Midwest Pond and Koi Society 12th Annual Goldfish Show 2004 Chairman's Letter see winners here

Dear MPKS Members,

The bell has rung on our Twelfth Annual MPKS Goldfish Show. Our goldfish show technically opens on Saturday at 9:00 AM, but in truth our show begins on Wednesday morning.

On Wednesday morning, my family and I arrived at the Fairgrounds fairly early. We arrived with both good news and bad news. The good news was that the Fairground had saved the cinder-blocks we had used in years past and we did not have to spend upwards of $100 to buy new ones (Sweet!).

The bad news was that we had to haul them from the grandstand to the building. Luckily, we had some help who had actually helped last year when my family could not be at the Fairgrounds until later in the day. This guy simply called himself "Al" and since there are at least two Al's in the club, we never got a chance to thank him. So, Al Hansen, thank you for your help hauling bricks, drilling boards, filling tanks, and all those annoying tasks that are actually necessary- both for this year and last year. Also, special thanks to Al Meyer and Bob Brudd who did a few things for us too. Thanks to all the other Wednesday Volunteers who were working on the Koi Show and the Dry Side because those aspects are important for the overall success of the Koi and Goldfish Show.

Changing water for the endless row of cranky contestants

Fast forward to Friday. I got to the fairgrounds carrying my goldfish and I was met by Dry-Side Chairman Niels Christensen and his fish. A special thank you to Niels is in order, because he is one of the few individuals I know who can put ten pounds of potatoes in a five pound bag and still have room for a few more, which is exactly what he did on the Dry-Side. Great work, Niels!

Niels Christensen (right), with Ron Weynschenk

As Friday check-in wore on, fish kept trickling in. We were a bit worried that we weren't going to fill up the sixty-seven tanks we had filled, but we did! This year's exhibitors included:

1. Usual Suspects- Renee Helms, Kim Chapman, Ken Terrill, Anne Passovoy, and me.
   
   
2. Making her return after a one year hiatus, Sue Glowaty. (By the way we hope she doesn't take another hiatus.)
   
   
3. Second year Koi to Goldfish convert, Niels. (It was his choice, I swear.)
   
   
4. Out of state visitor Art Lembke from the MAKC.
   
   
5. Four novice exhibitors- Scott Thompson and Shila Scott of the Rocky Mountain Koi Club, Adrian Kruger of Wisconsin, and our very own Al Meyer and his (drumroll, please) AMAZING FLYING SHUBUNKINS!!! (More on that later).

Scott & Jane Taylor, with Tommy Hui and Ken Terrell

Dealers' Awards

Then the main event began. Scott and Jane looked at all seventy-one exhibitor fish and had their choices in at about 3:00 PM. To see the whole list of winners, see either the newsletter or the webpage. Below are some highlights of the winners.

Grand Champion- Grand Champion was won by a ryukin owned by me. Scott mentioned that the fish begged to be looked at more than once.

Reserve Champion- Anne Passovoy bags her first piece of "Champion Hardware" with her red and black telescope eye.

Judge's Choice- Scott said that he has a bias toward pearlscales and that is what he chose.

We also had several new awards:
Sweepstakes Award- The winner of this award is determined by the number of second and third place ribbons. I won this award, just barely edging out Niels.

Spectators' Award- Last year, we called this award the People's Choice Award. You may have seen my son walking around attempting to con you into voting for your favorite goldfish. Kerry and Elizabeth Piest of Pyr Over My Pond enthusiastically sponsored this award.

Most Unusual Goldfish- President Bob Passovoy suggested this award and Robin Passovoy was responsible for the equally unusual trophy won by Scott Thompson of the Rocky Mountain Koi Club.

Novice Award- We had four novice exhibitors but the one that stood out the most for us was Adrian Kruger of Blanchardville, Wisconsin.

GFSA Friendship Award- Pete Ponzio, our judge last year suggested this award and it was given to my panda telescope.

Michigan Koi and Pond Clubs- SE Chapter Friendship Award (a.k.a. "The Rock")- Mick and Kathy Hodgson of Michigan brought a piece of "The Rock" for the Goldfish after two years of badgering from me. The winner was Ken Terrill's tomosabi or single-tailed ryukin.

Best in Variety- We had sixteen best in variety plaques instead of eight. Al Meyer won the most heavily populated class, Mature Shubunkin/Comet, with a fish that decided it wanted to jump from its assigned Tank 17 to Tank 18, hence the name the AMAZING FLYING SHUBUNKINS!

Later on that evening, we gathered for our banquet at the hotel. Thanks to Bay Bateman for the great banquet. The food was delicious, the company was great, and so was the slideshow and awards presentation presented by my son and daughter (although he insists it wasn't).

Sunday- We woke up and ate breakfast with the judges, and then we returned to the Fairgrounds for some visiting. At about 2:00PM I began to hear sirens. Yes, sirens- weeeeee woooooo weeeeee wooooooo. Hurricane John Rottersman and his tear down crew demolished the remnants of the goldfish show like Charley did to those trailer parks in Florida. Thanks John!

Here are our final thank you's-

WebKahuna Anne Passovoy- Thanks for putting up with me and for doing all the computer work that needed to be done.

Bob Passovoy- Thanks Bob. Without you and your water quality skills, we would have had to make a new variety- deceased.

Holly Morlock- Scott and Jane really enjoyed their lunch on Saturday and it happened because of you.

Robin Passovoy- Thank you for the wonderful awards, again. They're great!

Spectators- Thanks for voting, looking, and asking questions.

Scott and Jane Taylor- It was a great joy to have such wonderful people as our judges.

Volunteers - I'd like to thank everybody who volunteers their time, especially the ones I don't get to interact with very much. Since you are at the Fairgrounds all weekend, bring out a couple goldfish.

Mick and Kathy Hodgson- Thanks for working at the raffle and doing other odd jobs, and of course "The Rock!"

The Visitors from Colorado, Shila Scott and Scott Thompson- One of my greatest joys was to know that you all are interested in starting a show in Colorado!

Bryan and Bay Bateman for handling the essentials of the show.

And a special thanks to my wife Connie.

Also, I'd like to thank the MPKS for sponsoring this wonderful show.

Alright, guys, I billed this as the Show of Shows, but now I have to say that in 2005, the exhibitors will be GOING FOR THE GOLD!

P.S. As I am dictating this to be typed, I just remembered that I forgot to sign out on Sunday…

Jim Castillo
Chairman
Goldfish Show

Midwest Pond & Koi Society
P.O. Box 1251 • North Riverside, IL 60546 • 312–409–2081