AKCA Minutes of October 12, 2007

 

Officers Present:                                  Directors Present:                                               Guests:

Chair: Harlan Glenn                                 Burt Ballou                                      Spike Cover

Vice Chair: Bill Thompson                              Bob Finnegan                                                 

Secretary:  Carole Elliott                      Louie Hernandez                                              

CFO:  Doug Dahl                                    Joyce Glenn                                                                     

                                                                Bob Finnegan

                                                                Joan Finnegan

                                                                Larry Leverett  

                                                                               

Board Highlights:

Ø       Siskiyou Koi & Pond Club, of Medford, Oregon, was voted in as a member AKCA club

Ø       2010 AKCA Seminar Bid proposals need to be submitted to Burt Ballou by the November Board meeting.

Ø       Six clubs have been awarded the Speaker’s Grant

 

The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Harlan Glenn @ 7:00 pm.   99 clubs.

 

v       MINUTES:  Motion:  To approve the minutes of September 14th .  Motion by Joan, 2nd by Joyce.  Approved.

 

v       SEPTEMBER FINANCIAL STATEMENT/FINANCE COMMITTEE:

Doug reported that as of 9/30 there was $1270 advertising due that is 60-90 days late.  Our investment account gained $3420 in August.  Doug set up the PayPal account for on line bookstore and for Seminar registration.  Debby will set the online system in place when she returns from vacation.  Motion:  To print up an AKCA vinyl banner with cost not to exceed $200.  Motion by Doug, 2nd by Joyce.  Approved  Motion:  To accept the financial report.  Motion by Joan, 2nd by Burt.  Approved.  

 

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

v     SCIENTIFIC/KHA:   Spike handed out his report; stated that Duncan Griffiths started the third offering of his excellent CE course.  He has about 26 students signed up.  Master KHA David Jones, and the Koi & WGC of No. Texas got some air time as a result of their efforts to restore the 2.35 acre, 2.5 million gallon Lagoon at Fair Park in Dallas.  The Koi Transport Research Project continued to make progress.  They now have 58 students signed for the 7th KHA class. 

 

v     KHV Project:  Spike stated that Joe White has resigned as Project KHV web master.  We appreciated his service and will miss him!  Joe has agreed to help with the transition to a new web master.  Dale Gingerich agreed to become the new web master of the Project KHV web site.  Gene & Phyllis Anderson completed an online internet auction and raised $1860 in the process.  Tim Miller-Morgan is spearheading two koi health seminars in the coming months.  

 

v      PUBLICATION:    Joan reported that there was discussion on Koi Nation as well as the phone service.  They are currently working on the March/April issue.  Thee was good brainstorming and good ideas at the meeting.  Tom went to Koi America looking for advertisers.  No report from him.  Motion:  To go through the proper channels to update the contract with Tom that would include a 1 year non-competition clause; would include legal review.  Motion by Burt, 2nd by Bob.  Approved, 1 opposed.

 

v      MEMBERSHIP:  Doug reported that he received a membership application from Siskiyiou Koi & Pond Club in Medford, Oregon.  Motion:  to approve Siskiyou Koi & Pond Club as an AKCA member club.  Motion by Doug, 2nd by Burt.  Approved.  99 clubs have paid their dues; two clubs were dropped from AKCA as of Oct. 1st. 

 

v       JUDGING:  Bob reported that things are running well; he and Joan went to the Las Vegas Koi Show.

 

v       SPEAKER’S GRANT:  Burt conducted the drawing with Louie Hernandez drawing the winning clubs.

 

 

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Congratulations to the following winning clubs:                Santa Clarita K&WGC; Florida East Coast; Oklahoma Koi Society; Northwest K&GF ZNA Chapter; Piedmont K&WGC; and Greater Louisville K&GFC.  Doug will send out letters to those clubs.

 

v      GUIDES:   Burt met with Tom & Cindy; sent final proofs; OK’d.  Will have 450 air freighted with the rest coming on container ship.  Gave them revisions for the pond construction guide.

 

v      INSURANCE:  Burt passed out a list of the 33 clubs who have not turned in their forms.  Please make sure your club has signed and turned in the form.  Reps will be contacting those clubs who have not yet complied.  Forms need to be sent back ASAP will be included with minutes to those clubs who have still not sent back their form.

