AKCA Minutes of July 9, 2004

 

Officers Present:                                Directors Present:                                             Guests:

Chair: Joan Finnegan                               Burt Ballou (OC ZNA +)                                            Kelly Houston

Vice Chair:  Ed Salinas                   Larry Leverett (Inland)                                  Spike Cover

Secretary:  Carole Elliott                      Bob Finnegan (Louisville)                                            Tom Graham

CFO:  Doug Dahl                                  Joyce Glenn (Ikiru Hoseki)                                 

                                                                Harlan Glenn (San Diego)                                   

                                                                               

 

Board Highlights:

Ø       Enclosed are the year end financials for AKCA

 

The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Joan Finnegan @ 7:00 pm.   We have 102 clubs.     

 

v      MINUTES:

Motion:  To approve the minutes of June 11 with the following correction: KHA motion should

read $14,800 approved  Motion by Joyce, 2nd by Lisa.  Approved. 

 

v      JUNE FINANCIAL STATEMENT/FINANCE COMMITTEE:

Doug handed out the financial reports including the year end report.  Doug stated that the investment account increased $14,800 in June; he also moved another $40,000 into investments as approved by the Board.  As of July 1st we had $62,000 in anticipated income and $56,127 in anticipated expenses for the Seminar.  It will take a month at least to sort out all of the details.  The Seminar had 83 rooms Wednesday, 99 on Thursday, 105 on Friday, 104 on Saturday, and 62 on Sunday.  202 people were at the Fri. Luau; 145 at Sat. Lunch, and 186 at the Sat. banquet.  $95-100 refund check mailed out to the judges who attended the Seminar; Seminar attendee and vendor attendee lists updated for 2004 attendees.  The AKCA bookstore collected $2411 in monies for bookstore materials at the Hawaii Seminar.  The teenagers were very happy with their $346 in commissions.  Their mother was helping them most of the time.  Shipping cost to Hawaii was $656.56.  Do not know the cost to ship residual back to Doug yet.  The bookstore made $213 net profit but making money is not the reason we have the bookstore at Seminars.  It is there to make educational materials available to the hobbyist and to make our presence known for future sales.  Motion:  To approve the financial report.  Motion by Burt, 2nd by Lisa.  Approved

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

 

v      SCIENTIFIC:  Spike handed out the Scientific Committee reports as well as a proposal (rough draft) from Jim Riley on fundraising.  There was much discussion on the proposal, in particular, the mission statement.  It was felt that it was not what AKCA had proposed; the actual mission was to secure funding donations that could be distributed as grants for research into KHV and that education was only a minor issue compared to the fundraising and grants for research.  Burt suggested that we all look over the proposal and get back to Spike on any suggestions or recommendations.  He will report back at the next meeting as well as advise Jim Riley.  Part of the proposal was asking for seed money to start.  Motion:  To give Jim Riley $3,500 in seed money for the fundraising program.  Motion by Burt, 2nd by Harland.  Approved.   It was felt that we should pay the expenses for the fundraising group so that 100% of funds raised goes towards the KHV program.  Motion:  To fund all administrative costs so that all donations are 100% donations.  Motion by Burt, 2nd by Harlan.  Approved.  Certificates to presented to graduates who attended the Hawaii Seminar.  A press release will be sent out on the fundraising program.

 

KHA Classes are open – Anyone wishing to attend please contact

Spike Cover @ 949) 855-2371 or e-mail @ scover@pacbell.net

 

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v      PUBLICATION:    Ed said they had a meeting and went over finances; still working on overall strategy for KOI USA as well as including the website. 

 

v      MEMBERSHIP:  Doug stated that 3 clubs are no longer part of AKCA.  There is a new club applying:  The Middle Georgia Garden Club.  Doug stated that their bylaws put major emphasis upon koi.  Motion:  To accept the Middle Georgia Garden Club as an AKCA member club.  Motion by Lisa, 2nd by Carole.  Approved with 1 abstain.

