Dec 2003
21 Years of Koi Keeping
Selected Articles
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Dec 2003 21 Years of Koi Keeping Selected Articles |
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WOW!!!! What a show we had. I can’t thank everyone enough. The participation was great form every Koi entry. The show was represented well by the vendors. The Judges we had were the best I have been around in my 4 years with the club and attending shows. I wanted to thank each and every one of the volunteers (over 40) without offending anyone I might have missed. So I have decided to thank the leader of the position and the work that was done. Here again I don’t want to make small of the hard work everyone did. Thank You to all whom made this show happen. I want to thank the one person who has been instrumental in fulfilling my dream of a 2-day show at a hotel for the North Florida Koi Club. JAN BROWN the Show Chairperson. I know that it takes more than 1 person. Like I have been saying all along. Jan’s pursuit of the hotel chains and all the other things Jan did to end up with this location was a bonus and hard to believe this place would have us. There were some that thought this fish wouldn’t swim but it sure did and what an event this club had. The show director JIM ROBERTS was instrumental in the show becoming a 2-day event and it also was his vision that brought us to this point. Jim was responsible for the layout, setup and tear down. Jim has been the glue that has kept this club going in a positive direction for the show. Thank you Jim Roberts and the great group of setup and tear down members! One of the most important duties for the show is the water for our Koi. Dave Brown was the water quality person for our show. With his pursuit of the chemicals for the show Dave was able to get the chemicals donated so the cost of our show was hundreds less than it would have been if not for the donation from Aqua Science. Dave also made sure all our Koi were in a safe environment before and during the show. Thank You Dave Brown! Dan Wehby handled the electric for the event and made sure all of us were safe including Pat Rutherford who decided to test the safety features Dan had used. To Pat’s relief they worked just fine. We had no problems with the power for the show. Thank You Dan Wehby! Todo Todorsky handled the computer work and the seminars and Todo even conducted a seminar himself. While Todo was working on the seminars Sherri White handled the computer system of entering Koi placement after the judges tallied their picks. Thank you to all. Sherri Brown was in charge of benching the Koi for the show and the judge’s assistance and led a great group. Susan Roberts was in charge of the Koi handlers and led a great group of Koi handlers. Thank you to all you did a great service to the show. With out a security system in place there could have been some Koi problems unnoticed. Thank you to the Wruzabal’s for their late night rounds to let the rest of us rest easy. Joe and Pat even finished filling the tanks Friday night. Which was a great big help for the morning group to not have to deal with that issue. This was the first year we had a Hospitality suite for the volunteers to go and cool off and get some food and drink. The Hosts for the room who did a fantastic service to our show was Steve Schade and Vickie Leonard. Thank You for your help in making everyone welcome. Joanne Rutherford led the welcome table and the great help of the others made this table work out great. Thank You to all. Terry Carter led our plant booth this year for our show. With Terry’s hard work in getting donations of plants for the show and manning the booth we made the most money for a plant booth than we ever have. Thank You Terry and the group that helped with plant donations and manning the booth. C.R. Carter who is the video and still photographer for the show did another great job. The winner pictures displayed on the screen were great to look at and all the rest of the help was fantastic. Thank You CR Carter! For those of you who didn’t know about the seminars the speakers were as follows. Alan Riggs from the University of Florida spoke on KHV and Joe Pawlak from Blackwater creek Koi farm talked on his trip to Japan. Todo Todorsky did a talk on Koi Food, which is a great discussion. The Judges did a discussion on Friday night and again on Sunday at the show ring. Thank You to all the speakers. For the Judges who made the show so much fun by their talks and explanations I say Thank You Jim Reilly and Bryan Bateman. For the best thank you I can give I thank the North Florida Koi Club and all the Participating clubs that helped our show. With out your support this show would not have been so much fun or successful, THANK YOU for supporting the best show ever.
Lets not forget the Christmas party and the vote for the new board of directors for 2004. The club will supply the meat for the party but please bring some kind of dish to go with the traditional dinner. Bring your chairs as well. We will have a gift exchange for those of you who would like to participate. The value of the gift should be $15.00 . If possible it should be somewhat Koi related. Please no food items as gifts. Till we meet again, Tim Gasson
Secretary's Report By Todo: 26 members and guests.
