2006 Rep Meeting Minutes

2006 PNKCA Convention Representatives Meeting

June 10, 2006

Richland, WA

Attendees: List attached at end of this document: 27 individuals were present with one guest.



1.      Linda Montgomery called the meeting to order at 12:20 pm with greetings to all, followed by introductions of the Board.

2. The minutes from the March meeting were presented by Anne Potter. Moved/Seconded/Passed (M/S/P) with the proviso that the Oregon notes be added.

3. Treasurer’s Report: The current budget (distributed) was summarized by Raeleen DeGrandpre and accepted. M/S/P

4.      Koi of the Year award: There were only 4 applications this year of which only 2 had forms, and none had the club president’s signature. Why? A discussion followed with the following comments:

a.       Lee S.: the form is ambiguous – what does ‘current’ picture mean? Is a picture within one year sufficient? Can the picture be from the last show? Tracking down the club president is not always feasible – is it really necessary? Clubs operate in different ways, some have a special meeting where pictures of fish are brought and vote is taken, some have a fish selected at their show.

b.      Michael D.: the rep is responsible for submitting the picture; the fish only needs to have been alive within the last year.

c.       Norm C.: When any club selects a fish, it should be alive. By the time a vote is taken at the convention, anything could have happened, so don’t restrict viability at convention time. The signature requirement could be changed to “Club Officer” and the position held noted.

d.      Lindsay: the form could be corrected to reflect this change.

A motion was made: The submission form for the Koi of the Year award will be modified to require a signature by a club officer or authorizing representative of the club. A ‘current photo’ will be defined as being within 1 year of the convention. S/P

5.      2006 Convention: This year’s planning process communicated well with the Board, which made the process move smoothly. Linda thanked Carmen for updating the articles regularly. Carmen reported that the team had been working together for 10 years, making the effort a lot of fun. She also said that the hotel manager was a pleasure to work with. Bill White presented a Friendship Award – a carved fish.

6.      2007 Convention: Clark Shea discussed the tentative plans for 2007. The site is not yet set, so there is no poster yet. The Delta Hotel is being renovated as a “Sandman Hotel” but has no sales force to plan with until they have an opening date. Timing of the opening will determine if we can use that facility. Canada and Dai Ichi had a contest for the slogan; Lindsay won with “Passport to Koi” to reflect the changing international border requirements. The registration cost will be somewhere around $90 Canadian, so there is some concern about attendance. The question was put to the meeting – most said that they would attend. Suggestions were that the meeting be a bit different thatn our ‘standard’ speakers all day, perhaps only morning speakers, and a behind-the-scenes aquarium tour in the afternoon. Pond tours will be arranged for Sunday. The date that was suggested was the third weekend in August, which conflicts with the Spokane Show, and the last weekend in July, which conflicts with Mid-Columbia and the NW K&G shows. The final date is not settled as of this meeting. Clark will consult with the planning team. The consensus is that ponds show best from May to August, so a fall convention wouldn’t be ideal.

7.      Old Business

a.       Should there be closed attendance at Rep meetings? Jerry Tyler recommends that the meetings be open, but that voting be limited to the club representatives. Room size will restrict the number of guests. If one rep can’t attend, clubs can send a substitute. The item was dismissed without action.

b.      Can the convention host club sell items at the convention? This year Mid-Columbia bought a table for sales. Motion: The host club for a convention can set up a table to promote and sell club items. The motion is retroactive to March 11. S/P

c.       The PNKCA Tategoi Award: At shows the judges select the winner. Norm showed a sample trophy. At discussion followed about the nature of the trophy: should the past practice of having a traveling trophy be continued or should there be individual awards? In the past, travelling trophies tend to disappear over time when a non-member wins. Norm suggested that the award be limited to club members. Raeleen asked what the cost would be for individual awards – Jerry T said that $20 is about right. The next issue was if every club has a trophy? It is thought that some clubs are missing theirs, but no tally was available. The consensus was that we will stay with a traveling trophy. Motion: The PNKCA will pay for one traveling trophy every 5 years if needed. If trophies are lost in less than 5 years, the club will be responsible for purchasing a replacement. S/P, with 5 opposed.

d.      Web Site: please send information for posting to Phyllis Anderson at koipondman@aol.com.

e.       Convention guidebook: Carmen has done an excellent job; her experiences should be sent to Linda to update the guidebook.