 

v      JUDGING:  Bob stated that Ray Jordan is part of the Judging program.  He also stated that Pam Spindola tied for the highest score on her judging test.  4 participants passed the test in Hawaii and are now AKCA judges:  Bob Winkler, Dave Young, Joe White, and Pam Spindola.  There were 17 judges, including the candidate judges, at the Hawaii Seminar.  Burt stated that involvement by the Seminar participants in judging koi was a great idea - - very well received and very informative.  The biggest problem was that of sound.  Bob would like to enlarge the judging to six tanks for judging instead of four.

 

v      SPEAKER’S GRANT:  Burt stated that Cascade e-mailed him to let him know that they will use the lottery grant.  Club who won this year don’t have to respond unless they are unable to use the grant.  

 

v      GUIDES:  Doug stated that not all the nutrition guides have been sent out, however, they are packed and ready to go.

 

v      INSURANCE:  Burt stated that the liability policy from Zurich was renewed; increased cost of less than $100 because of the increase of number of members and bookstore inventory.  He also received the D&O policy that also increased in cost. 

  . 

v     POLICIES/PROCEDURES:  Still have to do the Seminar policy.  Doug and Burt will meet and go over.

 

SEMINAR REPORTS:

v      2004HAWAII SEMINAR:  There was much favorable response to the Seminar – both in activities and in the great food.  Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun!  A big thanks to Peter Enfield for his donations of slates each year; these have helped make the Seminar profitable (they are auctioned off during the Banquet).

 

For those of you who attended the Seminar and had a wonderful time, please let

Leroy Taba know.  You can call him at (808) 247-5222 or

E-mail @ lstaba@verizon.net

 

v      2005 TULSA SEMINAR:  Burt stated that the hotel has been bought and new name is Crown Plaza.  Ed stated that Barbara Collier and her husband were at the Hawaii Seminar and picked up a lot of ideas.  Will need a new update to ad to include AKCA logo and new hotel name.  They are still finalizing the entertainment.  Ed & Doug will be talking with them later this month to go over the budget, etc.  They will need to advertise locally and focus on local artists/merchants.

 

v     2006 NIAGARA SEMINAR:  Doug stated that they are very organized; committee people are meeting.  They are working on their theme and color ad poster.

 

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v      2007 Seminar:  Piedmont, San Diego, North Florida, Phoenix and Las Vegas are still in the running for the upcoming Seminar.  However, only San Diego has sent in the questionnaire to Doug (he needs this!).  Will make a decision next month.

 

REPRESENTATIVE CONTACTS:

 

