Joe Byrd
 BGLM Chairman

Birthdays always make me reflect on my life. Today I am remembering my first day as a docent at the Garden back when it first opened. I was apprehensive about driving into Oakland from my home in Monterey and did not particularly enjoy standing around the Garden not really knowing what I was expected to do.

Fast forward to last Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile I had moved to Oakland to be near my one and only granddaughter and retired to run the BGLM. Although I had been volunteering at the Garden every Friday for over a year, and filled in as a docent in emergencies, I had never really considered myself a docent.

Last Saturday, we again had a shift that was uncovered and no one had stepped up to fill in. So, I gave up plans to attend the BABA picnic and decided to become a docent. However this time, I decided to do it differently. I brought two of my sadly neglected black pines to wire.I set up my re-wiring station just outside the docent house door and was ready to welcome our visitors. My thought was to show visitors a bit about bonsai by doing the wiring. I felt the activity might spur some bonsai discussions. What do you know? It worked. Visitors loved strolling around the Garden by themselves and then stopping by to see what I was doing. The ensuing conversation was wonderful for both them and me. They were delighted to hear more about some of the famous bonsai they had just seen and went back for a second look.

I met couples from New York, Chicago, Seattle and Afghanistan who each had good questions and lots of praise for our garden and the tranquility that they found here. We gained several students for the monthly beginner classes conducted by the East Bay Bonsai Society, received favorable comparisons with other major bonsai museums in the US, and even enrolled a new Garden Member.

The most important benefit of the day was that I really enjoyed my job as a docent and gained a new perspective of our Garden and what it means to our visitors. This experience was a far cry from my first one nearly 15 years ago. Perhaps I am finally old enough to appreciate the value of sharing my love for bonsai and our Garden with our visitors. I hope you don’t take as long as I did to learn this valuable lesson.

Let me know if you would like to try your hand at being a docent.