On July 10th the Tropical Fish Club of Erie County had a , I think, great pond show. Liz Duzen and Donna Czarnecki consented to be judges for the day and along with Rene Johnson and Dick McEntry and myself, met at Bill Wroblewski’s house at 10A.M.. Bill and Sophia have carved out an oasis just behind the old Train Station in Buffalo. The two judges viewed Bill’s two tub ponds while I was scoping out a 55 gallon outdoor tank filled with goldfish and a few koi and checking out the new swimming pool. Bill says he keeps this tank outside all year with a heater being utilized in the Winter time to keep the water from freezing. Bill had Timmy Hortons coffee and donuts waiting for us. After this “bribe” Bill and Sophia took second place in the under 250 gallon category. Next up was Tom Heisler’s tub ponds at his house. Tom is also a brewer of fine beers and grows his own hops on trellis in the back yard. He was kind enough to bring a jug of beer to the party afterwards. We all started to car pool out to Tony Martina house in Delevan, NY. Some one wanted to know if this was in the same time zone but in reality it just down the road a piece from Cheektowaga, about 35 miles. Walking into Tom’s yard is a little like walking into a Better Homes and Garden entry. Tom and his wife have created a master piece of form and function. Every where you look there exquisite plantings and neat little surprises like a gnome house or Daisy a visiting sulcata Tortoise that had the run of the fenced in yard while we were there. Tony’s pond was entered into the over 250 gallon category and won first place. After a time we had to tear our self away from the tranquility of the yard and we all started off to Ray Lucas house in Boston, NY, but first since it was already after noon this traveling bunch of gypsies stopped at Earls for sandwiches and pie!
Now that we were all stuffed and starting to fall asleep, we were off to Rays. Rays pond is about 100 feet long. It consist of a upper pond of about 200 gallons and a 75 foot meandering stream that ends into a lower 300 gallon pond that has koi and goldfish. Along the way you encounter all sorts of ceramic frogs, water wheels and statues. The beauty of Rays ponds is only exceeded by his generosity. Ray took second place in the over 250 gallon category. We all left with either some sort of pond care product, koi cut-outs of plecos from the fish room. Next we went to Dick McEntry house to view his entry in the in the 250 gallon category. Dick has a pond of over 1000 gallons with a waterfall and great rock work and some oriental dragons and a alligator(fake of course) . The pond is full of 12″-16″ koi. We all had drinks under the gazebo furnished by Dick.
Next up was Paul Evans house in Derby. Paul had a over 250 gallon entry and a under 250 gallon entry. The over was a great looking pond with several goldfish , water lilies and a water fall. The under entry was a converted hot tub sunk into the back patio. This pond had several platies, mollies and guppies swimming around. Paul took first place in the under 250 gallon category. Several people also went home with fish from the fish room. If we would have arrived a half hour soon we could have seen Paul dispatch of a rabid Raccoon. We all ended up at my house in Angola where Bob Fessler and wife were already waiting. Randy and Terry joined us shortly. Many hot dogs, hamburgers and sausages were had by all and washed down with soft drinks and Labatt pop. Every one bought a dish to pass and no one went home hungry. After stuffing our selves the judges huddled at the table. The judging was in three categories, first impression 20 pts, health of plants 10 pts, health of fish 10 pts, clarity of water 10 pts and in case of a tie extras such as water spitters, ornaments, water falls, etc. Both Judges had almost the exact same scores for all the ponds. Thanks again to the two ladies for the great work judging. Randy will have pictures of all the ponds in an upcoming program. I hope with the great entries we had this year, next year will be bigger and better. Thanks again to all that participated.