 

SEMINAR REPORTS:

 

v      2008 Jacksonville, Fla. Seminar:  Burt reported that they are in good shape.  Making up a vendor list packet to send out. 

 

v       2009 San Diego, CA:  Burt stated Galen Hansen is the Chairperson.

 

v       2010 Seminar:  Bid proposal packets need to be in by November (before our next Board meeting); turn in to Burt.

 

REPRESENTATIVE CONTACTS:

 

q       Written report submitted by Doug:  Judy Schwartz, of Austin Pond Society, reports Ray Jordan, of the San Antonio club, spoke on selecting the best baby koi.  This month the lecture is on bamboo in your garden.  Tony Palazzo, of Central Calif. KC, reports 2 families from the club traveled to the koi show in Las Vegas recently.  The annual club Koi Show is Oct. 13/14 in Fresno with AKCA Judges Charles Phelps and Garry Chin.   Debi Gillis, of Central Coast KC, reports the club held its 3rd meeting and the topic was preparing for winter.  They are planning their first pond tour in May and their first koi show in 2009.  The club is considering whether to make the subscription to KOI USA magazine mandatory for club membership.  Debi has attended the Sacramento and Las Vegas Koi shows and plans to attend the Fresno and Bakersfield koi shows to gain as much knowledge as possible.  Debi has eagerly started the KHA training program.  Janice Ramsey, of East Tennessee Koi Club, reports recently asking for nominations of new club Officers to be elected at the October club meeting.  Last meeting, Karen Buchanan, KHA advisor, gave a PowerPoint presentation on the common pitfalls of koi keeping like over stocking, over feeding, etc. Club members then toured the new ponds of the meeting host and next door neighbor.  Teresa Lawrence, of First Coast K&WGC, reports club members are getting ready for their 5th Koi show Oct. 13th.  Club membership has increased during the summer.  Planning has started for election of officers later this year and for the Holiday party.  Sue Boydstun, of Idaho WGS, reports a great turnout of 35+ people at the Sept. meeting with topic of winterizing ponds and plants.  The club is up to 113 families and 11 commercial members.  Steve Childers, of Internet Koi of North America, reports several members attended koi shows to give Friendship Awards and to lend support with the shows doing benching, computer registration or photography.  Plans are to have a “live” club meeting at the Charlotte show in November.  Dara Newman, of Las Vegas KC, reports their 2nd annual Koi show held Oct. 4-7 was cold due to a weather front and strong winds.  There was a TV station covering the show.  Judy Christian, of Lone Star KC, reports Ray Jordan of the San Antonio club gave a presentation and slide show on Water Quality at the last meeting.  Beth Grunden, KHA, will give a talk at the Oct. meeting on “How to Keep Your Koi Well.”  Club members will make their annual trip to Brett’s Fish Farm for the 3rd annual fish harvest and sale on Dec. 8th.  Several clubs from Texas are usually in attendance.  Pam Francis, of Michigan K&PC-SE, reports a plant exchange and pot luck dinner was held in Sept. and a Hay Ride will be held in Oct. of club members.  Dot Wilbanks, of Moto Kara Koi Kai ZNA Chapter, reports the club did not havde a meeting in Sept. and club members always go to support the San Antonio club with their koi show in Oct.  Melinda Smieja, of Olympic K,G&WGC, reports the club library has been improved.  They have already voted on club awards for the year and are already planning the Holiday part.  Geoffrey Huntley, of Piedmont K&WGS, reports things are shaping up for the upcoming Charlotte Koi show with vendor booths almost sold out and most show tanks for the show sold.  The club loaned tanks and show equipment to the South Carolina K&WGS to help them  stage their first interclub koi show Oct. 6th. 

