On November 8, 2025, at the entrance to the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt, Oakland, California, Della T. Shiba, nine Shiba family members, bonsai garden volunteers, and friends gathered to honor Dr. Seiji Shiba in the unveiling of an Eitokuji stone lantern.
A stone lantern placed at the entrance to a bonsai garden evokes a traditional Japanese aesthetic, symbolizing welcome and tranquility. These lanterns often serve both a decorative and symbolic purpose, guiding visitors into a space of contemplation and harmony.
A plaque read “In honor of Dr. Seiji Shiba, founding Chairman, Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt (1995-2008) Della Shiba and family”
Director Suzanne Muller and Curator Gordon Deeg spoke about Dr. Shiba’s contributions to the creation of the bonsai garden, which opened to the public on November 6, 1999. Afterwards everyone joined in having light refreshments. Those in attendance took time to tour the bonsai trees and suiseki viewing stones on display.
Unveiled Eitokuji stone lanternEitokuji stone lanternMrs. Della T. ShibaMrs. Della T. Shiba and family membersGathering of family, volunteers and friends
Thinking of a gift for this Holiday season? From November 1 thru December 31, 2025, the BGLM 25th Anniversary Book is on sale. The softcover and hardcover books are available for purchase at the BGLM Gift Shop Gift Shop – GSBF Bonsai Garden at lake Merritt.
If you cannot visit the bonsai garden, contact George Haas at gwhaas@comcast.net for details on shipping and handling of your purchase.
BGLM Mammoth Auction & Sale Call for Consignments and Donations
By Suzanne Muller
BGLM Mammoth fundraiser is schedule for March 7 and 8, 2026. The two-day event is roughly four months away!
This November starts the call for auction and sale consignments and donations. Quality bonsai trees, pots, stands, and related bonsai items are needed for the auction. Sale items can be suitable pre-bonsai trees, bonsai trees, pots, stands, tools, and bonsai art.
All auction items must be delivered to BGLM by Saturday, January 10, 2026, 9:00 a.m., so that the items are photographed for the auction catalog. Prepare your items as if show ready!
Please contact Director Suzanne Muller at queueinteriors@comcast.net for delivery instructions and additional information.
The Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt (BGLM) proudly participates each year in Oakland’s Gardens at Lake Merritt Autunm Lights Festival.
The Autumn Lights Festival is the annual fundraiser held each year for the Gardens at Lake Merritt. The Gardens at Lake Merritt were established more than a half century ago. They are a number of themed gardens with varying levels of upkeep. Volunteers provide much needed maintenance assistance to the City of Oakland’s gardening staff. The Gardens at Lake Merritt are a “tranquil oasis in the heart of Oakland and provide enriching public programs.”
Autumn Lights Festival occurred over three magical nights: October 16, 17, and 18, 2025! This year was the 14th year of the annual event.
The Autumn Lights Festival is hosted by the Friends of the Gardens at Lake Merritt. Friends of the Gardens at Lake Merritt organization comprised of all volunteers, formed in 2004. It serves to partner with the City of Oakland to enhance the seven-acre collection of themed gardens in the very heart of Oakland.
By supporting the diverse plant collection, habitats, demonstration gardens and landscapes of the gardens, Friends of the Gardens at Lake Merritt work as a learning resource and a serene location for the public to connect with and enjoy the beauties of nature.
A lot of credit belongs to BGLM volunteers Randi Keppeler and Rick Medress for planning and creating BGLM’s role in Autunm Lights Festival. Randi is the creator and artist for the yearly event. Rick is in charge of the low voltage lighting. Preparations for the event have increased exponentially over the last 14 years. Randi’s contributions to design and works of art never seems to end, and Rick constantly comes up with ways to place low voltage lighting so that every bonsai and garden feature receives the visitors’ attention.
BGLM closed down six days before the event in order to set-up the garden’s array of art forms and lighting. Volunteers worked during those set-up days in staging the bonsai trees and many garden features. Volunteers are also active as docents for the three nights of Autunm Lights Festival.
