First in the Carolinas. The Best in Carolina Bonsai for Over 40 Years. Established in 1964.

Early History:  The First 30 Years

E. Felton Jones, First Society President

A chance meeting in 1964 between E. Felton Jones and a Ms. Baker at the Sears garden center, Charlotte, was the catalyst for the BSOC. Some of Felton’s bonsai displayed at the garden center caught the attention of Ms. Baker, an Ikebana enthusiast. A series of introductions followed and Felton was invited by the Ikebana Society to show some of his bonsai in their display at the 1964 Southern Spring Home and Flower Show in Charlotte. During the week-long show thousands saw the five "little trees" on display but a special eight people were captured by their beauty and pursued their interest by meeting the trees’ owner, Felton Jones. One by one they made their way to Felton’s newly formed Little Pines Nursery in Mathews. Felton had just recently returned to his native North Carolina after studying bonsai with John Naka and Frank Nagata in California.

The first meeting of the entire group was held on November 15, 1964 at Little Pines Nursery outdoor studio with 12 charter members present. These included business men, housewives, doctors, students and others meeting as a study group to expand their horizons in the art of bonsai. It was decided that the organization would call itself the Bonsai Society of the Carolinas until a more suitable Japanese name could be decided upon.

The first meeting was reported in the Sunday, January 10, 1965 edition of "The Charlotte Observer" by Elizabeth Lawrence, author and southern garden expert. The following Sunday, Ms. Lawrence gave a detailed accounting of her visit to Felton’s nursery and the beautiful bonsai she observed there.

The first officers elected at that November 1964 meeting were the following:
E. Felton Jones - President
Preston Nowlin - Vice President
Mrs. Tina Todd - Publicity
Mrs. Millicent "Misty" Stuntz - Corresponding Secretary

Additional early members include the following:
Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Urban of Aiken, SC
Al Ross
Betsy & Claude Freeman
Mildren Biberstein
George and Florence Hull, Chattanooga, TN
Cad Bruns
Frank Thomas (Felton’s first student)
Charles Saunders
Lucy & Grover Gantt
Bob Cordell

During those early years there were no national bonsai organizations so in order to share information with other bonsai enthusiasts, BSOC affiliated itself with the Bonsai Society of Greater New York and received that organization’s newsletter. Membership then was not as open as it is today. It was required that prospective new members be recommended for membership by two current members. Total membership was limited to fifteen as there was no more room at the nursery. One report said that the club met at the nursery, twice in the spring and twice in the fall, to study the art of bonsai, using as their text, Miniature Trees and Landscapes by Yuji Yoshimura. In a July, 1990 summary of the history of BSOC, Claude Freeman, Lucy Gantt and "B" Little reported that meetings were usually held at the member’s homes on a revolving basis, with impromptu study sessions held each Sunday at the Freeman’s.

Speakers for the BSOC during the early years included:

Dorothy Young
Marion Gyllenswan
John Naka


The following are the presidents that have served the society since its inception:

* Thanks to E. Felton Jones for newspaper clippings, copies of newsletters and his personal recollections; Claude Freeman, Lucy Gantt and "B" Little for a summary of the history of BSOC, published in the July 27, 1990 BSOC newsletter; and "B" Little’s personal recollections.