Northwest Koi & Goldfish Club

Children’s Day at The Japanese Garden

Display by: Northwest Koi & Goldfish Club

by Linda Montgomery

Photos by Larry & Pat Christensen

Again this year on Sunday May 2^nd the Northwest Koi and Goldfish Club had the wonderful opportunity to set up a display for the children at the Japanese Garden for Children’s Day. A tank was set up for the fish on Saturday afternoon on the deck of the pavilion and Larry, Pat, Bill and Linda had a fun time on Sunday introducing the children (and our future koi keepers) to the koi.

This spring our weather was unusually warm and we had a beautiful day with lots of sun, which is certainly an exception at this time of year in Portland. The children had a great time viewing and occasionally petting the koi. We were all kept very busy answering all sorts of questions about the koi and handing out lots of fish stickers to all of these very enthusiastic future koi keepers. We also printed up lots of pamphlets, which were done specifically for the children to educate them about the koi at a level that they could easily understand.

This exciting day began with the children helping to raise the koi no bori (carp kites) on the flagpole. As the day progressed the children enjoyed many demonstrations and activities at the Garden. The Japanese Tea Ceremony, traditional Japanese dance, and the Taiko Drummers all performed for the children. There was also an abundance of hands-on activities for the children to participate in which included: koi drawings for the children to color, block printing, sumi brush painting, ikebana (flower arranging), and origami koi for the children to fold (provided by Northwest Koi & Goldfish Club).

But the koi viewing was definitely one of the most popular of the activities at the Garden. The children came back repeatedly to pet and enjoy the koi and Traveler (a large and extremely friendly yamabuki ogon) came up to greet each one of them just as he did last year. Several children remembered Traveler from last year and came running up to the tank to see him. We were all kept quite busy answering all of the questions by these inquisitive little minds such as….”How old are they?”, “Do they bite?”, “How big do they get?”, “How long do they live?”, “Do they have names?”, “What do they eat?”, and many other fun questions.

The warmth of the children and the beautiful spring day helped to make this a very memorable and enjoyable experience for the members of the Northwest Koi & Goldfish Club. We hope to continue to help with Children’s Day at the Japanese Garden for years to come!

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Pacific Wonderland Koi Club

Festival Japan 2004

Pacific Wonderland Koi Club had the honor to participate in Festival Japan, September 18 & 19, 2004, at Uwajimaya Plaza, Beaverton, Oregon.

Our mission was to raise the community's awareness of the tremendous advancements and contributions, made by the Japanese breeders, to the world-wide hobby of Koi-keeping. And, we had a wonderful time doing just that!

On Friday, September 17th, we set up 3 show tanks and prepared the water for Saturday and Sunday. We averaged 10 members working each day of the festival.

The set-up crew from Hughes Water Gardens provided garden decor for our booths.

We had beautiful urns with bubbler fountains, ornamental grasses, varieties of cannas, kiosks hung with artwork of local artists.

It was truly beautiful. Thank you, Jill Woodmansee and your crew, for your inspiration and creativity and support.

Saturday, September 18th, was cold, windy, rainy; but that didn't deter people from attending the festival. We Oregonians are a hardy lot!

Sunday, September 19th, was overcast, but dry and mild. Several hundred people attended both days. On Sunday, we had people lined up 2-3-4 deep to view our Koi. We answered their many questions. It was great fun!

Rick & Judy Ramento exhibited 4 Koi from their pond; and Dale & Sharon Richardson exhibited 2 very large Koi from their pond.

In the third tank, Wayne King exhibited several varieties of fancy, exotic goldfish, since some of our members have goldfish as well as Koi. Wayne -- your darling little critters stole the show! Everyone was enchanted with those puppy-dog faces. The Koi received ooohs and aaahs; but the goldfish brought forth squeals of delight from the children.

We had coloring pages of Koi for the children to take home. Over 175 were handed out! We had Koi stamps to give the children "tattoos", but the downpour made that impossible. We also had planned to show videos of the All Japan Koi Shows, but we felt that we should forego that because it was so wet! Saturday was like a monsoon! But, we still had hundreds of people visit our booths both days.

Festival Japan was so exciting - over 34 booths in all. Our booth was next to the Consulate-General of Japan booth.

The food vendors offered delicious samples, as well as complete meals. There were karate exhibitions throughout each day.

Joel Iwanaga, a reporter for KOIN News 6 was the M.C. on the main stage. He graciously made several announcements about our PWKC exhibit.

The entertainment featured all aspects of Japanese culture - traditional music, taiko drums, ceremonial samurai sword demonstrations, and a Tokyo-style nightclub band. The children from the International School delighted us with songs and dances.

Joel Iwanaga became an honorary member of our breakdown crew. Thanks Joel, for taking time for pictures with us.

The Japan-America Society of Oregon was so pleased with our exhibit. We have been invited to take part in this wonderful event again next year.

All we could say is, "We accept!" Sponsors are already committing to help us.

Sayonara until the third weekend of September, 2005!

Doomo Arrigato!

Lynn Longfellow (Asst Dir of Japan-America Society of Oregon, Judy Ramento, Joel Iwanaga, KOIN News

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Yakima Valley Koi & Water Garden Club

In our 3^rd year of existence, we have been finding our way with the help of many established friends of koi and also through other clubs. We have been working for the first two years on being educated in the art of koi keeping, getting to know one another, decide where we are going, what we want in a club and searching the Yakima Valley for more members. This year we are working on several new approaches to interest pond keepers in our cause. We have handed out brochures at the Garden Show, held a seminar at the Yakima Arboretum and were greeters and promoters at one of the homes for the Yakima Garden Tour. We are working on a booth at the Yakima Farmers Market to further promote the enjoyment of ponding, koi and goldfish and water gardening in the Yakima Valley and will also do a seminar at one of the local nurseries this summer. Our main focus is to educate the public in the wonderful knobby of koi keeping

Submitted by:

Larry Smith

Yakima Valley Koi & Water Garden Club Representative

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Dai-ichi Koi and Japanese Garden Club of B. C.

Dai-ichi Koi and Japanese Garden Club of B. C. has sponsored pond tours for many years but has only infrequently attempted to reach out to the general public through demonstrations and displays. Club members felt that a (koi) display at a nursery garden would let local people know about the Club and the availabliity of our expertise and knowledge respecting koi keeping. We therefore undertook a weekend display at the Elk Lake Nursery on July 17th and 18^th, 2004.

Club members set up a 300 gallon tank and stocked it with a number of good quality koi generously supplied by West Coast Koi, our local dealer. The display also featured posters and pictures of some members ponds demonstrating various stages of construction. Some pictues showing a few examples of Japanese gardens were also available.

The two day event was well received by people visiting the nursery. A surprising number of individuals either had a pond or knew of someone who had one, or were thinking of building one. Many of those that visited the display were not aware that a local club existed. It was a good opportunity for club members to share their enthusiasm and interest in the hobby.

Club business cards were prepared and handed out to interested people as was the brochure prepared by P.N.K.C.A.

Club members felt that the weekend time was well spent and one useful conclusion was that a venue with a higher public profile would be beneficial and perhaps earlier in the year to catch the spring enthusiasm for gardening and pond construction.

Dai-ichi Koi and Japanese Garden Club wishes to thank the Pacific Northwest Koi Clubs Association for the helpful brouchure and for the assistance in funding our display.

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