Each night of the event, four to six docents provide information about bonsai and suiseki viewing stones and ensure the physical security of the garden. The hours of operation are 6:00 to 11:00 PM. The event goes on rain or shine. Luckily, this year’s weather was dry and clear with the sense of autumn in the air.
BGLM volunteers register to work various shifts involving set-up, docents and cleaning up upon closure. Sign-Up Genius online app is used weeks prior to the event. Announcements for signing up encourage individuals to volunteer for the event.
Randi Keppeler is deeply grateful to everyone who volunteered their time to help with docent duties, setup and takedown. Your dedication and generosity made this event possible — we truly couldn’t have done it without them. Every single person came through, and together, we made it happen.
Docents count the number of guests entering the bonsai garden. The number of individuals entering the gate is incredible, numbering 1,800 to more than 2,800. If you missed out of the fun, there is always next year!
Visitors purchase tickets in advance of the event which are limited to 3,500 per night. Funds raised by Autunm Lights Festival are distributed in the form of grants to the themed gardens which includes BGLM.
Afterwards, volunteers spend one day packing up everything and storing the numerous art forms and lights for next year.
For information about Autunm Lights Festival 2026, you can contact Randi Keppeler at calshohin@yahoo.com.
Autumn Lights Festival at the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt – Volunteers URGENLY Needed!
By Randi Keppeler
We especially need volunteers for security of the bonsai garden from 6:00 pm to 11 pm, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Just as continuous care for each bonsai tree is critical, so too is caring for the ecosystem that surrounds the tree. This includes not only the soil, water, and nutrients but also the surrounding physical and social infrastructure and the communication of the art of bonsai to new minds. The City of Oakland has wholeheartedly embraced our bonsai clubs and has worked to keep the Bonsai Garden as well as the other Gardens of Lake Merritt thriving. The Autumn Lights Festival, held annually in October, is a fundraiser to help the City with the cost of maintaining the Gardens. The BGLM opens our doors during the Autumn Lights Festival as a way to say Thank You and to give back to the citizens of Oakland. This cycle of receive and give back is part of the greater bonsai ecosystem.
Please join us in this effort. If you have ideas for a lighting display, we would like to work with you to make it happen. If you can spare us some time with preparation, setup, being a docent during the festival, or helping with cleanup on the final day, any and all help is greatly needed and much appreciated. This year the Autumn Lights Festival will be from Thursday October 16th through Saturday October 18th with cleanup on Sunday October 19th.
Landscape lighting that highlights each and every bonsai tree in the garden is installed in the weeks leading up to October’s event. If you have time during the week and some experience with landscape lighting, please let us know. Saturday October 11th and Sunday the 12th we can use help installing rope lights along the walkways. This will keep kids (and parents) on the pathways. Some of the more weather resistant accent lighting displays are set up at this time as well. On Wednesday October 15th and Thursday October 16th during the daytime, the less weather resistant accent lighting is installed. During the Festival itself, we need volunteers to be docents and samurai guards. With over 2000+ visitors each night we need people to keep the bonsai trees safe and to answer visitors’ questions. And finally on Sunday October 19th from 9am to roughly 2pm we take everything down and box it up in preparation for next year.
While we cannot gift families with admission tickets, we can get the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night docents’ free admission as volunteers. With enough docents, we rotate guard duties so that each person can spend time exploring the rest of the Autumn Lights Festival. We hope that you will join us in having fun and giving back to the community around us.
We greatly appreciate it if you can help us out during any of the following periods:
SETUP:
Saturday October 11th, 9 am to 3 pm
Saturday October 12th, Noon to 3 pm
Wednesday October 15th, 9 am to 3 pm
Thursday October 16th, Noon to 4 pm
FESTIVAL GUARD/DOCENT
Thursday October 16th, 6 pm to 11 pm
Friday October 17th, 6 pm to 11 pm
Saturday October 18th, 6 pm to 11 pm
TAKE DOWN/CLEAN UP:
Sunday October 19th, 9 am until we are done (usually by 1:30 or 2 pm)
Autumn Lights Festival at the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt – Volunteers Needed!
