Tag: Autunm Lights Festival

Autumn Lights Festival at the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt – Volunteers URGENLY Needed!

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)

There is a sign-up page at SIGN UP GENIUS:

Please contact Randi Keppeler (calshohin@yahoo.com or 650-773-5119) if you can help or if you have any questions.

Autumn Lights Festival

The Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt (BGLM) takes pride in Oakland’s Autumn Lights Festival (ALF). The three-night event raises funds for the Gardens at Lake Merritt, which includes the BGLM.

The Gardens at Lake Merritt were established more than a half century ago. They are a collection of themed gardens requiring varying levels of maintenance. Volunteers provide much needed care and maintenance. The gardens are a tranquil oasis in the heart of Oakland and provide public educational programs. (https://gardensatlakemerritt.org/)

Autumn Lights Festival

The Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt (BGLM) takes pride in Oakland’s Autumn Lights Festival (ALF). The three-night event raises funds for the Gardens at Lake Merritt, which includes the BGLM.

The Gardens at Lake Merritt were established more than a half century ago. They are a collection of themed gardens requiring varying levels of maintenance. Volunteers provide much needed care and maintenance. The gardens are a tranquil oasis in the heart of Oakland and provide public educational programs. (https://gardensatlakemerritt.org/)