About Us
The Pioneer Valley
Bonsai Sociaty
The Pioneer Valley Bonsai Society is a community of bonsai enthusiasts in Western New England, coming together to learn, share, and enjoy the art of bonsai.
Welcome to the Pioneer Valley Bonsai Society!
The Pioneer Valley Bonsai Society (formerly the Greater Springfield Bonsai Society) is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering and expanding the knowledge and practice of Bonsai in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts.
This is accomplished though our monthly meetings, workshops, guest artists, and annual member exhibit.
Meet Our Executive Board
Douglas Taylor
President | 26 Years of Experience
Like many of his generation Doug first saw bonsai in the Karate Kid movies. He was inspired to try it for himself after a visit to Cape Cod Bonsai Nursery in the summer of 1999.
Membership in the Bonsai Society has afforded Doug the opportunity to participate in workshops with some of the best bonsai professionals from around the globe, however his main teachers have been Nick Lenz and Suthin Sukosolvisit. Since 2012 he's been studying with Sensei Boon Manakativipart.
Doug’s collection consists of too many species to list, but his favorite is American Larch.
Joe Polaski
Vice President
Joe worked in greenhouses throughout high school and college and played around with Bonsai. He pursued horticulture at UCONN and upon graduation got a job at the IRS. For the next 40 years joe was in banking and financial sales.
Joe came back to Bonsai 7 years ago when his three children graduated from college. Fortunately for him (and really bad for Doug Taylor) Joe only lives a mile from Doug. Joe uses his skill set to help grow club membership and find bonsai materials for the club and Mid-Atlantic. Joe LOVES a bargain. He also loves giant trees. His biggest bonsai is an 8' Red Pine!!
Joe has well over 100 trees, and especially loves pines and larches. He really loves our club and the diverse group of members that he works with.
David Bressem
Treasurer
David has had a lifelong interest in nature and plants, but it wasn't until the early 90"s that he tried to do some bonsai on his own with limited success, but then he stumbled upon an exhibit by Pioneer Valley Bonsai Society (back than called the Bonsai Society of Greater Springfield) and has been an active member of that club and/or the Hartford Club ever since.
An active and sometimes impatient person, he found that the art and practice of Bonsai helped him to slow down, when he realized that you cannot make a tree grow faster than it will.
Dave appreciates the natural, old tree in nature look, often using rocks and slabs in his designs.
Mauro Daniele
Secretary
Mauro’s passion for bonsai began at the age of seven when he saw Mr Miyagi’s “baby trees” in 1984’s Karate Kid; he has been actively practicing bonsai since 1996.
Mauro has been a student of Boon Manakitivipart since 2014. a member of the PVBS since 2013 and club secretary since 2016.
Since then his collection has expanded considerably, but he focuses his attention on pine, juniper, and azalea.
William Swain
Club Librarian
Bill caught the Bonsai bug in a fashion similar to many others, seeing the Karate Kid movie, then saying” But I followed the instructions to a tee how did I kill it?” This led to finding and joining our local club, he’s been a member for close to 20 years.
Bill's favorite trees are Shimpaku Junipers, but his collection includes Larch, Scotts Pine, Azaleas, and Ficus
MidAtlantic Bonsai Societies
The Pioneer Valley Bonsai Society is a member of the MidAtlantic Bonsai Societies (MABS).
MABS is the organization of eleven individual bonsai societies located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
The purpose of both the individual societies and the overall organization is to educate the public about the art of bonsai. For MABS, this is accomplished primarily through or annual regional meeting for which we bring in some of the top artists in the world.
For more information please visit:
MidAtlanticBonsai.org or Facebook @ MidatlanticBonsaiSociety