8.      New Business

a.       A vendor wanted to donate original work to the auction with 40% of the profits going to her and 60% to the PNKCA, or would donate a copy to the raffle. The consensus was that a donation should be unconditional and not a shared profit situation.

b.      Future Conventions:

                                                   i.      2008: Norm and Elsie of Oregon Koi Club are considering the feasibility of hosting. There are some logistical challenges: the location is 2 hours from an airport, and a long drive for everyone, so attendance might be low, and finding a facility could be difficult.

                                                 ii.      2009: no volunteers yet.

c.       In light of the time, brief Rep reports will be given at the Banquet.

9.      It was M/S/P to adjourn the meeting at 1:20.

Attendees: June 10, 2006

PNKCA Executive Board and Director

Linda Montgomery, PNKCA Chairman

Gene Anderson, PNKCA Vice-Chairman

Anne Potter, PNKCA Secretary

Raeleen DeGrandpre, PNKCA Treasurer

Phyllis Anderson, PNKCA WebMaster

Attending Representatives and Past Chairs

Jerry Tyler                            Past Chairman

Larry Christensen                 Past Chairman

Lindsay Gibson             Past Chairman, Dai Ichi and Nanaimo

John Ennals                         Dai Ichi, Nanaimo

Clark Shea                             Canada Koi Club

Jim Elliot                             Canada Koi Club

Sot Chimonas                                 Idaho

Bill White                           Idaho

Robert Fischbach                     Inland Empire

John Siefert                         Past Chairman, Inland Empire

Harland Borcherding                 Mid-Columbia

Carmen Stafford                      2006 Convention Chair, Mid-Columbia

Floyd Haderly                                    NW K&G

Michael DeGrandpre                 NW K&G

Melinda Smieja             Olympic

Dave Smieja                         Olympic

Norm Call                              Oregon

Elsie Browning                     Oregon

Joe Lewis                           Puget Sound

Larry Smith                            Puget Sound

Lee Sundgren                                 Washington Koi

Larry Smith                            Yakima

LaDelle Borcherding                 Attending Spouse/Northwest Koi

PNKCA Representatives’ Meeting

March 11, 2006

Tacoma, WA

Attendees: List attached at end of this document

Luncheon 12:00 – 12:45

1.      Linda Montgomery called the meeting to order at 12:45pm with greetings to all, followed by introductions of the Board.

5.   (presented out of sequence) Representative’s packets – Linda M.: note that there is a brochure included which can be updated with a club’s individual logo.

2. The minutes from last year’s convention were presented by Anne Potter. Moved/Seconded/Passed (M/S/P) as read.

3. Treasurer’s Report: The current budget (distributed) was summarized by Raeleen DeGrandpre and accepted. M/S/P

4.      2005 Convention recap: The 2005 convention expenses were recapped; speaker fees were less than planned due to the wet lab. The seed money for the convention host was explained. It was explained that the PNKCA merchandise and the Super Raffle are not a part of the convention income, but are separate items and therefore not part of the split with the host club.

5. (above)

6. Club Updates

Ø      Pacific Wonderland has participated in the Japanese Festival in their area.

Ø      Dai Ichi – John Ennals. The club focus is primarily a monthly social event with a meal, and a Christmas banquet. They participated with the Nanaimo club on a pond tour by bus and a barbecue. Dai Ichi will host a pond tour in Victoria on June 4^th.

Ø      Nanaimo - Lindsay Gibson. For those who aren’t familiar with Vancouver Island, Lindsay explained that it is about 1½ hours north of Victoria. Their main event during the year is a display at the Mid-Island Exposition every year. They have had excellent support from nurseries in the area for many years.

Ø      Canada – Clark Shea. The koi hobby is doing well in the Vancouver, BC region; there are now two dealers in the area. The club is primarily social, with new members joining. Next year they will host the PNKCA convention, and have a pond tour.