o         Written report submitted by Doug: Janet Christian, of Austin Pond Society, reports their annual pond tour of 40 ponds is on July 17 (north tour & July 18 south tour).  Tickets are $10 per person for both days.  Tickets are available from 15 listed commercial businesses found at www.austinpondsociety.org.  Some ponds will have water garden vendors providing information on building ponds, landscaping and pond maintenance.  Ponds range in size from 100-40,000 gallons in size.  Many ponds include photos of before, during and after for viewers to study.  There will also be a night tour from 8pm to 12am at 5 selected ponds.  (Note-AKCA provides this detail information to help other clubs improve their pond tours).  Doug Gilbert, of Dai Ichi KC, reports their members plan to attend the Pond Tour in Vancouver in a few weeks.  The 2 clubs alternate years having a Pond Tour and support each other’s Pond Tour.  John Hawley, of First Coast K&WGC, reports their June Pond Tour was a terrific success.  Their club is preparing to hold their 1st Koi Show in the fall.  (Note:  Doug Dahl created a 12 page report on how to hold a koi show based on his experience as a Show Chairman and his experience as a Koi Judge.  Any club may request a copy of this report of do’s and don’ts by emailing Doug at judgedahl@hotmail.com.  This report has additional information not in the Official AKCA Koi Show pamphlet.)  Several First coast club members have signed up for the new Koi Health Advisor class starting later in July by Spike Cover.  (Note:  there are still openings for this KHA class from any region of the US and Canada).  First Coast club has collected $364 to give to the AKCA KHV research fund representing 100% of the profit from the Spring raffle and challenges all other clubs to participate in this worthy cause.  Debby Davis, of Las Pampas K&WG Society, reports their annual Pond Tour will be July 17.  They will have a pre tour for club members only on July 13.  There are 12 private and 3 commercial ponds on the tour.  Las Pampas club is using last year’s Pond Tour profit of $1,000 to give a scholarship to a young woman and expects to do so again this year.  Their club members plan to attend a Koi Health Seminar being given at a local nursery.  The club pays the $30 per person entry fee for all club members attending this seminar.  Dr. James Hooper, of Menodocino Coast Koi Club, reports he loved the AKCA Seminar in Hawaii.  Their annual Pond Tour will be July 24.  He personally is finishing a new 27,000 gallon pond and mentioned that he quarantines all new fish for a minimum of one year to allow the koi to go thru all 4 seasons.  Pam Francis, of Michigan Koi & Pond Club-SE, reports their club will have a panel discussion and post Pond Tour session on July 17 to welcome new club members.  They will hold a mini Pond Tour and progressive dinner for club members August 21.  David Hester, of Mid Atlantic KC, reports they held their annual meeting and induction of new officers on June 5.  This annual meeting was held in conjunction with the south Chapter Young Koi Show.  The Koi Show had 138 koi from 20 entrants.  MAKC encourages more koi clubs to hold Young Koi Shows with a 17” or 18” top size.  New MAKC President is Gene Rice, VP is Charles Ruby.  Wayne Orchard has been selected to be Chairman for Koi America 2005.  The MAKC Board considered the offer from AKCA to allow individual Chapters to join AKCA as well and decided that more discussion was needed at the Chapter level on this offer.  This issue will be revisited at the MAKC Koi Show in October.  The Pioneer Valley WG&KC newsletter reports their annual Pond Tour will be July 10 & 11.  They held a plant & fish exchange in June for club members.  Ed Champigny hosted and lectured on Chinese Goldfish & Koi at their June meeting.  Sandy Yosha did a slide show on disease in fish at their May meeting.  The clubs Annual Banquet will be Aug 14 and will include a raffle, silent auction and speaker Karen Pattist with a slide presentation on Koi Ponds.  The speaker for their August meeting will be Jason Hills from Briggs Garden on Fish Health During the Long Hot Summer.  The newsletter listed 15 businesses giving 10-20% discounts to club members.  David Yee, of Valley of the Sun KC, reports he is the new club AKCA Dir/Rep.  The club has shut down for the summer months due to the heat.  Mary Oxman, of Ventura KC, reports their annual club barbecue will be July 17.  Their June guest speaker was Chai Taevanitcharoen on selecting baby koi.  The guest speaker at the August meeting will be Doug Dahl giving his Backyard Breeding slide show and lecture including how baby koi change.  Doug tried to contact the following clubs with no response:   Austin Koi & Goldfish Club, Blue Water Pond Club, and Nashville Pond Society.

 

o         Written report submitted by Bob(includes last month as well):   So Cal Koi Club cancelled their annual koi auction; will have a meeting that day instead at Don Spina’s in Westchester.  The August meeting will be held at a new members home in Rolling Hills Estates.  Charles Phelps, of Greater Louisville, reported they

 

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o         had good weather for their koi show & lots of vendors.  2,000 people came; a lot of past members came back and got new ones as well.  Congratulations.    Terry Cusick, of Tropical Koi, said that one of their club members won Champion of Champions at the AKCA Seminar in Hawaii.  Lester Berkow reported that he judged the Louisville koi show.  Tim Chaney, of Great Ponds, said they will have a koi display @ Meyer Gardens in Grand Rapids, MI Sept. 18-19.  Richard Thomas, of Indiana KC, said they had a pond tour on June 20-21st with 21 ponds; 800 people attended.  Mona Coleman, of Northern Nevada, said they had a good pond tour on June 26th in Carson, Nev.  Tim Gilbert, of Rocky Mtn., said they are having a koi show Aug. 20-22; hoping for 200 koi.  Bob tried but was unable to reach West Tennessee and North Florida KC.