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q       The Piedmont Club will hold its annual Fall Festival Oct. 13 including a tour of Tarheel Fish Farm.  The festival will include pumpkin carving with awards presented.  Timothy Czech, of Pioneer Valley WG&KC, eports new club officers will be elected in October.  Dorothy Connors, of Rhode Island & Massachusetts KC, reports the club will continue having monthly educational sessions at meetings.  Two club members

drove down to Koi America recently to show koi with Bill Story helping with the show.  Bill’s photos of Koi America can be found at www.koishack.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12557.  This club has an Executive Board who meets prior to the normal club meeting.  Kristine Jones, of Salt Lake Koi Club, reports the Nov. club meeting will be the Annual Awards Banquet and selection of Koi Person of the Year.  Submissions for the competition for Best/Worst Koi or Pond story are also being accepted.  The club held a grow out fish contest in Sept. with some amazing growth results and members are anxious to find the secrets of the winner.  Gerald Dudley, of Siskiyou Koi & Pond Club, reports it is good to finally become a member of AKCA.  This club already has 42 families as members with the support of fellow club Oregon Koi & WGS.  Lauren Hughes, of The Great Smoky Mountain Koi Club & Pond Society, reports the club pond tour was a great success with over 100 visitors with the proceeds donated to the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital.  The topic of discussion for the Sept. club meeting was waterfall placement and pond construction.  The Oct. club meeting will include a cookout.  Renee Robinson, of Triad K&WGS, reports Chuck Shaffer is the new club President.  The Sept. club meeting was held at Lotus Land Koi Farm and the Oct. club meeting will include the pulling (harvesting) of a mud pond.  Dick Emerick, of Upper Midwest KC, reports they just returned from attending Koi America and club members are still debriefing the experience of their 1st Koi Show in order to improve next year.  The site of the show has already agreed to double the space for vendors for next year.  The Oct. club meeting will cover winterizing your pond, heating options and fish health over the winter in Minnesota.  The Nov. club meeting will be a pot luck and slide show presentation of our most notable club events and highlights for the year, a celebration of the year.  The Winter months will hold Board meetings for planning projects for the year.  David Yee, of Valley of the Sun KC, reports the first club meeting in Sept. following the summer break.  Club members were excited to see the KOI USA article coverage of the 2007 AKCA Seminar in Phoenix and the check for $4233 for this club’s half of the Seminar Host club payment.  The Southern Arizona club received an equal amount for their work as host to the Seminar, raffle and AKCA Bookstore sales commission.  The educational topic for the Sept. meeting was how to net and bag fish for a koi show.  Mary Oxman, of Ventura KC, reports guest speaker Tom Holder, of Koi Care Kennel, was unable to make the meeting due to traffic from LA so host Steve Geldman discussed general pond topics.  One suggestion was for each member to write down the maintenance and running sequence for their pond so another person could run the pond in their absence or vacation.  Host Steve also potted up cycads and cannas to share with club members.  The Nov. club meeting will be held at the Indiana Jones pond owned by Eric Howes and members are encouraged to come as their favorite pirate.  Doug tried to contact the following clubs with no response:  Dai Ichi KC; Las Pampas K&WGS; Mid Atlantic KC; Middle Georgia K&WGC; Nashville Pond Society; North Idaho Koi Keepers; and, Tulsa Koi Society.

 

q       Written report submitted by Bob:  So Cal Koi Club had five members attend the Las Vegas Koi Show the first weekend in October.  Gordon Chibana won the Long Fin Grand Champion.  They will meet in November at the home of Carol Karlin, of Santa Monica.  They are also planning for their annual Christmas party to be held at Marie Callender’s.  Charles Phelps, of Greater Louisville K&GFS, said that everything is going well.  Dr. Lau, of Indiana K&WG, said they picked up 20 new members; now have an active membership of 130.  Mona Coleman, of Northern Nevada Pond Club, said they are planning for their Xmas party.  Norm Call, of Oregon K&WGS, said everything is OK and the fly fishing is great.  Lyly Giles, of Sierra KC, said they have their meeting March through Oct.  It has already snowed; everything went well this year.  David Vince, of West Tennessee Pond Society, said that everything is OK.  Nellie Hawley, of No. Florida KC, said the club has 143 members from 90 families.  They are having their fall koi show in November.  Bob tried but was unable to reach Tropical K&WGC of South Florida; The Great Pond & Koi Society of West Michigan; and, North West K&GFC ZNA.