Ø      Washington – Lee Sundgren. The club has held outreach events in June at the Redmond Farmer’s Market (2004 & 2005), and will be at Flower World near Maltby this year to attract new members. On June 17 a members-only raffle will be held at Pan Intercorp with a $225 entry that is refundable if one doesn’t get a fish. In July there is a barbecue with a raffle to support KHV research, and a members pond tour. The annual show will be in September. Lee thanked the other clubs for their participation and support of the WK&WGS show.

Ø      Mid Columbia – Carmen Stafford. The club is now about 120 families. They will be showcasing the club with a booth at the Master Gardener’s Garden Fair on June 17 at the regional library, where there is a pond that the club supports. On September 9^th there will be a public pond tour for $5/person; members ponds are shown (only members’ ponds for insurance reasons). They have had 400 to 600 attendees in the last two years. Local dealers support the club with discounts for club members.

Ø      Puget Sound – Joe Lewis: membership has been declining recently. They meet once a month, with the Young Koi Show over the first weekend in August (with a banquet) and a Christmas Party in December. Joe suggested that show tanks be reserved early this year.

Ø      Yakima – Larry Smith: Larry Mozingo is the new President. They meet on Saturdays. Special events include a Christmas party with a gift exchange and a seminar on ponds at a local nursery.

Ø      Olympic – Melinda Smieja: They are located in Silverdale, with 19 families. Last year they held a Koi Appreciation Day at a local nursery; this year will bring a Pond Appreciation Day. There will be a tour of seven ponds, open to the public. There is a new koi vet in their area – Dr. Craig Adams. Melinda also brought greetings from Ed Fujimoto - a member there – who is doing well, but is not able to travel, so could join us this year.

Ø      Northwest – Michael DeGrandpre: Their elections are in September. There are 135 families on the roster, with 40 to 50 core members, including about a dozen Koi Health Advisors. Patti Magee has taken over the newsletter. Meetings have included discussions on judging fish, appreciation of fish, and goldfish topics. Their main event is the July koi show – July 29^th this year. They do a lot to support the Japanese Garden, including a massive fish rescue when there was a toxin problem there last fall. They also support the Japanese Garden’s ‘Children’s Day’ on the first Sunday in May every year, activities include origami koi, sumi painting, a story time, fish necklaces, and raising koi flags. KHV has become a problem in a few members ponds recently.

Ø      Cascade – Jeff Thomas: Elections are in November. Events: January 25^th – anniversary banquet, and hosting a booth at the Portland Home and Garden Show, which brought in 12 new members. There was lots of interest from people who didn’t know about clubs, and wanted info on ponds and koi people in the area as resources for information. The club participates with the NW club in supporting the Japanese Garden.

Ø      Idaho – Bill White: The club has had a speaker from Missouri Foods talking about koi nutrition, and another from Lilypons in conjunction with the University Biology and Horticulture departments. Other events this year: 3/26 – a ‘workshop meeting’ at Boise Depot to replant the water gardens, 6/17 – a plant sale, 7/22-3 – pond tour of 8 members ponds, and 8/12 – the 13^th annual koi show chaired by Sat Chimmas. They also are planning on having area water garden suppliers sign up for renewable ‘Sponsor Plaques’ for $100 per year.

Ø      Inland Empire – Robert Fischbach: The club has ‘adopted’ the Japanese Pond in Spokane’s Monitor Park. This has involved cleaning the pond and having the health of the fish analyzed at WSU. Donated fish are put in the ‘Duck Pond.’ This year’s grant will support the club’s booth at the Garden Fest in May at Spokane Community College, where they will have pond information and plant sales. On 7/15 the major fundraiser will be the 7^th annual pond tour open to the public for $10. The Koi Show will be 8/19-20 at a new location this year – River Front Park in Downtown Spokane. Another popular event is “Floats on the Pond” – root beer floats at a member’s home. The club members include one Koi Vet and 5 KHA’s. One dealer will have a koi raffle/auction. There will also be workshops on filtration, kio identification and judging.

7. Bronze Koi Award: Larry Christensen acknowledged the past winners of the Bronze Koi Award. The requirements for eligibility were read. Nominations that do not win one year will be carried over to the next year. Nominations are due March 31^st.