 

o        Written report submitted by Burt:  Linda Montgomery, of Cascade K&GFS, said their last meeting was cancelled due to PNKCA; next meeting will be on ORP meters.  Kenneth Wong, of Dallas Koi Kichi Group, said they didn’t have a meeting due to July 4th holiday; lot of flooding from heavy rains.  Next meeting will be a speaker from Gator Guard (the spray on liner for ponds).  Lucia Rose, of San Francisco Bay KC, said that @ their last meeting a koi dealer from Sacramento spoke on choosing koi.  They are putting copies of their newsletter in 9 or 10 koi dealers each month to recruit new members.  Debby Young, of Southern Arizona KC, said no meeting since last month; working on their koi show.  Carl Fridenstine, of Santa Clara Valley Koi, said they are getting ready for pond tour July 17; the board is working on getting new officers for the club & the board.  The club KHA graduate has an ad in their club newsletter offering help & he is going out to several members’ ponds; his name is Sanjiv Kapoor (is a doctor).  Henry Culpepper, of Orlando Area Koi & Pond Club, said meeting @ Kit Knox’s house; she has 40 ponds (mostly watergarden ponds).  Had their rap up meeting about AFKAPS; no meeting for July due to heat.  Johnny Foster, of Nature’s Coast K&WGC, said their last meeting was @ David & Kelly Strom; big turnout.  Guest speaker was on butterflies.  Next meeting @ Fountain Magic, a commercial pond builder; will be on pond construction.  Several members went on the Gainesville Club’s pond tour; planning for their Oct. koi show.  Joe White, of Florida East Coast, said their meeting on the 18th was a joint meeting with North Florida Club @ Joe WauRszabal’s home; he will be presented his Koi Person plaque.  In August there will be no meeting.  There may be a group of Central Florida clubs to have a combined regional koi show.  Joe White, of Southern Koi Association, said the members are considering putting on a koi show of their own.  The Tampa club invited the club to help put on their koi show; haven’t set a meeting date for their next meeting.  Laura Adams, of Koi & WGC of North Texas, said their next meeting Ron Ernst will be speaker on koi varieties; another speaker on hummingbirds.  Their pond tour book is almost done & pond tour will be Sept. 18th.  Jesus Brito, of Oklahoma KC, reported that @ their next meeting they will be talking about their koi show which is going to be English style; doing last minute check on what is needed and assigning duties for the show.  Michael Kimberling is going to be showing them how to remove shimis from one of his kohaku, a 5 year old from Toshio Sakai.  Norbun Watson, of Middle Georgia KS, said their next meeting is a “social”; planning a “night” pond tour in October with 7-8 ponds.  Planning will start @ their next meeting.  Burt reports that ZNAOC had their last meeting @ Andrew’s Koi for his annual growing contest & barbecue.  Everyone had a great time; several members attended the Hawaii Seminar.  John Hathaway, of Pacific Wonderland, said their last meeting was @ Jim & Marla Pifher in Portland.  Working on Japanese American Assoc. of Portland and will be having 2 booths & 2-3 ponds of koi to honor the Japanese contributions to koi in Sept.  Getting new members & handed out the KOI USA magazines to new members. 