Just as continuous care for each bonsai tree is critical, so too is caring for the ecosystem that surrounds the tree. This includes not only the soil, water, and nutrients but also the surrounding physical and social infrastructure and the communication of the art of bonsai to new minds. The City of Oakland has wholeheartedly embraced our bonsai clubs and has worked to keep the Bonsai Garden as well as the other Gardens of Lake Merritt thriving. The Autumn Lights Festival, held annually in October, is a fundraiser to help the City with the cost of maintaining the Gardens. The BGLM opens our doors during the Autumn Lights Festival as a way to say Thank You and to give back to the citizens of Oakland. This cycle of receive and give back is part of the greater bonsai ecosystem.
Please join us in this effort. If you have ideas for a lighting display, we would like to work with you to make it happen. If you can spare us some time with preparation, setup, being a docent during the festival, or helping with cleanup on the final day, any and all help is greatly needed and much appreciated. This year the Autumn Lights Festival will be from Thursday October 16th through Saturday October 18th with cleanup on Sunday October 19th.
Landscape lighting that highlights each and every bonsai tree in the garden is installed in the weeks leading up to October’s event. If you have time during the week and some experience with landscape lighting, please let us know. Saturday October 11th and Sunday the 12th we can use help installing rope lights along the walkways. This will keep kids (and parents) on the pathways. Some of the more weather resistant accent lighting displays are set up at this time as well. On Wednesday October 15th and Thursday October 16th during the daytime, the less weather resistant accent lighting is installed. During the Festival itself, we need volunteers to be docents and samurai guards. With over 1000 visitors each night we need people to keep the bonsai trees safe and to answer visitors’ questions. And finally on Sunday October 19th from 9am to roughly 2pm we take everything down and box it up in preparation for next year.
While we cannot gift families with admission tickets, we can get the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night docents’ free admission as volunteers. With enough docents, we rotate guard duties so that each person can spend time exploring the rest of the Autumn Lights Festival. We hope that you will join us in having fun and giving back to the community around us.
We greatly appreciate it if you can help us out during any of the following periods:
SETUP:
Saturday October 11th, 9am to 3pm
Saturday October 12th, noon to 3pm
Wednesday October 15th, 9am to 3pm
Thursday October 16th, noon to 4pm
FESTIVAL GUARD/DOCENT
Thursday October 16th, 6pm to 11pm
Friday October 17th, 6pm to 11pm
Saturday October 18th, 6pm to 11pm
TAKE DOWN/CLEAN UP:
Sunday October 19th, 9am until we are done (usually by 1:30 or 2pm)
There is a sign-up page at Sign-Up Genius: SIGN-UP GENIUS
Please contact Randi Keppeler (calshohin@yahoo.com or 650-773-5119) if you can help or if you have any questions.
October 1st is the time to begin thinking about the Mammoth fundraiser for the bonsai garden. Director Suzanne Muller is the chair for the Mammoth Auction & Sale in 2026. It is not too early to start considering donations and consignments of bonsai trees, pots, stands, and related bonsai articles. You can find new procedures and required forms online at MAMMOTH AUCTION & SALE 2026. A complete online catalog of auction items will be available in January 2026.
The Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt (BGLM) was established to carry forward the legacy of members of the bonsai and suiseki community. The collection comprises their artistic creations cultivated over their lives: creations that inspire the many thousands of visitors that come to the garden each year. Within each tree or viewing stone at the garden lives a spirit of the original creator, and the core mission of the BGLM is to keep that spirit alive and growing.
Although this special quality of legacy living onward is most often manifested within the many stones, trees, plants, mosses, and other living things at the heart of Lake Merritt, today we have the privilege to share a different form of that enduring spirit; the incredible impact of two men whose generosity will live on through the BGLM itself.
