Hello Everyone!The Fall 2001 Workshop was a great success! Attendance was better than we have had in several years. A record number of folks joined TCA. Our speakers, Larry Lampert, Julia Mann, and Ron Georgeone, did an outstanding job! They kept their audiences captivated for several hours. Attendees were very generous with their money – Caroline Estes raised over $300 for the Paul Loiselle Conservation Fund! We also had many, many donations from various manufacturers. A special thanks to Keller Farms for all of their donations and help! Be sure to thank these vendors (a list is in this issue of Cichlid Tails) by purchasing their products.
TCA’s website has a new look thanks to our new Webmaster, Jim Lancaster. Jim has also registered a new domain name for the site – www.texascichlid.org - much easier to remember!
The TCA Christmas Party is just around the corner! It is December 8, 2001 at Harrigan’s Restaurant at I-30 and Collins in Arlington. Dinner is at each member’s expense. We will have the annual fish swap. Bring a bag of fish or a fish-related item, gift-wrapped, to exchange. It gets a little exciting sometimes when folks bring really neat stuff! The Christmas party is always a lot of fun, and a great way to celebrate the holidays with old and new fish friends!
Our next regular meeting is January 19, 2002 at my house in Keller. We will have election of officers and board members. All TCA members are eligible and encouraged to serve. Some of us have been around a long time – new ideas are always welcome! We have invited Caroline Estes from Austin to come and talk about judging fish. The FOTAS Convention will be only a few months away; Caroline will give us tips on what to look for in a show fish.
Speaking of FOTAS, the Convention will be April 19 – 21, 2002. It is the 50th anniversary of FOTAS. We are very excited about making this a great event! Ad Konings, Wayne Leibel, and Rusty Wessel have committed to speak. Three betta clubs will participate, and we will have a betta speaker. We are working on several other non-cichlid speakers as well. Not only will the show be ACA-sanctioned, but it will be International Betta Conference-sanctioned also! We would like to get other clubs involved – if you know of, or are a member of, another Texas aquarium club, let us know!
See y’all at the Christmas Party!
- Kathy