AUGUST A ugust s Big News CLUB ORGANIZATION

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1 AUGUST 2009 CLUB ORGANIZATION President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Board of Directors Meeting Coordinator , newsletter Web site master Audio visual Pond Tour, Holiday party Dealer Relations Speakers Librarian Club Reporter Membership Refreshments Club equipment Koi Health Advisor Julaine Mullaney (408) Terry Denevan Cal Hansen Eduardo Massa Ken Snarr Larry Templeton Terry Denevan (408) Larry Templeton (650) Larry Templeton Larry Templeton Rita Hughes (408) Cal Hansen (408) Bill Mundy Cal Hansen Marifran & Bill Mundy (408) Ken Snarr (650) Sanjiv Kapoor (408) AKCA Representative Larry Templeton Art Director Emergency Pond Services Meeting notes Mike Perret (408) Ken Snarr Charity Lloyd (408) A ugust s Big News And big news it is. The pond tour was a runaway success with nearly 600 visitors and $8,585 in receipts. As we look back on how this came about, several things stand out. First, we had a terrific group of attractive and interesting ponds, thanks mainly to the efforts of Ken Snarr. Second, the organizing group was relentless in pursuit of publicity. Some of our initiatives worked and some didn t, but the most effective by far were the San Jose Mercury News and the Silicon Valley Community Newspapers, the latter a group of 12 local newspapers. Our most profound thanks go to these two organizations and to all of the others that aided our cause. Barbara Snarr, Rita Hughes and Wayne Kuhfahl were particularly effective in making this all happen. Our pond tour booklet ad campaign was also wildly successful. Many members contributed to this but Terry Denevan and Cal Hansen in particular made it their personal agenda to sign up advertisers and we ended up with 31 paid ads. To see the ads, go to the SCVKWG club web site at and click on the link in the middle of the page. You ll be amazed at the diversity of our supporters. Barbara Snarr did a terrific job of pasting up the ads and printing the entire Pond Tour booklet. Without Rita Hughes tour- day operations organizing skill and hard work, none of this would have been possible. On the Saturday following the pond tour, we celebrated at a special Pond Tour Social at Terry & Carol Denevan s. It was a lovely day, we were all basking in the afterglow of success and Terry & Carol s place was the perfect setting for a celebration. Congratulations and kudos to all concerned. We have two terrific events coming up in August and September. This month s Pond Social at 1-4 pm on Saturday, August 22 will be hosted by Gregg Steed at Cherry Hill Koi & Watergardens, 321 Spar Ave., San Jose near Santana Row. By party time, Gregg s new giant water lily should be up to full size with individual pads approaching 8 ft in diameter. We re looking forward to a great party. On September 26, Dan Rutledge will once again host his legendary members-only Santa Cruz pond tour and BBQ. There will be a tour of 5 ponds followed by a BBQ social at Dan & Pat s home. Those of you who attended Dan s events in the past know that the ponds are always interesting and the social gathering at Dan & Pat s place deep in the redwoods of the Santa Cruz mountains is quite special. Dan asks that all who plan to attend please notify him prior to September 15 by at scvkwg@gmail.com, by phone at (831) or by signing up at the August meeting. As in the past, we will meet at 11:30am in the Walgreens parking lot in the King s Village shopping center in Scotts Valley on Mt. Hermon Rd and car pool as a group to the ponds. See you there!...larry Templeton

2 Meetings & Events Monthly Club Meetings 7:30pm on the third Friday of each month in the American Legion Hall, 1504 Minnesota Ave, San Jose August General Meeting Friday, August 21, 7:30pm Speaker: The August meeting presentation will be a narrated video of the recent Pond Tour. August Refreshments: According to Marifran, there will be an Ice Cream Social!! Yummmmm!!!! Attendance drawing prize The winner of the July drawing wasn t present so the attendance prize goes to $65 in August. Board of Directors Meeting The next Board of Directors meeting will be held immediately following the September monthly meeting. August Pond Social The August pond social will be at Gregg Steed s Cherry Hill Koi & Watergardens. Please see August s Big News on the front page of this newsletter for hours and directions. J A PA NES E K OI - from the Australian Koi Association They come when called, follow their owners as they walk around the pool, allow themselves to be petted, and will take food from outstretched fingers. They ll outlive almost any other kind of pet, maybe even you. They don t bark, or bite, or tear up the garden. They re carp (Cyprinus carpio) not gold fish, which are only relatives. But they have common names more descriptive of their magnificent colors or patterns, living jewels, flower koi, brocade koi, fancy koi. They re also called samurai or warrior fish, but not because they are belligerent or fight among themselves. Rather, it s because of their reputation as strong, determined swimmers able to negotiate rapids and ascend waterfalls. Carp have long been associated with success and masculinity in China and Japan. In Japan, on May 5 Celebrations of Boy s Festival Day households fly cloth and paper carp kites, one for each boy in the family. Before 800 A.D. common carp were cultivated in Japan (even earlier in China) for food. Carp were bought to North America in the 1870 s. A few offspring of the common carp developed bright colors. This intrigued some Japanese, especially rice and cattle farmers in an isolated mountain area northwest of Tokyo, now Nigata Prefecture. In the 1800 s breeding and selecting became an intensive and highly competitive pastime for the farmers in their off hours and when snow stopped normal work. Each man tried to outdo his neighbor by developing fish more dazzling in color or unusual in pattern. Interest in carp breeding didn t reach the outside world until 1914 when some colorful specimens were exhibited in Tokyo and several were given to Crown Prince Hirohito. Such fish had never been seen before outside the villages of the carp-growing region....from an article by H. Watson

