June Newsletter
2008 Annual Gathering AT JIM DIXON’S CARPET PALACE AND GARDENS
Occidental , CA
Sunday June 22, 2008
Open House and Picnic Begin at 12:00 noon
Show and Tell From the Dixon Collection 2:00-4:00 pm
Jim Dixon continues his welcome support of SFBARS by inviting all members, their guests and our friends from the Armenian Rug Society to his Sonoma hilltop home and carpet palace on what we hope will be a fine weekend of good weather and flowers. Please join us June 22 and admire the lovely house, the carpets and the gardens. (Note one point of etiquette: We don’t wear street shoes in the house, but socks and slippers are fine.)
In order to reduce the demands on Jim’s hospitality we are organizing the event this year as a potluck luncheon. Paper and plastic picnic supplies and basic beverages will be provided, and we’ll set up a container for recycling. Members are requested to bring savory or sweet foods: quiches, dips, Middle Eastern foods, finger foods, pasta salads, savory breads, cheese, fruit, pies, cakes and other sweets.
To coordinate the food we ask that you RSVP by calling Nancy Sheppard (415-315-8285), leaving your name and number and what you would like to bring, or sending her an email at nancy.a.sheppard@jpmorgan.com by Tuesday June 18th. Nancy will confirm to members by phone or email, once she has RSVPs and suggested dishes to make sure we don’t all bring the same thing! It helps if earlier arrivals bring main courses and savories, while later arrivals bring desserts.
Program. Jim will be digging into his always tempting storerooms to show us some fascinating treasures. We will try to start promptly at 2 pm.
This will be our last event for the 2007-2008 Season but we will start up next fall with two events in September.
NEXT SEASON PREVIEW
SFBARS
Event
Saturday, September 6. Symposium on Turkmen Culture and Ethno-history.
To mark the closing of the DeYoung Museum’s exhibit on Turkmen carpets, SFBARS will be co-sponsoring a full day of presentations from scholars specializing in Turkmen culture and history. Koret Auditorium, approximate times: 10 am-4 pm.
SFBARS
Event
September 22 or 23. “The Weavings of the Tribal Nomads of Anatolia.” Speaker: Harald Bohmer. Location and details to follow. Dr. Bohmer’s latest book, Nomads in Anatolia. Encounters with a Vanishing Culture, with contributions by Josephine Powell and Dr. Serife Atlihan, newly published in English, may be obtained from Samy Rabinovic, 110 S. Front Street, Unit 500, Philadelphia, PA 19106, NomadsofAnatolia@aol.com. Price for rug society members is $140 plus $14 for shipping and handling.
A Note from the President
This completes my seventh year as your President, and while there has been quite a lot of turnover of Board Members I am proud that we have been able to organize for you such an active year of carpet events.
I would like to thank Elizabeth Shedd for her sterling work on the Newsletter, taking over from the loyal efforts of Bob Dunn. Jacqueline Van Lang bravely has stepped into the breach left by the departure of Marcia Roberts to carry on the membership effort. Finally Jon Eldan has graciously taken over the role of Secretary of the Society from Sandra Whitman. I hope he realizes we are looking forward to having a Board meeting at his offices to benefit from the great views from the Ferry Building in San Francisco!! I would also like to thank Hilary Dumas for her continuing service in keeping our website current and up and running, sometimes not an easy task.
I am happy to say that we have all benefited from our increasing cooperation and joint activities with the fun-loving and enthusiastic members of the Armenian Rug Society. We had another terrific joint event on May 14th at Simonian Gallery in San Mateo, attended by over 50 people with tasty catering from the chefs at La Mediterranee (San Francisco and Berkeley – SFBARS member Lavon Der Bedrossian, proprietor) and from members of the Armenian Rug Society. The show and tell on tribal weavings of the Zagros Mountains went on for over an hour, and some fabulous pieces were displayed. We hope that this joint event can become a spring tradition among Bay Area carpet aficionados.
Last but not least we will be needing to find a new Treasurer in the next year due to the imminent departure of our long-serving Pat Leiser, and at some point in the not too distant future I would like to hand over the President’s role to someone energetic and ambitious. I always need help with program organizing, taking care of speakers and other related tasks, so if a member would like to assist, please contact me.
Have a great summer and see you in the fall.
S. Peter Poullada
A further note . . . I recently received the following message about Charles Lave whom many of you know.
It is with great sadness that we inform you and your rug society members of the death of Charles Lave, who passed away on May 2. The cause of death was complications arising from myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), a progressive bone marrow stem cell disorder. According to his wife Bethany Mendenhall, he experienced a gradual decline in health following his diagnosis early last fall, and he passed away peacefully last Friday at his Irvine, California, home. As you know, Charles was both a respected textile collector and one of ACOR¢s most influential organizers, having spearheaded, along with Bethany, the management of the dealer fairs for many past rug conferences. He was a towering presence among his rug world peers, and his knowledge, energy, and memorable personality will long be missed. Bethany reports that a memorial service is being planned, probably to take place in the early fall.
Mark Hopkins...for the ACOR Board of Directors
SFBARS Board Members
Peter Poullada President Jon Eldan Secretary Pat Leiser Treasurer Jacqueline Van Lang Membership Elizabeth Shedd Newsletter Hillary Dumas Website Jim Dixon Renee Rausin Sandra Whitman Bob Dunn Murray Eiland Emeritus John Sommer, M.D. Emeritus
Members may contact Peter Poullada at sppoullada@sbcglobal.net.
The San Francisco Bay Area Rug Society is a nonprofit organization whose publications and events are supported by your subscriptions. Individual subscriptions are $40 annually, $60 for two people at the same address. Please send renewals, address changes, or subscriptions to Jacqueline Van Lang, SFBARS Membership, 6 Muir Ave., Piedmont, CA 94610. jvanlang@hotmail.com. For more information about SFBARS, including information about membership, an archive of past Newsletter articles, rug pictures and other features, please explore the SFBARS website at www.sfbars.org.