• The Cheshire Bonsai Society is looking for reserve staffers for their RHS Chelsea stall, who are willing to be "on call" for one or more days from 23-27 May in case of emergencies affecting their own members (e.g. rail strikes).  This would come with an entry pass that can be used outside a volunteer's 6-hour shift, but only if we are called up.  Please get in touch if you are interested, preferably by end of April.

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• The Federation of British Bonsai Societies (FoBBS), with which we are affiliated, has put out their annual call for submissions for their stand at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in late May.  This is a good opportunity for members with small collections to get their trees in front of a prestigious audience.  Full details of how to submit your tree are available on request; the submission deadline is 16 April.  Submitters will be offered a stand-minding role.

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• On 22nd April (Saturday), Bonsai Kai member Alex Labram will be running "Bonsai on a Budget", an introductory full-day bonsai workshop, at Walworth Garden community centre in Vauxhall.  Price: £85.  This is likely to be below the skill level of most Bonsai Kai members, but if any friends or relatives "had one once... but it died" then please send them Alex's way!

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• Hely has drawn our attention to an interesting article (The Week magazine, 11 Feb 2023) on Masahiko Kimura, probably the most influential bonsai practitioner of the last fifty years.  Kimura was, notably, the first person to take a power tool to a bonsai... at least with any expectation of being paid for the result!  The article gives a fascinating insight into the Japanese apprenticeship system.

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• We are sad to inform you that, after falling ill last Summer, Janet Hobbs, a loyal and long serving member, passed away in November 2022. Her last attendance was the September 22 meeting, for which Colin Ellis kindly arranged her transport; she was most grateful as she had not had the confidence to leave home and travel on her own to our meetings for some months prior to that.
  
  Janet appears to have joined the club in the early 1990s: our membership records are not clear on the precise year. She was a member of the Committee for over 20 years and during that time was a major contributor particularly to the planning of  annual meeting programmes, including introducing the concept of the a tree walk each Summer. She was a regular contributor to Table Shows, winning "best in show" on many occasions.
  
  Janet was a lovely person and will be missed by all who knew her.