The past year has involved a variety of activities, as listed below:

March 2004
Annual General Meeting. One of the decisions that we made at the meeting was to change our meeting days to Fridays. Amongst other things, this makes it possible for junior members to attend more meetings. The change seems to have been well received and we have been getting a good turn-out at meetings.

April 2004
The meeting included a Question and Answer Forum

May 2004
During May, we enjoyed a field trip that had many of us standing dumbfounded, shaking our heads in disbelief. The trip was to the private home (mansion) Deepwater with its ‘rainforest exhibit’ consisting of various tanks and ponds. When a quarantine facility is significantly larger than your own fish-room, it sets you to thinking!

The May meeting included a Powerpoint quiz. In what was probably a foregone conclusion, Jeffrey Porter was on the winning team again! In an effort to balance the odds, Jeffrey was initially competing single-handedly against the other teams (although I don’t think that would have affected his chances of winning). He was later joined by teammate Simon Onabowale who helped out for a winning effort.

June 2004
Rusty Wessel was once again a guest speaker and again donated a variety of fish for the Annual Charity Auction. The auction allowed us to raise $3,000 for cichlid conservation.
Members also agreed to donate funds to local conservation efforts by funding DNA research on local populations of killifish to determine how many species we really have. Recent communications from Mark Outerbridge at the Bermuda Aquarium suggest that the research will begin soon.

July 2004
A number of members traveled to the ACA convention in Denver. During the event, our society was called “The coolest club in the United States, and they’re not even in the United States.” We also acquired a club mascot, “Woody”, at the ACA convention.

August 2004
Sal Silvestri was the visiting speaker. He gave a presentation on Lake Tanganyika Cichlids and donated fish for auction.

September 2004
We were scheduled to have the annual sailboat cruise but it was cancelled at short notice by Captain Leon.

October 2004
Annual Tropical Fish Show at the Bermuda Aquarium

The appearance of the fish show was improved due to new show stands that were built by David Terceira.

Best in Show was won by Nyon Steede
Reserve Best in Show was won by Howard Paynter

The visiting judge and speaker was Joe Ferdenzi who gave a presentation titled “The Romance of Aquariums” at the Friday night banquet, which also included an auction.

I would like to thank you all again for the surprise presentation at the banquet. Nyon caught me by surprise with the award, for my dedication and service to the society since its inception in 1989. It is always nice to be honoured by friends and the presentation capped a great weekend. We have a wonderful group of people in the club and it really is a pleasure to be associated with you all.

With all of the hard work behind us, the members got to enjoy a sailboat cruise with Captain Leon on the “Sally Bum Bum”.

November 2004
Dan Woodland was the guest speaker for the November meeting and gave a presentation on building a high-tech, low-cost fish room. Dan also provided fish for auction.

December 2004
The December meeting was a Christmas party that was held at David’s home.

January 2005
Spencer Jack was the visiting speaker with a talk titled ‘Confessions of a Cichlaholic’. Spencer provided fish for auction.

Spencer also judged the Home Show whilst he was here. The Home Show winner was Howard Paynter whilst the People’s Choice award went to Paul Archer.

February 2005
The meeting featured a Powerpoint Quiz that had been donated by Spencer Jack. To avoid having Jeffrey win the quiz again, we didn’t keep a record of the score! It turned out to be a fun, learning experience.

So, in the past year, we have had five visiting speakers and as many auctions. We would likely have had more speakers but we encountered a shortage of accommodation. That same accommodation issue has meant that few speakers have been lined up for the coming year, although we have a list of people who are interested in coming.

Charitable Donations
$3,000 donated to the Paul Loiselle Conservation Fund.

$500 donated to purchase an aquarium for the Lorraine Rest Home.
The tank has become a focal point for some of the elderly residents who enjoy watching the Lake Malawi cichlids.

Number of Members
48

2004-2005 Winners List
Member of the Year
During the year, Kathryn Garcia has kindly donated a trophy in the name of her brother, Richard Card. The trophy will be awarded each year to the Member of the Year.
The winner for this year is Peter Marsh.

Breeder of the Year
   Eric Hirschberg.

Best in Show – Annual Fish Show
   Nyon Steede

Home Show
   Howard Paynter