The BGLM has the incredible honor of being a custodian of the legacy of Edward W. Pye and Dr. M. Robert Harris in the form of a $50,000 gift from the Pye-Harris Legacy Project, Inc.
Edgar Pye was a pioneering social worker whose life was devoted to inclusion, advocacy, and public service. His career spanned decades of transformative work, from helping World War II refugees and veterans, to drafting legislation that created California’s Regional Centers for the developmentally disabled. He was a tireless advocate for the aging, the poor, and the LGBTQ+ community.
Dr. M. Robert Harris, Edgar’s partner of nearly 60 years, was a distinguished psychiatrist and educator. Known for his gentle nature and inexhaustible empathy, Dr. Harris believed in helping people return to their lives rather than remain in prolonged analysis. A lifelong gardener, he often tended the Terrace Garden at St. Paul’s Towers in Oakland, where he and Edgar lived for many years. That garden now bears his name, The Harris Terrace Garden—a quiet tribute to a man who cultivated healing and beauty personally and professionally.
Living nearby, they loved and often visited the BGLM and made generous financial donations to support us.
The income from the $50,000 Pye-Harris Legacy Foundation gift will support various important projects relating to both the BGLM’s physical infrastructure and the staff that protect and maintain the collection. Some of the projects that will be supported by this include:
Provide advanced classes for the curator team from expert bonsai teachers.
Provide for capital improvements to the infrastructure.
Design and build new stands for the collection.
As Suzanne Muller, Director of the BGLM, shared: “One of the experiences I appreciate most is being at the BGLM and seeing the look on a first-time guest’s face as they approach the entrance and see the beauty – the joy we see in that moment is priceless. Similarly, the warmth we receive from returning visitors feels like welcoming an old friend. Among those cherished friends were Edgar Pye and Dr. Harris, whose deep love for the BGLM was matched only by their generosity. Their gifts have helped us share that same joy and beauty with countless guests; and with this gift their impact will grow far into the future. We are so grateful for them, and for every guest – new and returning – who walks through our the BGLM’s doors.
This gift reminds us how important it is to protect not just the creative works themselves – the bonsai and suiseki – but the experiences and communities they nourish. For volunteers, docents, and visitors alike, the BGLM is a place of learning and reflection—where people slow down, ask questions, and make meaning. Over time, we’ll share updates as these new initiatives take shape—and spotlight the volunteers and donors who help make it possible.
As the BGLM continues to grow, so too does the legacy of these two extraordinary individuals. Their spirit will live on with every docent-led tour, every educational program, and every visitor who pauses to find beauty, inspiration, and feeling as they walk through the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt.
Dr. Robert Harris left with Edgar Pye, right, at a celebration.
Left is a plaque honoring Dr. Harris for his contribution to the Terrace Garden, renamed Harris Terrace Garden. Right is Dr. Harris in the garden.
Below are images of the Harris Terrace Garden at St. Paul’s Towers.
BGLM is now in its 26th year. Open to the public since November 6, 1999, at the Gardens of Lake Merritt, Oakland, California, USA. Last year, BGLM celebrated its 25 years of bonsai artistry and community dedication by publishing a stunning commemorative photo album. This publication is a rich tribute to the garden’s legacy, blending history, heartfelt volunteer stories, and breathtaking visuals of bonsai trees and suiseki viewing stones.
This photo album can become a treasured part of your personal library. Shipping available. To order a photo album, contact George Haas at gwhaas@comcast.net.
I want to thank you for your volunteer service to the Bonsai Garden. The garden would not function without you or your dedication and time. In order to honor all of you, we will have a Volunteer Appreciation Day celebration on September 1, 2025, from 11:00am to 2:30pm, Labor Day.
The event will be catered by Ann’s Catering in Oakland.
Please RSVP to me only with the number in your party and your selection for meat or vegetarian.