8. ZNA membership: Larry C. explained the Japanese ZNA (Zen Nippon Arinkai) as one step ‘beyond’ the AKCA. Members of the NW club can become members of the ZNA, with the NW club providing a subsidy for ZNA membership.

9. Ed Fujimoto award winners for each club need to be submitted by March 31^st, and may go to a couple rather than an individual. Each club decides how to select its winner; some clubs have had problems with the process. Pat Christensen suggested that clubs consider putting the process into their By-Laws to avoid controversy. Randy Brock says that Oregon Koi has a nomination committee, followed by a club vote.

10. PNKCA awards:

Ø      Koi of the Year: Digital photos will be accepted as .tiff or .jpeg files up through May 15^th; one entry per club. These will be displayed at the Convention for an anonymous vote for the PNKCA Koi of the Year award.

Ø      The Tategoi awards, sponsored by the PNKCA for club Koi Shows, are a rotating trophy; there are 5 of them, and they are getting old and need to be replaced (one is lost).

Ø      The Cascade club suggested that if one family wins the AKCA award, they should not be eligible for the PNKCA award at any one show. No action taken; this is a suggestion that has worked for their club.

11. Koi promotional grants, 2005: all have been paid. According to the By-Laws, alternates from last year will be guaranteed an award this year, if they apply for one, and if a winner doesn’t submit the necessary story and picture for reimbursement, then an alternate can move up. All articles must be submitted by the March Rep. Meeting of the following year. No money will be sent until the article is received.

     1. Cascade Koi and Goldfish Club (3/15/05)

     2. Yakima Valley Koi & Water Garden Club (9/06/05)

     3. Olympic Koi Goldfish and Watergarden Club (9/14/05)

     4. Northwest Koi & Goldfish Club (10/25/05)

     5. Washington Koi & Watergarden (12/05/05)

     6. Pacific Wonderland Koi Club (1/24/05)

Alternate – Inland Empire Koi & Water Garden Society

Alternate – Oregon Koi & Watergarden Society

-Break- Distribution of Super Raffle Tickets to club reps.

12.    PNKCA Convention 2006 – Carmen Stafford: Norm Call has provided the art work for the pin, poster and cover sheet. The Convention book is progressing well; bios are done, large ads are sold, the pond tour info will be in the book, along with local information, calendar, and coupons.

Schedule: Friday evening wine tasting, Saturday speakers, banquet and auction, Sunday pond tour with lunch at Koi Joy.

13.    PNKCA Convention 2007 – Clark Shea: Plans are underway and a team is in place to coordinate the event. The location is pending; the Delta is closed for renovations, but would be ideal if open by then. Other hotels are near there. The Vancouver Water Garden Society does garden tours, and we may be able to coordinate with them. Plans so far include a contest for the theme and slogan (Clark – is this for all clubs or internal to Canada?)

New guidebooks for convention planning will go to Carmen and Clark. Larry, Linda and Pat are working on updating the information.

14. Old Business

1.      Koi America West: Dan Olsen has not gotten this going as yet. It may be raised again next year. John Seifert spoke against the idea. Lee Sundgren suggested that the topic be tabled for future consideration when Dan is able to promote the idea; M/S/P.

2.      KHA Donation Program: should we donate again? The cause has raised ~$100,000 so far, but needs much more to make meaningful progress. Larry Christensen reported that there isn’t any information on where the money is going yet, and that we should not send more funds until we have that information; M/S/P.

3.      Web Site – Phyllis Anderson: While all agree that the site is much improved, there was extensive discussion of the direction the web site should go.

Ø      Anne suggested that each club contribute an article; in general it was felt that that would undermine the purpose of having individual club memberships and newsletters.

Ø      The Yakima club has had good success with a Koi for Sale page on the web site – would that work regionally? Jeff Thomas thought that it might not work as well with such a large region, and what risk does the PNKCA take if the buyer isn’t satisfied.

Ø      It was suggested that PNKCA items would be appropriate to post noting that they will be available at the convention. Michael DeGrandpre moved that we drop the Koi for Sale idea, and get pictures of items available for sale at the convention posted. M/S/P.