The meeting was at The World Golf Village so the members could get a view of the koi show site and know how to get there. After the Tres. and Sec. reports Tim turned the floor over to Jan who led us through the show plan and what to expect. Todo identified the members already listed for the club board in 2004 and said there could be nominations at the Dec. meeting. Tim passed out a paper on show etiquette that we all discussed. Tim also pointed out that we would have a gift exchange at the Dec. meeting ($15 item).
Words of Wisdom From Nature’s Coast Koi and Watergarden Club
Written by: Paula Biles in Pond Droppings (Dec. 2000)Our group can accomplish anything we decide to do:
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Sharing information is even more fun than learning it·
No pond is too small·
No pond is too big·
Nothing is more persistent than herons or algae·
One pond is never enough·
There are only two kinds of ideas: good and great·
Grass is a sign there’s room for another pond·
Volunteers are shy and prefer to have their arms twisted·
The best is yet to comeJumping For Joy? From Fish doc.co.uk
Fish often rub against solid objects and leap out of the water. It is possible that they do this to catch flies or get food or they may be playing. However, in the majority of cases, it is because something is irritating them. This may be a minor irritation, similar to an itch in humans, perhaps but it could be more serious. Whether you should act or not, depends on the numbers affected, the frequency of rubbing and leaping and the vigor involved. If one or two are having a lazy rub on the bottom drain, there is no cause for concern this is fairly normal. But if they are continually tearing about, rubbing vigorously against the sides or bottom or leaping out of the water, then further investigation must be carried out.
Unfortunately, one of the most common responses to this type of behavior is to suspect a parasite problem and an anti-parasite treatment is administered, without further thought. But this cursory diagnosis or guess, overlooks the fact that any irritant can cause this response, including poor water quality. A high nitrite level for instance. Where upon using an anti-parasite treatment can only make matters worse.
Becoming a aquatic health expert involves more than knowing what “treatments” to use. Indeed, the latter is quite easy as medications are described in most hobbyist books. Many fish suffer or die every year through inaccurate diagnosis and inappropriate treatments.
From an Outsiders View By Mary IrishThe phone rang at 5 o’ clock. It was my fiancée telling me he needed me to come to the World Golf Village now, to help with the benching. Benching….what was this? I had planned to leisurely drive down later, dressed in my fish regalia, probably stop off at the outlet mall, and then casually saunter into the koi show, beautifully dressed, make-up perfect and unfrazzled. But, now someone who was going to help him with the benching had had to cancel and I was the “replacement.” Of course, I agreed, with only one stipulation………..he had to bring COFFEE.
We arrived at the show by six and began setting up our benching station, and, then the arrival of koi, after koi, after koi, after koi………….beautiful, exotic names, every color……..and “let the benching begin.” We checked in over 100 fish……of course, being the “expert” I am becoming, I had already picked the winners. By eleven the benching was done and the judging begun. Why were they judging when I already knew who the best fish were? So, after I checked out the booths, had my massage, realized there was no fish jewelry, hit all the shops at WGV, I actually attended a siminar on different types of ingredients in fish food. I expected it to be a drag……….but actually found it very interesting, especially when I learned that there was a fun, “pasty” type of food that were treats for the fish.
As the judging drew to a close, I knew we were closing in on the social part…..the banquet……….o.k., then I would soak in a tub, dress beautifully, and make a grand entrance. But no………….the awards had to be divided out, so, off we go to a corner table……….my “sweetie” and I, and divide up awards, rush into the WGV bathroom, quickly dress and arrive at the banquet just as its starting. The banquet was grand, friendly and warm as all the koi people I have met are. As the announcements for the winners came nearer, I knew which fish would win. Wrong again………..not one of the fish I had picked came in with the top prizes. Did these judges know what they were doing, after all, hadn’t I helped check in……….woops………bench every single one of these koi? Oh well, in the words of Steve Spurrier, “Wait until next year.”
As we drove back to Jacksonville, I have never been so exhausted in my life, however, I couldn’t remember a more enjoyable, educational day I have spent in many a year. As we lay down that night, “visions of koi danced in my head……….and my speeding by tanks on Tim Gasson’s purple sled.”
So goodnight koi people, you did a great job…………..I’m one of the many who had a ball and look forward to next year.