3 July General Monthly Meeting The July monthly meeting dealt entirely with preparations for the Pond Tour. Rita Hughes was the member in charge of tour-day operations and she did a great job of explaining the setup and operating procedures to be followed. We are so lucky to have veterans of many previous pond tours to keep things organized and running smoothly. In addition to all of the organizational work, Rita had to come up with 52 volunteers to man the operation. This included 4 ticket takers and 4 docents for each pond with an extra 2 docents at the Los Altos Hills and Mountain View locations, each of which had 2 ponds. As you might imagine, this recruiting activity came down to the wire. Our hats are off to the pond tour organizing team for a job extremely well done. Hooooray!!!!!! August Board of Directors Meeting The Board held a lengthy meeting on Friday, August 7 to discuss lessons learned from this years pond tour and other business matters. Here s a summary: 1) Start the publicity activities in April. 2) Publicity in the San Jose Mercury News, the Silicon Valley Community Newspaper chain and the post card mailout program produced by far the greatest number of visitors. We need to repeat this next year. 3) Next year we ll put more cash, receipt books and new pens in the site boxes. 4) It s hard to predict the correct number and distribution of pond tour booklets in advance and it was necessary to shuttle booklets between sites. 5) Sponsors placed 31 ads in this year s booklet and the team thought we might be able to double that number next year. The Board recognized the need for having a comprehensive membership information privacy policy in place and will develop one for consideration by the members. Future Speakers August The August program will be a 20 minute narrated video on the Club s recent Pond Tour. September and beyond We ve talked with Burt Ballou of the AKCA about speaking at one of our fall 2009 meetings. He s agreeable, but we have yet to work out the date. We re still looking for a September speaker. If you have an idea, please us at SCVKWG@gmail.com

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5 Koi Keeping and Personal Health Have you ever wondered whether you could catch something bad from your Koi or pond water? The answer is possibly, but not likely But, of course, there s more to it than that. Catching a disease from Koi is extremely rare, but possible. One of the most troublesome is the bacteria belonging to genus Mycobacterium. It s the same type of bacteria that can cause tuberculosis in humans and it can be found in fish and in the pond. Affected fish may exhibit several external symptoms such as anorexia, Popeye, skin discoloration and external lesions such as ulcers, nodules and fin rot. Some may exhibit no external symptoms, but upon post mortem, grayish-white lesions may be seen in the kidney, liver and spleen. The usual suspect is a fish that is thin, losing weight and probably older. The bacteria usually prefer the cooler temperatures of fish, but can infect humans through cuts or abrasions or handling infected fish. Such an infection in humans usually shows in the form of an infected nodule in the skin (granulosa), although there is a chance of a more serious internal infection. The other common types of pond or fish bacteria, Aeromonas or Pseudomonas, can also infect humans. Avoid these bacterial diseases by wearing gloves and washing hands thoroughly with antibacterial soap before and after handling the pond water or fish (the before is to protect the fish, the after is to protect the people.) Pond water is normally not a problem. However, if there is run off into the pond, the pond is a drinking source for local animals, or if water (in the form of wild water plants) is brought in from untreated sources, Giardia can become a problem. Giardia is a parasite that makes its home in the small intestine of mammals (not fish) and the symptoms can range from none in light infections to severe, chronic diarrhea in heavy infections. Don t ever drink the pond water. Many of our fish have parasites, such as crustaceans, flukes, protozoans, roundworms, and tape-worms. Other than the worms, most of these parasites don t want much to do with us humans. Worms are usually only transmitted by ingestion, so don t eat your Koi! So, the answers are just common sense. In disease prevention, like pond keeping, cleanliness is our best tool. Wash your hands thoroughly before and after handling fish or contacting pond water. Never eat Koi. Never drink pond water. Wear rubber gloves when handling an infected fish. Most of all, don t worry. Follow these simple rules and enjoy your pond and fish....condensed from an article by Rich Street of the Washington Koi & Watergarden Society and originally printed in the Cascade Koi & Goldfish Club newsletter.