Ø      Larry Christensen proposed that the purpose and guidelines for the web site be generated for consideration by the organization in the future.

Ø      Phyllis will work with the reps and start a list of concepts for the web page. Linda complimented Phyllis on her work on developing the website and saving the PNKCA a great deal of money, and the reps responded with a round of applause.

Ø      Larry White suggested that there be a KHV information page.

4.      Proposal: Eligibility for grants be limited to those who have hosted a PNKCA convention (tabled from the 2005 convention rep meeting): Larry C commented that our purpose of grants is to help clubs grow. John Seifert’s comments were read to the group for their information. It was M/S/P to dismiss this item.

5.      By-law change proposal by Sue Boydstun (tabled from the 2005 convention rep Meeting) Explanation: Sue Boydstun proposed that PNKCA change the by-laws to state that the hosting club receives a guaranteed minimum of $500 plus10% of the net profits exceeding $500 for hosting the PNKCA Convention. A short discussion followed that included Raeleen’s calculation that under this plan the Cascade club would have gotten considerably less than it did last year. It was M/S/P to dismiss this item.

15. New Business

1.      Linda made a request for clubs to consider hosting the convention in 2008 or 2009. Comments were made that clubs should work together or that smaller clubs could help the clubs that host conventions in many ways such as helping obtain raffle items.

2.      Promotional Grant applications were received from the following clubs, and were awarded as follows:

a.       Inland Empire Koi and Water Garden Society (alternate last year, 4 previous grants)

b.      Oregon Koi &Watergarden Society (alternate last year, 5 previous grants)

c.       Nanaimo Fish Pond and Water Garden Association (no prior grants)

d.      Idaho Koi & Water Garden Society (no prior grants)

e.       Mid-Columbia Koi and Pond Club (one prior grant)

f.        Washington Koi & Water Garden Society (two prior grants)

Alternate #1: Northwest Koi & Goldfish Club (4 prior grants)

Alternate #2: Cascade Koi & Goldfish Club (6 prior grants)

3.      New 2006 Show Poster – no comments

4.      Convention Guidebook Update – no comments

5.      Donation of a tote, T-shirt, and pin to a club koi show or event: Linda explained that reps who would like a donation to a club event could request that and pick up those items at this meeting or at the June convention. Several reps took advantage of this offer.

6.      Closed attendance at Rep meetings: Jerry Tyler commented on the attendance at the rep meetings. Following a short discussion, this item was tabled for future discussion.

7.      New: The question of a hosting club being allowed to sell items at a convention was raised. This item was tabled for future discussion.

8.      It was M/S/P to adjourn the meeting.

Attendees: March 11, 2006

PNKCA Executive Board

Linda Montgomery, PNKCA Chairman

Gene Anderson, PNKCA Vice-Chairman

Anne Potter, PNKCA Secretary

Raeleen DeGrandpre, PNKCA Treasurer

Phyllis Anderson, PNKCA WebMaster

Attending Representatives and Past Chairs

Jerry Tyler                            Past Chairman

Larry Christensen                 Past Chairman

Lindsay Gibson             Past Chairman, Dai Ichi and Nanaimo

John Ennals                         Dai Ichi

Clark Shea                             Canada Koi Club

Jim Elliot                             Canada Koi Club

Robert Fischbach                     Inland Empire

Waunita Fischbach                     Inland Empire

Larry Smith                            Yakima

Melinda Smieja             Olympic

Dave Smieja                         Olympic

Bill White                           Idaho Koi

Joe Lewis                           Puget Sound

Bob Olchewsky (?)             Puget Sound

Will Judd                             Washington Koi

Lee Sundgren                                 Washington Koi

Randy Brock                           Oregon Koi

Kimberly Brock               Oregon Koi

Carmen Stafford                      Mid-Columbia/2006 PNKCA Convention Chair

Pat Mueller                         Mid-Columbia

Jeff Thomas                                     Cascade Koi

Floyd Haderly                                    Northwest Koi

Michael DeGrandpre                 Northwest Koi

Pat Christensen                 Attending Spouse/Northwest Koi