as high as the
trunks of the trees. The wood chips got wet, the freeze
followed and hung on for several days and most of the trees
died.
For a time this new group, still called The Midwest Bonsai
Society, met in each other's homes. Later they started
having their meetings at the Chicago Botanic Garden where
they still meet today.
The first show at the Chicago Botanic Garden was held in
1978, if my math is correct. Shown here is a poster from
the second show held in 1979 and the sixth show. If there
is a poster from the first show, I do not have it.
It is
interesting to note that even the second show was referred
to as the “Mid-America Bonsai Exhibit”. Apparently there
was some restriction even then from calling it the “Midwest
Bonsai Show” perhaps because D. Hill called their show the
Midwest Bonsai Show.
Larry Larimer