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Urgent: attend the Conejo Valley Bonsai Society’s November 17 meeting. That’s when all members in good standing will vote for next year’s officers. If you cannot be there, you may notify Nominations Chair Damon DuBois in writing via email how you wish to vote.

Election of the four officers is by simple majority of those members voting in person or in writing.

The slate of officers that Damon has presented is:

• President: Marj Branson
• Vice President: Damon DuBois
• Treasurer: Ken Fuentes
• Secretary: Ken Martin

The election will take place during the business meeting and the new officers automatically are installed at the close of business. The new officers for 2023 then name chairs of our standing committees.

To help the incoming officers, Da-mon has surveyed the existing chairs (see list on page 2) and has confirmed that all but one are willing to continue serving if asked. The chair of the Publicity Committee is open. Please contact Damon or any of the new officers if you are interested in serving in this, or any other position.

That said, the majority of this month’s newsletter is devoted to CVBS’s 19th Annual Bonsai Exhibition, which again is a virtual event that replaced our traditional exhibition at the Gardens of the Word in Thousand Oaks. Members sent photos of their show trees to editor David Whiteside. (See pages 4 – 11.) Thanks to the participants.

At our October meeting, Rick Boyer led a discussion on selecting a tree for bonsai. Rick provided a handout covering what to look for when buying stock.

One of the most important points is to be sure the tree is healthy. Check the roots and branch position. Rick has been in the nursery business for many years and has his own bonsai collection, which he had to restart when he moved to this area. Our dry hot winds killed many of his trees more suited for a different climate. Members had many questions and had a good discussion of their experiences buying trees.

At our November meeting, Ken Fuentes will lead a discussion on wir-ing. This is something we all have a love/hate relationship with but is most important.

We have received the renew application from the Westlake Village Community Center for the 2023 year. This is the room we use for our monthly meeting. The application has been submitted and accepted. Our usual third Thursday of the month has been confirmed.

On November 5, we had a workshop at Rick Boyer’s family-owned Ventura County Nursery. It was a beautiful day, and we all had a good session working on our trees (see story, page 12). Rick said we are welcome to have more workshops there, so keep this in mind for the future.

The Bonsai-A-Thon has been con-firmed for February 18 – 19 at the Huntington Gardens (see page 12). Due to renovations at the Huntington, there will be changes to some of the activities, but all the usual features you have enjoyed in the past will be on!

Remember that December is our Holiday Potluck dinner. This is also our annual fund raiser with both a raffle and an auction. Please support your club by contributing bonsai or bonsai items and bring your money to pick up some bonsai specials.

See you Thursday, November 17