Past Presidential Messages

       It’s official, May is finally here. The flowers are blooming, the birds are chirping and the temperatures are finally getting nice. Pretty soon we will all be outside enjoying our backyards and having company over for barbeques, beers and enjoying the beautiful weather.

      As we know, May is our second last meeting of the year, but don’t fret we have a couple more events before the year is over. At this months meeting, we will be having Oscar Virgilio giving a presentation on brackish water, fish, and the husbandry that is associated with that type of fish keeping. 

        At this months meeting we will have a sign-up sheet for our annual potluck dinner that is held in June. For more information or to sign up your dish for the party contact Trish at scaasexec@gmail.com and she will get you all set up. As usual, the club will be providing drinks and pizza, but we always encourage members to bring a dish so we have a variety to choose from.

       We are still accepting nominations for our upcoming election as well. So, don’t forget to contact Cindy Barrett at cindygolden2005@gmail.com for more information regarding the election. There are many positions that you can run or nominate a friend for. There are also other committee positions that are vacant and need to be filled. So, if you are willing to stand up and volunteer some time to make your club even more awesome, please do so.

       Canada Day July 1 is our giant summer public auction and will be held at our new location 6944 Stanley Ave in Niagara Falls Ontario. To pre-register for our auction or just simply to get some information, please contact our auction committee at scaasauctions@gmail.com and we will be glad to get you set up. We will also be looking for volunteers for runners, and a few other little odd jobs that will get this auction running smoothly. So if you are willing to help, please don’t hesitate to contact the email address above.

       With all that said, I hope we have a great end of the year as our final meetings are upon us. I look forward to seeing you all at the next meeting.

                                          Jon

       It’s official, spring is here and what does that mean, one step closer to getting those ponds up and going as well as all the spring clean up and maintenance that goes with it. It will then pay off with hours upon hours of relaxation and entertainment that comes with all the hard work that you put in to it now. 

        This month we have been given some bad news. Due to unforeseen scheduling issues with the Lions Club we have been forced to leave the big hall that we just acquired and move back into the small room that we have had the majority of our meetings in this year. Unfortunately, this is where we will have to continue our meetings for the remainder of the club season. So one program we will have to put on hold is the jar shows in order to conserve as much room as possible, to accommodate all members in this small room. There is no need to worry as we have big news on the way for you regarding where our meetings will be held in the future. More information on this will be provided at the meetings. 

         Remember that June is election month where we will decide collectively who the new executive committee will be for the next year. So get your nominations in as there are many executive positions as well as committee positions to be filled. If you have any questions about this, please contact Cindy Barrett regarding anything to do with elections whether it be to nominate someone or yourself, she is the one to speak to. 

         More great news is that we will be having a spring/summer auction coming up at the end of the year. We will be looking for volunteers to help operate and have this auction move smoothly. If you have any children that are looking for high school volunteer hours we have many spots available for them to complete them. If you have any questions or would like to participate as a volunteer at this upcoming event, please contact Trish our 2nd Vice President as she will get you set up.  

       We are still looking for members who would like to contribute to our newsletter whether it be photos of your fish/tanks or an article about your fish room or even about a breeding project that you have been working on. Please don’t hesitate to contact Pat Shriner to get your article into our newsletter.

        Please note that if you wish to contact any of us on the executive team links to our emails and such are on the club website www.scaas.ca in the contacts section.

        Welcome to March everyone. The month where mother nature can never make up her mind. We have been lucky so far in previous months and have had a very mild winter, but this March seems to be coming in like a lion with a few more winter storms sneaking in as spring is trying to poke its nose into the weather as well. Pretty soon it will be beautiful out and many of our members will be anxious to get outside and get our ponds back up and running. 

        If you’re not a pond person and prefer working in your fish room, this months speaker Udo Rohmann may be just the presentation your looking for. Udo will be joining us from the Durham Region Aquarium Society to give us a talk on how to build and design a fish room in your house. He will discuss all the ins and outs of how to properly construct or renovate your current fish room. 

          For the month of March our Jar Show continues with the fish of the month category being Swords, Platys and Mollies and the open categories for junior and adult members are also available to try out. We encourage all members to participate in this fun competition between each other. So don’t forget to bring your fish in to possibly win a ribbon and earn points that tally up at the end of the year to see who has shown the nicest fish for the year. 

            Don’t forget that our newsletter editor is continually looking for articles or photos from members to publish in the SCAT. If you have anything that you would like to contribute to our newsletter, please contact Pat Shriner with your submissions. All content may be sent to pshriner17@gmail.com .

            Anyone wishing to join our BAP and HAP programs are more than welcome. If interested, rules and application forms will be available at the meetings. These programs are a fun way to earn certificates for breeding or plant cultivation as well as being known across Canada and the United States through CAOAC for your accomplishments.

