NOVEMBER MEETING Our November meeting will be held on Saturday, November 8, 2003 at 10:00 am. (Note time change!) It will be held at Scott & Sue Hazen's pond in Tempe. This is our annual meeting for elections and a get-together. Amy Schuster has found it necessary to vacate her position as vice president, so we are looking for someone to take that position. Also, if anyone is interested in running for any of the other officer positions, please feel free to let Dan know. The menu will be Joe's BBQ (pork & chicken), cole slaw and beans. Please bring your own beverage and a dessert to share. At press time, Scott and Sue's pond is still under construction! It will be exciting to see a brand new pond and will probably bring back memories for many of us when we first filled our ponds. It is the hoped to have it filled with water in time for the meeting. Our president, Dan Stough, volunteered a week ago to help them install the liner and help build the waterfall. The actual pond is 7'x15' and approximately 4' deep. There is a 3' high waterfall made of 350-400# boulders. There is also a 5'x15' bog area with an undergravel filter system. Scott and Sue have filled a 55 gallon drum with biofalls to create a homemade biofilter. They plan to have primarily plants and just a few fish. They also want their pond to house turtles and frogs. Be sure to bring your lawn chairs and any extra plants to share. Scott and Sue will be glad to take any plants for their new pond, also! Don't forget to bring your beverage and dessert!
OCTOBER MEETING REVIEW We had our first-ever evening meeting and it was great! The subject was pond lighting, so we were able to see various effects easily. Clyde and Rita had quite a feast for us-taquitos, nachos, salsa and chips. The meeting began and Dan reviewed future meetings and events. The chairperson reports were given. Dan announced that in an effort to compile a list of pond contractors, he will be contacting members by phone to get their input and references. The meeting was turned over to Clyde who described his pond and the construction. His pond was beautiful with a bridge and a waterfall that made just the right amount of background noise. His backyard has a definite oriental theme and he said that he plans to build a lily pond in another corner of his yard where a future zen garden will be. The meeting was then turned over to Lenny Clark of Kona Landscaping. He mentioned that he studied in Japan, so leans toward oriental design. He brought several different types of lights and plugged them in to demonstrate the brightness and coverage. He stressed that ground fault protecting (GFCI) is very important and should not be taken for granted both for your safety and your fish. The lighting transformer needs to be adequately sized to the amount of wattage the lights will require. Dan Stough displayed an outdoor light he made from glass block. Lyle Percival and Rosaly Notterman donated two pairs of iron frogs for door prizes. The surprised winners were Ed & Susan Tunstall and Michael & Donna Jordan! Thanks, Lyle and Roslaly!!