President's LetterHello Everyone!
I think most of us who attended the annual American Cichlid Association Convention in Atlanta have recovered from the trip by now. I am not sure about Kathy England, however; her feet probably have not quite come back to earth after winning the Best of Show! Congratulations to Marvin & Kathy!!!
Other Texas folks did very well with their show entries--Alan Young and Ralph DeBoard also brought back Georgia trophies. It was a wonderful convention, very organized and well attended. Congratulations to the Atlanta Area Aquarium Association on a great job! I think the highlight of the convention (besides Kathy & Marvin winning Best of Show) was a surprise birthday party for Wayne Leibel. Wayne said it was the best birthday he ever had!
The Babes In The Cichlid Hobby raised lots of money for conservation again this year. Good Job! to Caroline Estes, Pam Chin, Pam Marsh, and the rest of the Babes! It was great to see all our old cichlid friends! And I really enjoyed hanging out with my traveling bud, Diane Stewart.
Our own TCA member, John Hanson, raised a sizeable amount of money for a project he has organized to get young folks interested in the fish hobby. John made really nice wooden ACA clocks that were auctioned at the Convention. Proceeds from the clock sales go to purchasing hobbyist magazines for junior high schools libraries. I am sure there are other TCA members out there with creative ideas on the same topic. I would love the club to come up with something unique we can do to raise interest as well.
Our next meeting is a road trip to Louisiana. Look for details in this issue of Cichlid Tails. The last regular monthly meeting for 2002 will be September 21 at the home of John and Amy Gilliam.
The Fall Workshop will be here before we turn around! We had a great time visiting with one of our speakers, David Soares, in Atlanta. He is a real expert on South American apistogrammas and a fun guy, too! Our other speaker, Paul Turley from Ohio, is an expert on synodontis catfish and photography. We should have a great time with these guys! We will not have a show, although an exhibition is being discussed. We will have, as always, a giant auction. See you then!
Kathy