             Remember we now run a small canteen at each meeting. So skip the run to Tim Hortons as we have pop, coffee and multiple types of tea as well as some small bags of chips for a purchase. All proceeds from our canteen, go directly to the club to help support the cost of speakers and events. With every item purchased from the canteen, you will receive a ballot to win a small prize at the end of each meeting. All ballots that have been filled out throughout the year, will be kept until the end of the year meeting for a larger prize to thank you for supporting our canteen. 

             One last announcement is that we are no longer in the same room at the Lions Club. Since our club is growing in membership size we have had to get a bigger room to accommodate everyone. We will now be in the larger hall in the same building. So, instead of entering on the right side of the building, where we usually do, we ask you to enter on the left side of the building to access the larger hall where we had previously held our fall auction. I look forward to seeing you all at our next meeting on Monday, March 13. Please remember doors open at 7:00 PM and our meeting commences at 7:30 PM. 

        Happy February everyone. As ponds are frozen over I hope everyone is staying warm and keeping busy in your fish rooms as we enter the coldest months of the year. Me personally, I am not a fan of the cold so I have been hibernating and getting some early spring cleaning and deep maintenance done to my house and aquariums. 

        As for our upcoming meeting Monday February 13th, we would like to welcome Brian Glazier from Burlington Ontario. Brian’s presentation “THE FASCINATING WORLD OF SWORDFISH”, will be an in-depth view into the world of swordfish keeping, breeding and husbandry. 

       Our February meeting will also be the re-commencement of our monthly jar show competition. This months FISH OF THE MONTH will be Sharks and Loaches. Other categories such as Adult Open And Junior Opens are available as well to compete i. If you don’t have a fish of the month entry and still want to participate with whatever fish you choose. Prizes of 1st, 2nd & 3rd will be available to be won in each category as well as a best in show between all categories. 

         Members don’t forget last month we started to operate our canteen again offering pop, coffee, tea and other miscellaneous items. So we ask you skip that trip to Tim Hortons prior to the meeting and support you club instead. Remember that 100% OF PROCEEDS made from the canteen go right back into the club to help with funding different programs and events.  The canteen this month will be doing a giveaway for an Aquatic Calendar. So for every purchase you make at our canteen this month you can fill out a ballot to try to win the calendar. Good luck.

         I would also like to stress that Pat Shriner our SCAT editor is in dire need of article and photo submissions for the newsletter. Prior to the pandemic our newsletter was filled with submissions from many members. Photos of your tanks, specific fish or even a tour of your fish room would be great. Even better write a small article accompanying your photos explaining what’s in them. Any contributions would be wonderful. So if you want to show something off or just have something your proud of, take a picture or document your process and or progress of your project and send it to pshriner17@gmail.com .

         Another option for members who decide they want to show off your different projects why not put in your applications for BAP or HAP. You get the chance to earn points for breeding or horticulture. For more information please contact Tom & Pat Bridges to submit your application for the Breeders Award Program and contact Andrew Frück to submit applications for The Horticultural Awards Program.

        I can’t wait to see you all and your jar show submissions and hopefully we can have a fun competition that hasn’t been done in many years.

              As I sit here and think about the things good and bad that have happened in 2022, I personally cannot wait to see what 2023 brings. Starting the new year with no restrictions or any of that nonsense, we should be able to have a great year here at the club. Since the start of our 2023 season our club has continued to grow in membership after our 2 year shut down. Let’s continue to grow the society in the new year and hopefully all of our planned activities will be able to continue to the end of the year. 

                I would like to thank everybody who came out to our Christmas party as it was an amazing success. With all the different dishes everyone brought, and the pizza that the club provided we had an amazing enjoyable evening full of fun and laughter. I would also like to thank Trish Frück our second VP for all that she has done to make that party possible especially with the busy life she lives.

                 I would also like to send out another thank you to all of our sponsors who have contributed to the club this year. Stores such as Garden City Pets, Big Al’s Hamilton, Niagara Pet Corner, Rainforest Pets, The Tropical Fish Room as well as online and small businesses such as 520 BUCE and Cat’s Fish Caves and large corporations such as Zoo Med, Northfin and Aqueon. Without the sponsors and their continued support, many of the things we do here at the society wouldn’t happen.

                 In this new year, we will see more exciting things such as a spring auction and hopefully some interest and participation in bringing the jar shows back. This month we will also bring back the canteen with drinks such as coffee, tea, water and pop and if all goes over well maybe other things to come. 

                  A new major change to the club is our website. The website has changed domains and has moved to a Canadian company. The new website is scaas.ca and is now live. This major change was a much needed modernization of our current website. It is now much more informative and has many resources for all to use. I will be looking for different pictures to be featured on our website, such as great snapshots of your aquariums, fish and plants. I ask that any of our members wishing to have their images featured on the site contact me by email at jonmattatallscaas@gmail.com. Please ensure all photos are crisp and clear.