 

o        Written report submitted by Carole:  The newsletter from Niagara Frontier K&PC puts their upcoming AKCA Seminar in 2006 prominently on the front page.  They had a successful koi show.  In July they are having their super Auction.  Their club is also taking care of the pond at the Botanical Society; Botanical Pond Chairman is Greg Young.    Their next big event is their Pond Tour July 17th.  Don Butterworth & John & Marlene Hyden attended the AKCA Seminar in Hawaii.  Bryan Bateman, of Midwest Pond & Koi Society, said that their pond walk had 65 member ponds July 10/11th.  Their Tossai auction went well; 50 baby koi were auctioned to club members; $1,200 was raised to help pay for club activities.  Their visit to Kloubec Fisheries, in Amana, Iowa, was a great success.  They also had a barbecue at the koi breeding and fieldpond facilities.  They’re in full swing getting ready for their 12th annual koi & goldfish show.  Jerry Woodbury, of Miami Valley WGS, reports they will have a Pond expo 2004 on July 17 & 18th featuring Keith Davitt, Greg Speichert, Richard Koogle, Steve Blessing, Pat Taylor and Jim Sparnell as speakers.  All presented on Saturday with public pond tour on Sunday featuring 16 ponds by members and professional installers.  July 18th “Disappearing Waterfalls” will be presented by Steve Henger.

 

o        Written report submitted by Spike:  Ray Jordan, of Texas K&GFS, reports their club ordered club golf shirts @ $29 each.  On July 18th, meeting will be @ Joan Berryman’s home.  She will be showing a video of Jackie Chan’s goldfish farm in China; she has one of the best collections of fancy goldfish. 

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o        Written report submitted by Larry:  Sandy Fisher, of Mid-Michigan Pond & WGC, said they are all set for their Pond Tour July 10th and are looking for big crowds and lots of fun.  Sandy is retiring as newsletter editor after many years in the job.  Lynn Jones, of St. Louis WGS, said their club’s last meeting was their

annual auction and fundraiser and they also just had their two-day public pond tour.  The topic for the July meeting scheduled for the 29th @ Missouri Botanical Gardens is Festival of Fins.  They will be having a guest speaker from the AKCA covering the basics of selecting koi.  On July 31st they will be having a members-

only pond tour.  Lynn also graduated from the KHA program.  Michael Jackson, of West Plains WGS, said June 19 they held their pond tour.  They considered it very successful judging from all the positive comments they received from those who visited their gardens & because they go further than just a water garden society; they will be helping with some of the flower judging @ their county fair to be held July 12-17th.  Melissa Jackson, of Cherokee Strip WGS, said they had a very successful Water Garden Tour with approx. 300 people touring 15 water gardens.  Melissa said a special thanks to all who were willing to share their water garden with others.  Shelly Klinger, of Central Illinois Water Gardeners, said they will not hold a regular meeting in July.  Instead, a bus trip to Cantigny Gardens in Wheaton, Illinois will be offered on July 17th.  They are currently trying to raise funds so that they can install a Water Garden at Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington in September in honor of their 5-year anniversary of being a club.  They are about $1,000 short, so are soliciting businesses for sponsorship.  Ladean Paden, of Prairieland K&PS, said they will start a three part series based on Doug Dahl’s written lecture, Koi Tutorial Lecture.  The directors have split into three groups to present the lecture at the next three meetings.  A water lily splitting class will also be given.  Door prizes and raffles will be available.  Looks like a good meeting for the month, the host will put in a pond over the next three meetings.  They will be meeting @ his house for all three meetings.  Larry tried but was unable to reach Ohio Koi Club, Madison Area Pond Society, and Gulf Coast Koi Society.

 

o         Written report submitted by Kelly Houston:  Inland Koi Society is having a joint meeting with the San Diego Koi Club at Southwest Boulder & Stone in Fallbrook on Sat., July 24th.  It will be a lunch & meeting with raffles at the end.  The guest speaker will be Brennan Ward, the owner of “Artificial Rock Concepts”; he supplies Southwest Boulder with ingredients needed for artificial rock and casting.  He will give a presentation explaining suggestions of applications and how he completes concepts in glass fiber reinforced concrete using 8-9,000 pounds per square inch.  The highest concrete is 4,000 PSI. 