 

q       Written report submitted by Burt:  Johnny Foster, of Nature’s Coast K&WGC, said they are recovering from their show last week; had real heavy rain during it; had 101 koi with some high quality; Peter Ponzio also judged their goldfish show.  Their 9th anniversary meeting next month will be at a new member’s; some members are going to the First Coast Koi Show.  Henry Culpepper, of Orlando Area K&PC, said they had a joint meeting with Florida East Coast at C. Gellerman’s home; a member did a presentation on utsuri and round table on koi related items.  Next meeting @ John & Grace Johnson’s who do pond construction & maintenance.  Rod Lawton, of ZNA Southern Koi Assoc. said they are getting ready for Naples on Nov. 16-18; expect a medium sized show.  Also in planning stages for the Central Florida show in March; several members recently won major awards @ show in Koi America, Nature’s Coast, and the

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q       Chicago show.  Norbun Watson, of Middle Georgia KS, said some members went to Atlanta Koi show and won some prizes, he club gave a friendship trophy; their next social is Oct. 27th.  The local master gardeners will have meeting @ Norbun’s.  Joe White, of Florida East Coast K&WGS, said the meeting in Deltona @

a member’s new pond; putting newsletter info on their website to save mailing costs of newsletter.  Arley Hulstrand, of Dallas Koi Kichi Group, said they turned five years old last month; five shows held already.  They have a new meeting format with emphasis on education via two streams, one for inexperienced new members and another for experienced hobbyists.  Meetings in members’ homes changed to a more convenient time, 12:00 noon, first Saturday of Sept, Nov., Dec., March, & April.  In Oct. they will attend the San Antonio show; in May the Oklahoma City show, and in June they will present their own show.  Arley Hulstrand, of Koi & WGC of No. Texas,  said that on Oct. 5th Channel 8 interviewed Laura Adams and David Jones, KHA, regarding the Dallas Fair Park Lagoon cleanup project undertaken by the club this spring.  This was a lengthy and difficult project, spearheaded by Laura and David, both of whom devoted countless planning hours.  Before winter sets in club members will return to the Lagoon to tidy it up for winter.  At the regular Oct. meeting an officer slate will be presented, with elections to follow in November.  David Jones will discuss the importance of preparing their personal ponds for winter.  Debby Young, of Southern Arizona Koi Assoc., said they are getting ready for koi show Nov. 9-11; next meeting will be on quarantine & acclimation of new fish.  Ed Thomas, of San Francisco Bay Area KC, said their last meeting was at Camellia Club Koi Show.  Barb Flowers, of Rocky Mountain KC, said their new president is John Flowers; no Nov. meeting.  Their Xmas party is being planned; preparing for winter.  Denise Williams, of Santa Clara Valley K&WGC, said they have strong plans for the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008.  They are planning their Christmas Party for Dec. 9th.  In 2008 they will be attending the South Bay Home & Garden Show at the Santa Clara Convention Center.  They will be having a booth for 3 days…Jan. 25-27th.  February 22-24 they will have a booth at the Peninsula Home & Garden Show at the San Mateo Event Center.  Linda Montgomery, of Cascade K&GFC, said they had the Home & Garden Show at Portland Expo Center; got 5 new members.  May get more new members ; next meeting will be at Linda Montgomery doing a pine pruning demonstration; last meeting was at the Japanese Gardens with talk on Japanese Stone lanterns.  Dr. James Hooper, of Mendocino Coast K&WGS, said nominations for new officers; elections this month.  Winter is setting in and koi less active.  Burt tried but was unable to reach Oklahoma Koi Society.

 

