jessbullock

Hi everybody! It’s June already and the sunshine and warm weather is finally here. Pond season is moving into full swing. I hope everybody enjoyed Lisa’s presentation on ponds and water features at our meeting last month. It was a long hard winter for our ponds and Lisa gave some great ideas and advice on how to get them beautiful; again. Moore’s Water Gardens was generous and donated some beautiful flowering plants to our monthly auction. I hope those who bought some are enjoying them.

The May long weekend was CAOAC’s annual convention; it was hosted by the Durham club. The theme of the convention this year was preservation and conservation of fish habitats and species around the world at risk of extinction. There was a lot of information about some of the various organizations that hobbyists are involved with to help in different  projects. It was a good way to learn about what is going on while enjoying getting together with some old and new friends. I enjoyed myself at the event and naturally couldn’t resist bringing home something new for my tanks.

What is our club doing in June?  Sadly it will be our last meeting before our summer break and everybody heads off to the cottage for the summer. We will be getting back together the second Thursday in September. Don’t forget that this month we are having our Jar Show as well as a speaker at our meeting (the second Thursday of the month). Our speaker for June will be Al Ridley presenting on West African Cichlids. I have kept several of them over the years and they can be really interesting fish to keep. Happy summer everybody!! See you at the meeting, Karen.

Hello everyone!

It’s a cool crisp morning as I sit writing my message. So much is happening around the club before Christmas. If you can help, or need anything, let me know.
First I’ll tell you about my exciting trip to Virginia. I went to the Catfish Convention in Fairfax, Virginia. It was a really good time. Five days of hobbyists sharing information about all types of adventures. I went on an adventure myself with our group of 24 to check out some tropical fish stores and Discus Hans importing. First off, we had the wrong address in Baltimore for Discus Hans and ended up at his home. His wife was nice enough to meet us out on the road and escort us to his business. He has some amazing discus at his warehouse and it was very impressive. Of course, Ron W and Joe B had to buy discus as that’s their area of expertise. The arrangement was pick them up later. Too many days for them to sit in a bag. We went to two other fantastic fish stores and we all picked up fish. I got some really nice red highfin venezalian catfish. I let Robin P take care of them as he had airline, and I only lost 1 fish before coming home. I can’t say that everyone else was so lucky. We all had a great day!

Oh, did I mention the traffic? Its just crazy in that neck of the woods. We are just outside Washington and the highways are worse than Toronto. We did make it back to the hotel but we were late for dinner and the speaker. They had fish room sales at the hotel that night along with 2 hospitality suites. Everyone from the 22 represented states and the 18 Canadians were mingling. Just a great time. Of course, we had to go back to Discus Hans place to pick up our fish so we decided that Sunday evening was probably better than Monday morning traffic thru Washington. Another great choice as Discus Hans was very generous with his time, knowledge, experiences and he and his lovely wife Joanne took Ron, Regis, Joe and myself out for a great dinner. I had the crab imperial and it was super. You have to have crab in Maryland.

The guys got their discus and I picked up some really nice Cardinal Tetras. My tetras all survived the trip. Its one of my favourite trips, although I am going to the Ohio Cichlid Convention November 19 to 21. Again, a really great weekend with hobbyists.

Now, onto our stuff. I’d like to thank Ken Boorman for his presentation last month on Rainbows. This months presentation is being done by our own Sue Buchan on Dwarf African Frogs. I’m looking forward to this as its something different for sure. If you would like to make a presentation, please let Joe B or myself know.

We have Charley Grimes coming to do a presentation for us on Saturday November 13 at the Legion in Waterdown. Tickets are still available til almost the last minute at $25. The dinner is absolutely fantastic! The presentations start at 5pm, cocktails at 6 with time to mingle, dinner at 7, prizes to be won, another presentation at 8:30. Charley is one of my favourite speakers. This is one program you really need to come and enjoy. Debate no longer and come have fun with a great group of people.

Our December program is all about Christmas. We will have some games, fun and have a fish table raffle to help make some money for others less fortunate than ourselves. Its a great feeling to give something back to the community. We will have a neighbour to neighbour food drive. Please bring all non perishable items that night and I will ensure they get there. We will also have pizza and wings served that evening so bring your appetite. If you would like to bring a treat to share, please let Sarah L know in advance. As well, if you have something for the fish table raffle, please let Sarah L know.
That’s it for now, please contact me for tickets if you need them.

Carla

Hi everyone!!!

Well, what a rainy day. I’m trying to finish up the gardening for the fall and get the pond plants all ready for a long winters nap. But the weather isn’t being very co-operative.

First off, I’d like to thank everyone that helped out with the Fall Auction and Show on Sunday, October 3rd.  It’s a lot of work putting an auction and show together, more work on auction day and I just can’t thank everyone enough for all their hard work. The show was a great success and the auction ran really well.  That’s what I was told by many after the auction.  Auctions keep our club alive and running, so to all that help, thank you. It takes so many people to run it and many of the other clubs helped out as well. Thank you to all our friends in neighbouring clubs for your help.

The next treat we have set up for you in the Dinner Speaker Night on Saturday, November 13th at the Waterdown Legion. Charley Grimes will be speaking and is giving 2 talks, one at 5pm and the other after the fantastic dinner. Charley will be talking about “ponds” and has many different talks available to us.  There will be draws and prizes. You really should try to make this event. Its a great night out with friends.

Our program on October 14th is about Rainbow fish. Ken Boorman will be coming in from Sarnia to give us his presentation. Don’t miss it. Sue Buchan will be speaking on African Dwarf Frogs in November.   Christmas is coming up quickly and we have many ideas for our December program.  As in the past, we will be having a pizza night. We will be looking for donations for the Neighbour to Neighbour Food Drive.  Please start putting away items to help the less fortunate at this time of year.It always feels good to help others.

Just a reminder that the Fish for the Fish Growing contest will be available at the October meeting. If you ordered fish, please make sure you are there to pick them up.

See you at the meeting.

Carla