 

o         Written report submitted by Joyce Glenn:  Leroy Taba, of Hawaii Goldfish & Carp Assoc, and his wife, Adele, reported for the Seminar Committee; they want to thank all the participants for coming to the Seminar this year.  They enjoyed meeting everyone.  Unfortunately everyo9ne was so busy, none of the club members took pictures.  Whatever you have that you would be willing to share with them would be appreciated.  If you want to email digitals, please send them to lstaba@verizon.net.  Or you can mail CDs to Leroy Taba, P.O. Box 250, Kaneohe, Hawaii 96744.  You also might want to include your thoughts on the Seminar.  To all new found friends, the committee sends a very warm “ALOOOOOHA.”  Bob Wang, of Florida West Coast, reports all is well and happy.

 

o        Written report submitted by Phil Hunter:  Sue Hall, of the Shasta K&WGC, reports that the clubs annual pond tour was a big success making over $2,000 for the club.  Half of the proceeds will go to the Shasta 4H clubs who assisted with the pond tour.  Special thanks to the pond tour committee for doing a great job.  Don Hellard, of the Gainesville Koi, Goldfish & WGC, reports that the annual pond tour was a big success.  There were seven ponds on the tour and over 300 people attended.  The club plans to have a fish auction in October to help the club treasury.  Linda Siler, of the Springfield K&WGS, reports that June meeting was great.  Michael Fessenden, of Royce Gardens, gave a presentation on ornamental grasses.  He had several examples on hand.  The annual pond tour was once again successful, although attendance was down a little due to the Fathers Day date.  The club made about $2,800 on the tour, and received many compliments on the quality of the tour.  The July meeting will be a plant swap and Gordon Powell will speak on plants for small spaces.  Ralph McGowan, of the Inland Empire Water Garden and Koi Society, reports that the clubs annual pond tour will be held on July 18th and the club’s 5th annual koi & goldfish show will be held on August 28-29.  Judith Minor Roberts reports that the Mountaineer Koi & Goldfish Club will hold their second annual koi show on July 27th.  Charles Phelps will judge the show.  The club will also hold a pond tour featuring the ponds of seven members.  Becky Maier, of the Dayton Koi & Goldfish Club, reports that the June meeting was held at the home of Sue & Dale Plieman.   Carl Forss, of Koi by Keirin, was the featured speaker and brought some of his fish for viewing.  The club had a members only pond tour on July 11th  as well.  Greg Bates, of the Capitol Area Koi & Water Gardening Club, reports that the annual pond tour is scheduled for July 24-25.

 

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PROXY CALLS FOR AUGUST

§         Is your club promoting KOI USA subscriptions?

 

OLD BUSINESS:  

 

Ø       Free Ads:  Burt received an email from Garry Chin inquiring about free ads in KOI USA.  Discussion followed.  Motion:  To not give free ads to clubs because of economical  & operational reasons.  Motion by Lisa, 2nd by Joyce.  Approved.

 

NEW BUSINESS: 

 

Ø       KOI USA Gift Certificates:  Ed Salinas stated that free KOI USA gift certificates were available to all AKCA clubs for club raffles or club auctions.  All you need to do is contact Ed Salinas @ eds@koiusa.com.  Also, older issues of KOI USA are also available to clubs for free; we’ll also pay for shipping.

 

Ø       Show Tanks:  Bob stated that AKCA used So Cal Koi Club’s older show tanks @ the Hawaii Seminar.  He suggested we look into purchasing 6 tanks & air equipment that can be shipped anywhere.  Will check into costs and get back to Board next month.

 

 

Motion:  To adjourn the meeting 9:24 p.m.  Motion by Lisa, 2nd by Larry.  Approved

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Carole Elliott