Welcome Dear Members,  

I am deeply honored to be your new president. With an invigorated energy, we are planning a great year with a host of fun and educational events.  As the planet turns, we wish to go green and cut down on paper usage by encouraging all members to visit our wonderful web site that Tony and Lillian Todaro have so kindly offered to continue to maintain for us. We want to keep you well informed of upcoming events both within the society and in the city and environs at large. Our goal is to move as much to the web site and only mail fliers to those who are not connected to the internet.

Diana Friedberg in Bali with giant glass bead made in the workshops in Java

We encourage you to contribute noteworthy news you wish to share with the members. Email a short announcement in the form of a press release to BeadNews@beadsocietyla.org so Tony can post it on the Member News page. 

We are also introducing a "Member's Links" page for members that have their own bead-related web site Now, we can all share the creativity of each member to really see and appreciate what they do.  This will be a new and wonderful way of networking and sharing our work with other members and fans. Email MemberLinks@beadsocietyla.org with your web site info.

To encourage all our members to visit our web site regularly, we will have a Mystery Bead competition each month.  A mystery bead will be pictured on this website for discussion and identification at the next monthly meeting. The winner ( the answers and names will be drawn from a pool) will receive a handsome prize.

To further share our knowledge of each other’s creativity, Lois Rose Rose has kindly offered to do a monthly "show and tell" table at the door before the main event where the artist can exhibit some of her/his favorite creations. Email Lois at contactme@loisroserose.com or phone her at 310-836-0570 if you wish to be considered and make arrangements with her for  your special showing.

Our monthly meetings will continue to be at the Beverly Hills Country Club on the first Wednesday of the month -- unless there is some other event or field trip, in which case you will be notified of this change well in advance.   We are going to kick off the  year on September 12th with a luncheon party at my house – 12 noon to 3pm. BRING A FRIEND, BRING A PLATE OF EATS for 6, BRING BEADS OR NECKLACE TO TRADE (TO FIT ON A TRAY).

We want to welcome anyone who has an interest in beads and sign them up for membership!!! So bring along a potential member or two – we want to meet more beadaholics! We will supply refreshments, You will all be receiving special invites in the mail thanks to volunteers Fred Krieger and Doris Goodman, and of course, our gracious new membership volunteer Kay Deeney will be there to sign everyone in, and Lisa Shatts, our fabulous new treasurer to collect dues!  

This event will be held at:

6133 Pat Ave Woodland Hills, CA 91367  

Please RSVP 818-887-1319 or email dianafriedberg@sbcglobal.net  

We are thrilled that Angie and Tim Miekle are organizing the Biannual Bead Bazaar. As of writing, the applications and membership forms should be in the mail. The next bazaar is October 25, 2009.  Future dates for 2010 are April 24 and Oct 24. Our new team are doing a wonderful job and we thank them for volunteering to organize this huge event.  

Also in the planning, is an excursion to the Bead Museum in Glendale, Phoenix Arizona. (Final date to be announced) We will provide a bus and will make this event as affordable as we can for every member. The museum is a treasure and they have great exhibits. A visit to the Heard Museum will also be included. Jamie Allen will give a slide show on Chinese knotting and Saturday will be a full day knotting workshop with Jamie at the museum.  So bring your beads, or you can shop at the museum -- they have a fine store, as well. I promise a fun and educational weekend, as well as increasing knowledge to enhance your beading talents!! 

Dinner will be in Scottsdale with a little time to browse all the art galleries. We are still working on the price but promise it will be most affordable. Find a friend to share a room with and this can keep the costs down even further! The Bead Society will sponsor the transport!  

The Christmas dinner party will be December 2nd at the Beverly Hills Country Club. We have a special surprise group to entertain you, and we will have an all-inclusive impromptu fashion show under the experienced direction of Lois.  Start planning your outfit and special beads, as we will have prizes for the most outrageous ensemble, as well as the most elegant and the most innovative, plus maybe some other categories. We will keep you posted.

So join us for a terrific bead-filled year! Watch the web site for details!  We have some great speakers and other interesting events in the pipeline.  Look forward to seeing you all at the garden party at my home.  

Diana Friedberg
President