q       Written report submitted by Larry:  Shelly Klinger, of Central Illinois Water Gardeners, said the last meeting of the year will be held at Jim Siebermorgen’s house.  This is the club’s annual social meeting/election of officers so there will be no speaker.  The meeting portion will begin at 10:30 a.m. followed by brunch at 11:00 a.m.  The club will provide chicken, coffee and tea.  Joan Woelfle, of the St. Louis Water Gardening Society, had its Fall Tiki members-only tour of about eight ponds with nighttime lighting, ending up with a feast of finger foods at the last house.  Their Sept. speaker was Aaron Burchett, of Pond Market, speaking on steps needed to close down their ponds for the winter.  At that meeting, they started a new idea which has hit a wonderful chord with people – they took five minutes to highlight one water plant and then five minutes on one type of koi.  Darlene Jennings, of the Mid-Michigan Pond & WGC, said their next meeting will be at John & Diane Warner’s home in Flint, MI.  Brad Meehle will be the guest speaker.  His talk will be on Landscape design for your backyard.  He will teach them how to measure and draw up a complete landscape design on paper.  Mark Shatsick, of Prairieland Pond & KC, said their club meeting, Sat. Oct. 13th was changed from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and they are going to make it more of a social event.  There will be a cookout with hot dogs, chips, soda, smores and a camp fire.  They hope to get a good turn out with changing the time to the evening.  Next months meeting will be the last meeting/banquet until next year.  There will be an election of officers for next year and several board members will be stepping down to let other club members have the chance to be on the board.  Mark will be stepping down as Pres and they already have a person who has volunteered to try the position.  They still plan on having a pond tour again next year and already have 2 ponds as candidates.  

 

q       Written report submitted by Phil Hunter:  James Slider, of the Capital Area K&WGC, reports that the club had a very good turnout at the Sept. meeting which was held at Luke Landscaping.  Rick Luke gave a presentation on fall and winter preparations as well as adding lights and/or music to our ponds and outdoor rooms.  In addition, many members brought plants to share.  The October meeting will be held at the Delta Community Center and will feature a photo tour of Kyoto Japan presented by Beth Barker.  Don Hellard, of the Gainesville KC, reports that all is well with the club and they are making plans for their upcoming koi show in January.  Claudia McGowan, of the Inland Empire WG&KS, reports that Colleen McCalip of Still Water Gardens spoke on preparing plants for winter at the Sept. meeting.  The October meeting will feature a round table discussion regarding preparing the pond for winter.  Topics discussed will include; fall cleaning, keeping debris and leaves out of the pond, whether to keep filters running or to shut them down, how to

 

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q       protect against frozen pipes and equipment, covering the pond, heating or not, and when to quit feeding the fish.  Judith Minor Roberts, of the Mountaineer K&WGS, reports that the club had its last meeting of the year in Sept., although the club is planning an outing to the Charlotte Koi Show in early November.  Tom

Tranbarger, of the Shasta K&WGC, reports that the Sept. meeting was a pot luck dinner held at the home of Bob & Penny Hart.  The October meeting will be the annual koi auction.  The meeting will be held at the home of Terry & Karlene Stoker.  Terry will serve as auctioneer for the event.  Linda Siler, of the Springfield WGS, reports that Sept. meeting was the last outdoor meeting of the season.  Everyone had a great time at the home of Dave & Helen Simmons.  A lively discussion was held on the cause and remedies for string algae.  The October meeting will be held indoors at the St. Johns Cancer Center.  The program will be getting ready for Halloween.  Dave Simmons will demonstrate how to carve faces on pumpkins.  Darlene Bannon will demonstrate how to paint and preserve pumpkins for months of enjoyment.  The Tiki Tour in Sept. was a huge success.  The club says thanks in big letters to all of the great hosts.  The Dayton K&GFC had no report this month. 

 

