President's Letter Hello Everyone!
The February meeting was held at Kim and Alan Young’s home in Arlington. As always they had a ton of food; Alan fried up some really good catfish and chicken. Thanks y’all! We had several guests, and new and returning members. Welcome to Christi Duvall, Jack Peters, Layton Sumpter, Tim Olsen, and Jodie McGlothlin! Randy Rhoades gave an informative demonstration on how to use his new digital camera.
Plans for the Spring Show were reviewed. Remember the location has changed to the Knights Inn Hotel in Arlington. Dates are April 16 – 18, 2004. Speakers include Chuck Rambo (Victorian and Lake Malawi cichlids), Spencer Jack (Confessions of a Cichlaholic and Lake Tanganyika cichlids), and Cary Strong (Discus). Volunteers are needed to help set up and tear down the show. The club has asked Caroline Estes and Dan Martin to auctioneer, hopefully to move the auction along a bit faster.
The tank placement program for schools sponsored by Tropical Fish Hobbyist magazine and Marineland was discussed. The club is interested in promoting these programs and encourages members to volunteer to mentor a school. Our level of participation is dependent upon folks who want to get involved. Contact me if you have a particular school you would like to help.
John Gilliam has volunteered to arrange to have Daniel and Kassy Steelman’s home cleaned, courtesy of the TCA. We discussed how to best help the Steelmans at the January meeting. Their six-year-old son, Joseph, has been diagnosed with A-Plastic Anemia. Joseph needs a bone marrow transplant; information on how to test for a match or to donate blood on his behalf is on the TCA website at www.texascichlid.org.
I have received a couple of entries for the ACA 2005 Convention theme/logo. We need a really cool, unique Texas/Western theme, something that truly reflects the matchless heritage of our great state! I am sure there are some insanely creative folks out there. Here is your opportunity! The deadline is March 31st; mail your entry to my home address.
The next monthly meeting is March 20th at Nancy Clark’s home. Showing and judging fish will be discussed. Hopefully, everyone has already begun to condition his or her show beauties. Be sure to register your show fish – the deadline is April 5th! Hope to see you at Nancy’s!
- Kathy