President's Letter
Hello Everyone!The 20th Anniversary Convention was a huge success!!! The show was outstanding, thanks to Page Ullman, Marvin England, and all those who helped set up and tear down. Our speakers, Ad Konings, Wayne Leibel, Jack Wattley, Pam Chin, and John Kuhns were interesting and informative, and very well attended. Master of Ceremonies Ralph DeBoard admirably introduced the speakers. The banquet, though cramped, was lots of fun. Congratulations to Coleen Ullman for her Best in Show win with a Cichlasoma labiatum (red devil). We had a great time in the hospitality room, thanks to Larry Lampert and Keith Pearson, and of course Pam Chin’s wonderful late-night photos of Lake Tanganyika! Sunday’s auction was outstanding, with hundreds of bags of fish and loads of dry goods. Thanks to Jim Lancaster, David Andrews, and Kathy England for a well-run auction, and to Alan Young and Coleen Ullman for an outstanding job soliciting so many donations from manufacturers! Thanks, also to everyone who worked hard to put this all together. In addition to those mentioned previously, they include John Gilliam, Mike & Diane Stewart, Randy Rhoades, Phil Tucker, John and Joanna Nicholson, Daniel & Kassy Steelman, Sue Lancaster, Nancy Clark, Jeff Miller, Robert Hazelwood, John Hansen, Ron Treber, Caroline Estes, Danny Young, Richard & Amber Cleary, Whitney Edwards, and Britney Andrews. I apologize if I have left off anyone, there are so many folks involved now, and it is terrific!
Thanks to Diane & Mike Stewart for hosting the May meeting at their home in DeSoto. They also made the beautiful Texas-shaped show awards! That meeting was the final planning meeting for the anniversary convention. We also discussed hosting an American Cichlid Association convention in 2005. .
On June 4th, several TCA board members visited the Radisson Hotel in downtown Fort Worth as a possible site for ACA 2005. The Radisson folks, as well as the Fort Worth Convention & Visitors Bureau, are very interested in helping us bring an ACA convention to Cowtown. We will get some expert advice from Ron Georgeone in Cincinnati later this month (Ron chaired the very successful Cleveland Convention in 2000). Suggestions for location, tours, speakers, etc. are welcomed and encouraged!
Many TCA members will attend “Cichlidfest Cincinnati” in Cincinnati Ohio for the annual ACA convention, July 24th – 27th. ACA conventions are always loads of fun, lots of fish, information, and cichlid folks from all over the world!!! Checkout the official convention website at www.aca2003.com
TCA’s next regular meeting is August 16, 2003 at Daniel and Kassy Steelman’s home in Dallas. Hope to see you there!
- Kathy