q       Written report submitted by Carole Elliott:  Larry Hursh, of Gennesse Valley Pond & KC, said that they will feature a presentation on the IWGS symposium that was held this summer in Thailand.  Larry Nau will be the presenter for this at their Nov. 2nd meeting.  The Dec. 7th meeting will be their Christmas Party; the year end celebration of their 11th.  They will not have a meeting during the month of January.  Officers and Board of Directors meet during January to select topics, speakers and other events for the year.  Jackie Allsup, of Eastern Iowa Pond Society, said their last couple of meetings have included pot lucks, pond picture competitions, and sharing fish donated to the club from Kodama Koi Farm.  They recently enjoyed the hospitality of 3 club members as they hosted a night time progressive dinner pond tour.  The object was to feature ponds with night lighting but was strictly a social event for members to enjoy each others company and some excellent food, too.  Fall is here in Iowa and they are netting ponds to keep the leaves out.  Gary Floyd, of Amarillo Koi Society, said that the pond club in Amarillo merged with their club so they have grown by about 20 members.  Jerry Woodbury, of Miami Valley WGS, said they are enduring the lasting heat from summer, however, cautiously preparing for the fall to hit so that they can shut down their ponds for the winter.  They continue to have speakers giving them tips on landscaping around the pond, showing them slides on other pond displays, and maintenance issues for water gardening.  Bryan Bateman, of Midwest Pond & Koi Society, said they will be wrapping up the year this month when they hold their annual volunteer appreciation night.  All volunteers who have worked for eight hours or more for club events will receive a complimentary dinner, and there will also be prizes for those who worked extra hours.  Their annual elections will also be held at the dinner.  Joe Copeland, of North Texas WGS, said they completed their pond cleanup project at the Texas Discovery Gardens.  Their elections were also held and they elected three new officers to the Board.  The elementary school pond that they are building is almost complete.  The pond and stream portions are complete and filled with water.  The two waterfalls need plenty of work.  Fish and plants will soon be added.  They are also in the early stages of planning a chili cookoff and party for the end of the year.  Jan Jordan, of Mid-Columbia K&PC, said officers were voted in at the last business meeting.  Carmen is still doing their newsletter which can now be viewed on line at www.midcolumbiakoi.org.  The club also voted to donate $100 to the KHV fund and to purchase a new oxygen meter, the old one broke.  The two positions for PNKCA rep are open.  Many thanks and appreciation, plus singing Happy Birthday, were given to Phyliss Hirschel, their outgoing President.  They also discussed was the great turn out for the Bio-Security class given by Tim Miller-Morgan; the club even made a little money from hosting it.  Carole tried but was unable to reach Bakersfield K&WGS; Canada KC of British Columbia; Central Alabama K&WGS; Niagara Frontier K&PC; Puget Sound KC; South Carolina K&WGS; Southwest K&PA; and, The Water Garden Club of South Texas.

 

q       Written report submitted by Spike Cover:  Tom Ayers, of Tucson KS, reports they have no meeting in October.  Tamara Skaggs, of the NMZNA, said they will be holding a meeting Nov. 3rd at the home of Dick Thomas.  They will be discussing the 2008 koi show.  They are also doing a grow out contest with fish from Quality Koi and will receive their Sankes on that date.  These fish will then be shown at the 2008 Koi Show to be held June 21-22 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.  Ray Jordan, of Texas K&FGFS, said they are focusing all their resources and efforts on their 15th annual koi show this weekend (Oct. 13-14) in San Antonio.  They expect it to be one of their biggest and best to date.  Club members attended the 2nd annual Las Vegas Koi Show and it was outstanding.  In particular their members special talents to organize and make their event so much fun and using the background of the Las Vegas experience would make this a fantastic group and location for a future AKCA Seminar.  However, please move the Seminar date to a time of the year when the climate would be better for sight seeing trips in the area.  Dan Phillips, of North Carolina K&WGS, said their club mud pond ikeage was Oct. 6th; Jumbo tosai Hoshikin Kohaku grew on

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average from 10” to 20”, lots of bulk was realized!!  Live mud pond growout judging at Oct. meeting with impressive etched crystal vases to be awarded.  Club koi photo contest to be judged in Nov. by Art Lembke.  Names have been submitted for club officers for 2008.  Voting of new officers at November meeting. Six

members attended Koi America, three helped with show.  Roger Lias was a guest speaker at one of the Seminar lectures.  Jason Sargeant, of Camellia KC, said the 2007 Sacramento Combined Koi Show was held on Sept. 22-23.  Over 100 fine fish entered in the show between the novice, open, and dealer divisions.  Results and pictures of the winners can be seen at http://www.camelliakoi.org/koi_show.html. 

 

q       Written report submitted by Harlan Glenn:  Chuck Poppe, of ZNA Potomac, reported that their club pond tour is next week, Oct. 21st.  Everything is on schedule; Sept. koi show was very successful.  Several members took koi to Koi America, won a lot of prizes.   Bill Thompson, of Koi Club of San Diego, said the club will have a potluck picnic this month at San Dieguito Park.  The Pond Tour in Point Loma and La Jolla will be Saturday, Oct. 20th.  November’s meeting will be at the Castro’s in Ramona.

