Bonsai Santa Clara Valley Koi & Water Garden Club March 19th, 2013 7:30 PM Visit our Web Site at www.sckoi.com Koi Club Meetings The Club meets on the third Friday of October, March, May, June, and July in the San Jose Public Library, Willow Glen Branch, 1157 Minnesota Ave., San Jose, 95125. Meetings usually consist of a Q&A session in which experts answer any pond-related question that comes up, a refreshment break and a presentation from an expert in koi ponds and/or water gardens. Subjects range from koi fish health to designing and building a pond, filtration systems, maintenance, selecting and buying fish, water plants and bonsai.
Meeting Minutes - February 19, 2013 The Meeting was called to order at 7:25 pm by President Frank Mullaney. Pledge of allegiance was said. The guests introduced themselves. Pond Problems were discussed and advise was given. Marco Tjaden talked about water features for ponds. Julaine Mullaney gave the treasurer s report. Rita Hughes passed around the signup sheet for the Cherry Blossom Festival being held in Cupertino April 27 & 28, 2013. Cal gave an update on the pond tour. We are looking for information to publish please get it to Les by the first of the month Next board meeting is Thursday March 14, 2013 at the Willow Glen Library at 7:30 pm Next general meeting is Tuesday March 19, 2013 at the Willow Glen Library at 7:30 pm Frank Mullaney President Board Meeting Minutes - February 19, 2013 Attendees: Frank Mullaney, Julaine Mullaney, Rita Hughes, Cal Hansen, Dave Shelley, James Barrett. General Discussion: Christmas Party. No gifts; however, Toys for Tots are acceptable and appreciated. Slated for first Sunday in December. Volunteers who contribute at least 8 hours of service Pond Tour, Cherry Blossom, or Santa Clara County Fair will get dinner for free. Advertisements. General discussion followed. Motions: two First Motion: Treasurer will review Ally Bank as potential new depository for Club CD. Current interest rate of 0.2% is low; Ally offers 2.5% for a 5-year certificate with minimal penalties for early withdrawal. Motion was approved. Second Motion: Reimburse Dave Shelley for fuel expenses associated with setting up the 2013 Pond Tour. Motion was approved. Cheers, James Barrett, Secretary Newsletter Advertising Rates Business Card $35.00 Quarter Page $95.00 Half Page $175.00 Full Page $325.00 ADVERTISING POLICY & RATES Rates are for 5 issues (one year). All ads appear in both the newsletter and on our web site! 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 email or snail mail address below and we ll send you a bill. Membership Dues 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 email address) either by email or snail mail to one of the addresses shown below or, better yet, come to our next meeting and join on the spot. Contact Us For details on either ads or membership, please email: 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 Santa Clara Valley Koi and Water Garden Club Page 2
A Time to Rant.By Jerold Kyle, KHA I love this hobby. I wanted to build a pond and have some fish in it so started looking around for information. Someone said find and join a Koi Club as there are people there who know what to do. Sound familiar? I just described a lot of us in this hobby. We came and we learned and we built while having a lot of fun making new friends. Everyone you talk to can say, If I were to do it over again I would..? We would all do something different. No matter how nice or how perfect our pond is there is always something we know we could have improved on. We know this because as we progress we continue to learn. Learning is the first step. Acting on what we learn is the important step. Why does someone love it when they hear something they believe or want to hear, but turn a deaf ear when it s something they do not want to hear? Is it because they already have all the answers? Is it because to change somehow validates they were wrong in whatever they are doing and don t want to admit it. Even secretly to themselves? Is it just too hard? Are people just too busy? Just not care? What? I put a lot of thought into an article about water changes. Water changes are something we all learned about a long time ago and may be tired of hearing about over and over. Like listening to a broken record we hear it over and over. I hear, Alright already, we know! So, some don t pay as close attention to water changes, the Koi are still alive aren t they? Sure, but can t you hear that ticking sound? There is plenty information why leading KHA Vet Advisors are concerned about this problem. One article I wrote referred to the tick, tick, tick of the time bomb that is in many of our Koi ponds due to nitrates. Helloooooo, Is anybody out there? It s getting warmer and they (you know who) are eating more and I hear the tick, tick, tick getting louder as water changes become even more important with warmer water. Even without my hearing aids I can hear it. Tick, tick, tick. Why doesn t everyone? As I look around I still see so many have not dealt with, and I am afraid will not deal with, good water changing procedures. It is frustrating to feel so ineffectual, so ignored, so unsuccessful in creating changes for the good. I only wanted to help and am disappointed, saddened, and maybe a little mad. What can I say to get someone to act like they care enough to take proper care of their Koi by learning the simplest, easiest, and cheapest way to do water changes? If you constantly perform regular water changes for the love and proper care of your Koi, this was not meant for you because you are one of the good ones. Thank you for that. It s just that hearing that tick, tick, tick when others do not worries me. Thank you for being a good Koi steward and understanding this was just a rant to try to get the attention of those who need to take better care of their babies. Want the simplest (a few things in the garden dept), easiest (don t have to do it weekly), and cheapest (don t have to buy sodium thiosulfate (IE: Dechlore) way to do water changes? Send an email to the editor so he can print it next month. Treasurer s Report Checkbook: Beginning balance 02/01/13: $9,767.73 Deposits: None Outstanding checks: -167.00 Expenses: NOV - DEC -$242.00 Ending Balance 03-01-13: $9.358.73 C D Balance 02-05-13 12,901.22 SPLISH SPLASH SPLISH SPLASH I AM LOOKING TO HELP BUT WHERE O WHERE CAN I HELP O HERE IS WHERE I CAN HELP Cherry Blossom Festival: April 27 & 28 Pond Tour: July 20 Santa Clara County Fair: August 1-4 Cherry Blossom & Pont Tour: Sign up contact Rita Hughes 408-242-0398 County Fair: Sign up contact Frank Mullaney 408-691-2656 Working any of these events goes toward the Christmas Dinner Santa Clara Valley Koi and Water Garden Club Page 3
Jack Christiansen Demonstrates How to Create a Bonsai. Member of the San Jose Midori Bonsai Club for the past 6 years and have held the position of Vice President for 4 years now. I m also a member of the American Conifer Society for the past three years where I share an interest in collecting and growing dwarf and miniature conifers in my home garden. It is conifers that I mostly work with in developing and shaping for my garden and additional plants in bonsai pots along with rock plantings I ve also taken great interest in. I personally have a 1000 gal Koi pond along with a duel flowing creek my son and I built with other flowing water features. My backyard now has 18 tons of rock intermixed with many dwarf and miniature conifer plants that I ve collected from various nurseries threw out the Pacific North West. Many of my Bonsai trees have been shown in various bonsai shows threw out the Bay Area but primarily the show my bonsai club puts on each fall in the Japan Town Area. Bonsai trees and their development has become a true passion of mine, at present I m working on about 50 various trees that are at different stages of development. My bonsai trees, rock garden, Koi pond and water features, all adds to a tremendous amount of enjoyment to my life and daily routine. Now that I m retired from my photography business I have more time to enjoy the fruits of my labors and appreciate and get to know my koi fish even better. Santa Clara Valley Koi and Water Garden Club Page 4
Bonsai Santa Clara Valley Koi and Water Garden Club Page 5
The Newsletter of the Santa Clara Valley Koi and Water Garden Club Santa Clara Valley Koi & Water Garden Club P.O. Box 9006 San Jose, CA 95157 Postage Here Support Your Koi Club Come to Meetings!