As is my custom, I would like to report on the activities of the past year:

March 2005
At the last AGM, we initiated the annual award for Member of the Year. Peter Marsh was the first winner of the Richard J. Card Memorial Trophy. Eric Hirschberg won the Breeder of the Year award.

April 2005
The meeting was a social gathering at David Terceira’s pool-room. It provided us with an opportunity to socialize with each other and enjoy a few drinks.

Also in April, Howard Paynter won the trophy for Best Freshwater Aquarium by an Adult at the Annual Exhibition. In the same competition, Howard’s daughter, Shuntelle, won the trophy for Best Freshwater Aquarium by a Junior.

May 2005
In May, we enjoyed a visit from David and Janine Banks. David gave a presentation on African Cichlids and suitable tank-mates. He also donated fish for auction, which helped to cover the cost of his stay. David and Janine had an extended stay that ran through Bermuda Day, so they got to visit a few places and watched the Bermuda Day Parade.

June 2005
Rusty Wessel was once again a guest speaker and he donated a variety of fish for the Annual Charity Auction. The auction raised approximately $2,300, clearly sending us way past the $10,000 mark in total donations to the Paul Loiselle Conservation Fund that is operated by the American Cichlid Association (ACA). As always, we owe a lot to our good friend Rusty for generously donating fish for this worthy cause.

July 2005
In July, we held another social gathering at David’s home but this time it included a consignment auction that allowed members to auction off an assortment of unwanted equipment and fish. The auction raised an additional $700 for the Dr. Paul Loiselle Conservation Fund. Between the June and July auctions, we were able to raise $3,000 for the charity, taking us to $11,150 in total donations. Well done! This event also served as a farewell party for David who has moved to Tennessee. David was a valued member of the club and I’m sure that I speak for many when I say that we miss him.

As is usually the case, we had members attend the ACA convention in July. This time it was in Texas and the attendees were Howard, Nyon and myself. We represented the club well and held a couple of Dark & Stormy parties whilst we were there.

August 2005
The August meeting was held at my home and was a casual affair. It allowed us to discuss future speakers and to plan the Annual Fish Show.

September 2005
In September we held our annual sailboat cruise onboard the Sally Bum Bum with Captain Leon. After three meetings without a speaker, I’m sure that the members were looking forward to the next one.

October 2005
The Annual Tropical Fish Show was initially scheduled for October but other bookings at the Bermuda Aquarium caused us to put it back one month. October seems to be a busy month for the Aquarium classrooms so I think we will have to schedule the show for November again this year.

The October meeting featured Karen Randall as the visiting speaker. Karen gave an interesting presentation on planted aquariums.

November 2005
November saw us host our 15th Annual Tropical Fish Show at the Bermuda Aquarium. Nyon and Howard put in a lot of work to get the show room set up and we had a bumper number of entries at 78.

Of those, 41 entries were cichlids, which continue to dominate the show. Ric Perez visited us from Ohio and did a great job as the show judge. Ric also gave a presentation at the show banquet on an assortment of cichlids that he has kept. Nyon won Best in Show and Reserve Best in Show.

December 2005
As usual, the December meeting was a Christmas party. This year it was held at my home.

January 2006
In January we had a local speaker. Mark Outerbridge is currently studying the local killifish and gave a very interesting presentation on their populations in local ponds. We presented Mark with a cheque for $1,000 to assist with the cost of DNA testing to determine exactly how many species of killifish we have in Bermuda.

February 2006
For the February meeting, we brought Ken Davis back to Bermuda for his second visit. Ken gave a presentation on a collecting trip to Honduras and also brought a box full of donated fish for the auction. Despite early indications of a poor turn-out, members arrived later and we were able to raise more than enough to cover the cost of flying Ken to Bermuda.

Ken also judged our Annual Home Show whilst he was here. Only five members entered a decorated aquarium into the show but the quality of the displays was excellent. Jeffrey Porter came out as the winner and gets a trophy.

Also in February, we spent $2,000 to purchase our own LCD projector. I think it was the right time for such a purchase as the one that we have been borrowing is no longer producing a good image and more of our speakers are using Powerpoint rather than photographic slides.

Wrap-Up
So, in the past year, we have had five visiting speakers and one local speaker. We held four auctions, three including fish donated by speakers and one utilizing locally supplied items.

The income from auctions is what allows us to do the things we do as a club. The income from two of this year’s four auctions was donated to charity, so the entire year’s activities had to be funded by the membership fees and the two remaining auctions. Particularly with the purchase of the projector, I’m sure that we will have realized a deficit this year and dipped into our reserves. That’s fine. The money is there to be spent appropriately to address our needs. We’ll just have to ensure that we have more auctions this year to ensure a more balanced financial year.

Plans are already underway for the coming year. We are working on Spencer Jack for May. Rusty Wessel will attend in June for the Annual Charity Auction. Joe Ferdenzi will visit in August. Dave Schlesser can attend sometime after September and I am trying to find a suitable spot for him (when air-fares from Texas aren’t too expensive). Mark Soberman can attend after October and is being considered as the show judge for November. Dan Woodland is also interested in making a return trip. Providing we can accommodate them, chances are good that we can have six speakers for the year with each bringing fish for auction.

In closing, I would like to thank all of the members for making it another successful year. I’m looking forward to another good year and hope that you all stick around to enjoy it!