 

q       Written report submitted by Joyce Glenn:  Rod MacNeil, of Charleston Showa Club, reported that he doesn’t know of any places of interest that might host the AKCA Seminars.  They have about 74 members; have no idea how many subscribe to KOI USA (guesses about 40%).  Joyce Tsuji, of Washington Koi, said they had 153 members but could not keep track of the subscriptions.  Dave Peebler, of Koi Club of Kansas, said they have 24 households in membership with 14 of those subscribing.  They will get the papers signed at the meeting coming up Sunday.  Bob Waag, of Florida West Coast, said they have 50 members, but he has no idea how many subscribe to the magazine.  Bonnie Nakahara, of Hawaii Goldfish, signed the papers but she is going to track down the President to make sure he has signed and that they have been or will be sent to Burt this weekend.  They have about 65 members, but their  magazine rate is low so she is going to call and talk to members about that.  Michael Anderson, of Atlanta Koi, brought a serious matter to the attention of the AKCA Board.  On Friday, Sept. 28, the Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources declared a level four drought response for North Georgia.  The previous level three wording allowed for refilling ornamental fish, ponds/fountains.  The level four wording has no such wording allowing for ornamental fish.  Also, the exceptions document is devoid of any consideration for fish ponds.  If the koi keepers are to follow this ban, they set themselves up for animal cruelty law violation as we all know that water quality declines (even with excellent filtration and aeration) in a closed pond system without periodic water changes.  They request that the AKCA Board to prepare a paper that can be submitted to the Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources (or any similar agency in other states), that states the critical need for “topping up” ponds and for doing periodic water changes of at least 10% and please state as many references as possible.  Last count of membership was 160.  They do not know how many subscribe to KOI USA.

 

q       Written report submitted by Kelly Houston:  The Inland Koi Society general meeting this month will be Oct. 28th at the home of Paul & Deborah White of Rancho Mirage.  In Nov. the IKS will have elections for the slate of officers and board members.  Guest-speaker is Scott Zehm the topic is “Micro Sieve Pre Filters” that are available for koi pond filtration systems. 

 

q       Written report submitted by Louie Hernandez:  ZNA Southern CA report their Sept. meeting was held at the home of Sam Pheng in Rolling Hills; pond built by Frank Morales.  The meeting was well attended and some new ideas were discussed for next years koi show as well as the koi round up and auction at the Earl Burns Japanese Garden in Long Beach.  Nishiki Koi Club reports their monthly pot luck and meeting was held at the home of Doug Wright.  Their speaker was Andy Moo, owner of Andrews Koi International.  The topic was color foods and the transition into fall and winter.  They also had some members step up to keep their newsletter going. 

 

q       Written report submitted by Bill Thompson:  The Placid Pond & KC met at the home of Susan B orden for pizza and a discussion of parasites.  They will take the winter off and meet again in the spring.  The Koi Club of Middle Tennessee enjoyed trips to Koi Village and Hammock Koi Farm this summer.  The Oct. meeting at the home of Don & Anne Krantz will be the last until January as the club takes the holidays off.  The Santa Clarita Koi & WGC will meet and hold elections for new officers next month.  Their recent pond tour attracted large crowds who visited 10 ponds in the area.

 

PROXY CALLS FOR NOVEMBER

§         If your club is interested in the 2010 Seminar – get your proposal in before the next AKCA board meeting!!

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§         Is there a site you would love to go back to for another Seminar?

§         How many members does your club have; how many subscribe to KOI USA?

§         Did your club submit the Insurance form?

 

Upcoming AKCA Annual Calendar Events for NOVEMBER

·          None

 

OLD BUSINESS:  

Ø       AKCA Bookstore:  Burt brought in samples of items to sell in the bookstore; discussion.  It was decided to purchase 100 blue t-shirts at an approximate cost of $1050.  It was also decided to order 30 navy blue windbreakers at an approximate cost of $1050. 

 

NEW BUSINESS: 

Ø       Email:  Harlan discussed an email from Michael Anderson regarding the drought in Atlanta which bans water use for ornamental ponds (exception for fish ponds).  He is looking for someone to write a letter to the Georgia authorities requesting a 10% water change.  Asked for Spike’s help in formulating the letter.

 

Motion:  To adjourn the meeting 9:31 p.m.  Motion by Bill, 2nd by Larry.  Approved.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Carole Elliott,

Secretary