2009 Event Recaps
March 21, 2009 Quarantine Systems
Debbie and Bruce Modetz hosted a Koi Quarantine System event
in their home. A complete quarantine system was on display and a discussion was held on the reasons for quarantining
new koi, sick koi and some of the over the counter medications on the market. This was followed by some time to sit around the fireplace for a question and answer period. The club provided soft drinks, hot chocolate and snacks, plus Bruce's terrific homemade chili. Photo Album
April 18, 2009 Koi Symposium
The Symposium turned out to be absolutely wonderful. The speakers, Joe Barson from
Barson’s Nursery, Nanette W. from the Pond Place, Scott Bates from Grass Roots, Mike Reagan on spray liners and our keynote speakers, Taro and Mamuro Kodama, gave us lots of information that was helpful for our ponds and fish. There were a lot of door prizes, good food and good fellowship.
I would like to thank everyone who welcomed me, the symposium committee and the Kodamas to their homes to view their ponds. Mr. Kodama and Taro were both very impressed. They both said that our water quality was very good here in Michigan, compared to many other areas of the country, which is good for our fish. I thoroughly enjoyed having these two gentlemen here for four days. They have so much knowledge on koi that they want to share with everyone and I hope to be able to have them back in the near fu-ture. I am planning to take a trip to Hawaii in February 2010 for the Hawaiian Koi and Japan Show and will be able to see the Kodama Koi Farm. If anyone is interested, feel free to con-tact me.
I would also like to thank everyone that attended this event, members and non-members. 5 new members have signed up and possibly more will be joining us. Thanks again to the Kodamas for coming to Michigan, it was an honor to have them! Photo Album
May 16, 2009 Ann Arbor Botanical Gardens
Saturday May 16th started out a little cool and overcast. Things began to clear up as MKPC members arrived
with sunny smiles on their faces. A few members from the east side took an unexpected tour of downtown
Ann Arbor but when the final numbers were tallied we had a total of 21 in attendance.
We had a slight delay
due to a lack of docents. As luck would have it, we were fortunate to have Paul the Conservatory manager and
his associate Abdi conduct our tour. They shared their wealth of knowledge about the various plants such as
Musa (banana tree) in the Tropical Section, the Kigelia (Sausage Tree) in the Temperate House which depicted
plants from southern Europe, western Asia and northern Africa, the Opuntia (Pear Cactus) was just
one of the examples of the many plump, short, spiny and weird plants in the Arid House which displayed the
plants that survive in the deserts of Africa, Asia and USA. The one display that attracted all of our attention
was the 2’ x 4’ bed of stones that you would just pass up unless you were told that many of those so
called stones were Lithops or stone plants.
Our education did not end with the plants in the Conservatory but the Conservatory itself. Paul also explained the updated renovation that makes this Conservatory one of the most energy efficient in the country. Upon leaving the Conservatory we were able to socialize, take in the spring beauty of the adjacent gardens, the water features and picture what the gardens will look like in a month or two when the plants and flowers are in full bloom. Photo Album
June 20, 2009 Fish Auction
The Koi Auction was hosted by Wayne and Wanda Kaiser, and as always is one of the Club’s bigger events and well attended. We will be bringing back some wonderful fish from Kloubec Fish Farm again this year. We have the opportunity to select the fish. Photo Album