From Pink Shirts to Bonsai Passion – Christopher Cosenza’s Story

My name is Christopher Cosenza and I am the proud winner of the New England Bonsai Gardens 500 Shirts-500 Stories $1K Gift Certificate Giveaway. 

I know the scientific community can't back me up on this, but I'm convinced the planets were aligned on Sept. 13, 2025. ... at least they were for me. The series of events leading up to (and during) the Ninth U.S. Bonsai National Exhibition weekend that ultimately got me to write this story, were quite remarkable.  

My wife Jeanne and I had a late start Sept. 12 and drove furiously for five hours from our son's home in Central Connecticut to Rochester, N.Y., in hopes of getting our credentials before the Nationals crew went home for the day. But alas, we just missed our chance by 10 minutes. Given how popular the Opening Ceremony is (and, of course, getting to the vendor area for the best stuff), we knew there would be a long line the next morning. We had wanted to avoid that by getting our tickets early. Oh, well. Why is this important? You'll see. 

We arrived a little after 8 a.m. and the line already was more than 100 strong. As we meandered toward the end of the queue, we saw two of our Florida friends and began to chat. A minute turned into 10 and I started feeling uncomfortable with cutting the line, plus it had grown by at least 20 people since we started talking, so I went to the back of the line and waited for my wife to finish her conversation and join me.  

After another 10 minutes, it was getting close to when the doors would open and no one had admonished my wife for cutting! I thought, "If she can stay there, so can I!" so I rejoined them. Just then, two people with huge corrugated boxes filled with pink shirts were approaching us.  

"Do you want a free T-shirt?" I was asked.  

"Sure, what's the catch?" I said. 

"No catch." 

"Cool, I'll take an extra large." I got one for Jeanne, too, and our friends took shirts, as well. Then we were asked, "Do you want a raffle ticket?"  

"Ah, there's the catch!" I said. "How much?" 

"No catch; it's a free raffle."  

"Oh! OK, sure," I said.  

"But there is one thing," they said, to which I replied, "Here it is! What's the catch?"  

They said we had to be wearing the shirt when the raffle was held. If we weren't wearing the shirt when our number gets called, we don't win. That seemed reasonable enough to me. But the raffle was at the end of the day and we didn't feel like changing with all of the excitement surrounding opening day at the exhibit. So I carried the shirts for about an hour before I put them in the car. 

For anyone who didn't attend Nationals, let me explain just how hot it got in there. The AC was non-existent, the building always was at capacity and the huge ceiling fans spun so slow you could read the company label on the blades (in an effort to keep the trees from drying out I surmised). Needless to say, people were sweating. But because the Fire Marshall insists on rigidly following capacity laws, there literally was a guy with one of those tabulating clickers at the main entrance all weekend making sure the soccer stadium never surpassed the magic number.  

At 3:45 p.m., an announcement was made that the NEBG raffle would commence in 15 minutes. Jeanne turned to me and said, "You better go get the shirts." I said in my best whine, "It's so hot; I don't want to have to put a shirt on over this." She said, "Just change in the parking lot; nobody cares about you taking off your shirt!" After a little more protesting, I went to get the shirts, and yes, I changed in the lot and the world didn't end. 

But when I returned to the entrance, there was the gatekeeper telling me I have to wait until someone leaves as they were at capacity!  

"Noooooooo!" I said. "Come on, man! The raffle is going to start!"  

He just shrugged, but at that moment someone just walked right past him. We looked at each other and he knew he couldn't keep me out now. 

So I rushed past him, gave Jeanne her shirt and followed the sea of pink bodies into the vendor area toward the NEBG booth. Standing in front of the glass doors was our friend, Teresa. I leaned over to her and said, "I don't know why you're wearing that shirt, Teresa, I'm gonna win." We laughed because we knew how ridiculous that sounded.  

I watched the NEBG crew rolling the ticket drum and a few tickets fell out so they paused the drawing and had to make sure all of them were inside the container to be fair. At that moment, I couldn't find my ticket and started to panic. I pulled receipts and wrappers out of my pockets, but the ticket was gone! Finally, in an act of desperation, I checked the little coin pouch above the standard pockets and somehow it had slipped into there.  

Just then, NEBG owner Ashley Carrier called out the numbers precisely as I was reading them on my ticket, and this part is true, a weird feeling came over me. After he called out the first three numbers, "1-8-2!" it felt like inevitably. I knew he was going to then call out "0-6-1!" And when he did, I shouted, "Right here!"  

I weaved my way through the crowd, a little light-headed and in disbelief, holding the ticket over my head and still not entirely positive I had the right numbers. But sure enough, it was my ticket he pulled. I got to the counter and asked, "What did I win?" Everyone laughed like I was a standup comedian and had just landed the funniest joke ever.  

Ashley said, "You won a thousand bucks!" I couldn't believe it! I thought there were going to be little door prizes leading up to the grand prize, but no, I was the big winner! They had me sign the oversized check (post-dated Sept. 14) and shake Ashley's hand for promotional shots. Everyone was so nice and accommodating. Since I live in Florida, instead of having to try to pick out something right then and struggle with getting it home, I could take my time and shop on their two websites (nebonsai.com and bonsaioutlet.com), which I did.  

Just think, if we had gotten to the stadium in time on Friday, or if I stayed at the back of the line and received a different ticket, or if my wife couldn't convince me to get half-naked in the parking lot, or if the Fire Marshall had tackled me at the door, or if I didn't think to check the tiny pocket in my jeans, then someone else is sitting here surrounded by all of these awesome bonsai supplies from NEBG. Planets aligned? You bet. Thanks, NEBG!