NABF Newsletter #5

Feature #11

Utah Valley’s “Wasatch Bonsai Society”
Gets Off To A Blooming Success

by Wasatch Bonsai Society

Recently, the Wasatch Bonsai Society provided a formal Tokoname-style exhibit to introduce the new club to the central Utah region. The show, which included more than 40 trees, was a great success, and attracted more than 1,500 visitors over three days.

“That’s incredible success for something this area of the state has never seen before,” said Tosh Metzger, president of the club. One key in the group’s overwhelming success was due to the extensive public relations effort that Metzger and others put forth in the weeks preceding the event. “We carried the word through print and broadcast media, and that really helped,” said Metzger.

Drew Williams, vice president of the club and bonsai instructor at Utah Valley State College, was a featured guest on the ABC television affiliate in Salt Lake City for two days. “Good Things Utah, a state-wide morning show, gave us two 5-minute segments to talk about bonsai,” said Williams. “We didn’t have a lot of time, but the fact that it was of such interest, to have us back two days in a row, really says something about the interest level.”

Traditionally in Utah, formal bonsai events have taken place in the Salt Lake City area, some 50 miles to the north. This show that took place in Provo heralds a new level of awareness and interest outside the Salt Lake metropolitan area. “This region of the state is big enough to have its own club—the show definitely proved that,” said Metzger.

Among the trees that were displayed, a beautiful, 18-year-old pyracantha, nicknamed “Eye of the Tiger,” was grown from seed by Utah’s bonsai master, Ben Scolari. Other bonsai included a 60-year-old Chinese Elm, and a triple-grafted Japanese Maple, called “Wee Three Trees.”

For those who are interested in finding out more about the Wasatch Bonsai Society, their website is at www.wasatchbonsaisociety.com.