6 Meet Our Members...Charles & Luisa Lim Marvelous! The backyard Koi and water garden created by Charles & Louisa Lim is exceptional. My expectations were high, but what my eyes tried to take in was unexpected. My first reaction was, Oh, oh, oh! The initial view from the kitchen s sliding glass doors is of an inviting slate patio. Outside, to the left, a wooden bridge spans the garden s edge. To the far right is nestled a rose-vine covered patio with sink, cooking facilities and large stone table. Between the two patios grows a stunning array of colorful plants, flowers and trees, all providing light, shade and contrast to the garden. One of the major features before us is a beautifully crafted waterfall. The sounds of water cascading from varied heights onto stone and eventually into the Koi pond, is pleasing to both eye and ear. A few steps forward and the pond comes into total view. The 5,000 gallon central feature is five feet deep, the water crystal clear. It is alive with movement and color as 26 magnificent Koi quickly glide forward to greet us. This would be enough to fascinate most visitors, but the background for this unique pond and water garden adds height, breadth and depth to the total environment. Rising above and spanning the large yard is a 55 degree slope. For many this would be a topographical deficit, but the Lims built a winding pathway twenty-five feet in height ending at a viewing structure. From this observation point a panorama of the pond and lush outdoor living-vista lies below. Louisa tells me of her enjoyment in selecting unusual plants and trees to fill the evolving landscape. She takes particular pride in her cymbidium orchids. The love of plants extends into the Lim s beautifully appointed home. Louisa spends many hours on Ikebana, Japanese flower arranging, but that s another story. The Lims, of Chinese heritage, were both born in the Philippine Islands. They moved to New York 39 years ago and started an import-export business. In 1981 they headed for California. Charles and Louisa have lived in the Almaden Valley of San Jose for the past ten years. In 2003 the two joined the Santa Clara Valley Koi and Water Garden Club. Louisa holds a BA in education and taught 5th and 6th grades over a seven year period. Charles earned a BA in electrical engineering in the Philippines. He graduated from Harvard University with a MA in applied physics. Charles and Louisa have four grown children each talented and successful. Louisa tells me she and Charles like to share their home and garden with others. Charles and I enjoy visiting other people s homes and water gardens each one different. Smiling, Charles tells me, We love the club and the people in it. I ask, What s next? They tell me, In a few days we will be taking our extended family to Hawaii for a week to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. The Lim s story is about hard work, great success and rewards well earned....story & photographs by Terry Denevan

7 Treasurer s Report June is our low point for the year. We receive income mainly in July from memberships and the pond tour. The rest of the year, it s mostly outgo, and that mostly for rent on the meeting hall and printing and mailing expenses for the newsletter. July 10, 2009 through August 9,2009 Opening balance $4, Deposits 10, Outstanding checks July expenses 1, Ending balance $12, In addition, the Club owns a CD with a value of $12, as of 2/5/2009. The CD was renewed on 2/5/09 for a period of 1 year at an interest rate of 2%. The 6 month report hasn't yet arrived from the bank, but the value as of August 9 should be about $12,700. A nice balance but little return in today s low-interest world. Somehow, Julaine Mullaney finds time among all of her jobs to keep the books as Club Treasurer. Her reports are always accurate and easy to understand. Julaine, we re deeply appreciative of your hard work. Advertising Rates are for 11 issues (one year). All ads appear in both the newsletter and on our web site! Business card $35.00 Half page $ Quarter page $95.00 Full page $ If you place an ad in mid-year, your cost for that year will be prorated based on the number of months remaining until July 1. To place an ad, please send ad copy (.pdf or.jpg file or high quality printed form) to the or snail mail address below and we ll send you a bill. Membership Membership dues are $30.00 per year, payable on July 1. If you join in mid-year, your dues for the that year will be prorated at the rate of $2.50 per month to the next July 1 and $30.00 per year thereafter. To join, send your personal info (name, address, phone no. and address) either by or snail mail to one of the addresses shown below. Contact Us For details on either ads or membership, please scvkwg@gmail.com or come to one of our meetings. The latter is certainly preferred as we d like to get to know you! To contact us by mail, our address is: SCVKWG P.O. Box 9006 San Jose, CA 95157

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