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Featured Bead Society - 1

The Bead Society of Greater Washington

The BSGW was founded in 1983. Since then it has grown to be the largest Bead Society in the world. It has sponsored two International Bead Conferences. It has been a generous giver of grants and puts out one of the sharpest newsletters in the Bead World.

I think of the BSGW as one of "my" bead societies. In 1980 I met with several bead people in Washington and encouraged them to start their own group. They were a little hesitant, thinking of the work involved and "after all, this isn't California."

In 1982 Helen Banes came to Lake Placid with the Parsons School of Design summer program. We had her over for dinner and she thought a society was a possibility.
In May 1983 I stayed with Ronis-Raeburn who hosted a meeting with about a dozen interested people.

Helen was elected president. A classified ad had been placed beforehand and quite an audience came to hear me speak. I don't recall my exact topic, but I made a plea for a new bead society. Thirty people signed up and it was off and running.

Part of the reason for featuring the BSGW is that I have some nice photos of my last visit there in October 1996, thanks to Jo Carpenter. Sorry, I'm in them all.

Helen Banes, bead and fiber artist and first president of the BSGW.

Hilary Whittaker then president of the BSGW. Hilary spent many years in Africa with the Peace Corps.

Margaret Saukel, then vice-president and program chair of the BSGW. Margaret works for the World Bank.

I was mugging by this time.

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