                   One last thing I would like to mention is that our newsletter the Scat is in desperate need of articles provided by our members. If anyone would like to write an article, whether it be on how to maintain an aquarium or how to breed a specific type of fish, or even how to propagate different types of plants, better yet an article on a tour of your fish room, or how you got into the hobby would be greatly interesting. I asked that you forward your articles to Pat Shriner as he is putting the newsletter together with very minimal content and is in need of your input as members. Please contact Pat by email at pshriner17@gmail.com. 

                     I would like to wish all members and their families a very happy new year and I can’t wait to see everyone at our next meeting Monday January 9th 7:00pm at 732 Niagara St. in St.Catharines.

                       Jon 

              Can you believe it’s December already, time for warm clothes warm drinks and keeping the house at a balmy 78F to keep them tanks warm. We’ve had a great 2022 so far and been able to finally operate the club as normal with no more lockdowns or restrictions. That being said I hope everyone continues to stay safe, happy and are able to enjoy our up coming events. 

I would like to thank everyone for coming out last month for our November meeting and enjoying our presentation by Peter DeSouza as he told us about his “Collecting Adventures in Cameroon”. It’s was a very informative presentation with great footage, pictures and a lot of great information on many of the native fish, local wildlife and style of life in the African Country. I would look forward to having him again as a speaker sometime in the future. 

              I would also like to congratulate all executive members on the election we had as well. Many of the old executive members have stayed on to keep this club awesome and moving forward into the rest of the 2022/2023 club season. Your new executive committee is as follows; President JON MATTATALL, 1ST Vice President TOM HILLIER, 2ND Vice President TRISH FRÜCK, Secretary PHIL BARRETT and Treasurer ANDREW FRÜCK. 

               I would especially like to thank Pat Shriner our past president who has just stepped down this year. He has kept this club going strong since 2017. Pat may have stepped down as president but his dedication to the club hasn’t stopped. He has agreed to continue on as our Scat author/editor as well as continuing to be the Jar Show coordinator and Judge once we get the monthly show back up and going. 

                As your new president I will work with our executive members and our other committee members to get this club back up and running since COVID-19 knocked us down with all the restrictions and lockdowns. Now that our club has settled in to our new home at the Grantham Lions Club things should start to get back to normal. Our membership count is on the rise and getting speakers for presentations and workshops are becoming more readily available. One item I would like to see back up and going is the jar shows. Hopefully with membership on the rise and more members willing to participate we may see a come back to the program. 

                 I can’t wait to see you all at our December meeting as it will be my first as your new president. December’s meeting will be our annual potluck Christmas party with delicious items brought in by members as well as the club providing pizza and drinks. Gifts will be provided to paid members who signed up for the Christmas party at November’s meetIng. So if you didn’t get to sign up or wasn’t at the last meeting please contact Trish to let her know you are coming to the December party. If you choose to bring a dish of some sort please contact Trish as well to let her know what your bringing as to avoid people bringing the same thing. 

                  With all this said I would like to wish each and every one of you a very Merry Fishmas and a prosperous New Year.

                                 Your President,

                                                              Jon

Welcome,

It was good to see so many of you out at our November meeting. The presentation by Peter Desouza, was both interesting and informative about his collecting adventures in Cameroon. A couple of photos from the meeting shown below.

Also during the November meeting we had our club elections. I would like to welcome and congratulate our new club executive.

President – Jon Mattatall

1st Vice President – Tom Hiller 

2nd Vice President – Trish Fruck 

Club Secretary – Phil Barrett 

Treasurer – Andrew Fruck

Well this ends my time as President and I just wanted to say thank you for your support over the years that I was in this position. We couldn’t have continued on as a club without all the hard work and dedication to this club that executive have provided over the years. I look forward to seeing the club grow again once we put this pandemic behind us.

As always, we are looking for your aquarium-related photos, articles, fish ads for the SCAT.

Also, we are looking for a volunteer to take on the upkeep of the aquarium at the St. Catharines Public Library. Pat & Tom Bridges have been tending to this aquarium since 1998. A big thank you to the Bridges for caring for this aquarium for so long. This aquarium has been valued by the library staff and patrons, specifically the children. If you are interested please contact any member of the executive and they can provide you with the details.

Pat

Welcome,

It’s been awhile, based on the expected temperatures next week, winter is coming! I hope your aquariums and fish rooms are still doing well. I know my pond has been put to rest for the winter.

It was a great turnout for our annual club auction which was held on October 30, 2022. We had close to 700 items up for auction and over 50 sellers, both local and from other clubs in the GTA and beyond (Barrie!). This was a major fundraiser for the club which will help to continue to pay for hall rentals, speakers, and other club functions throughout the year. Just would like to thank those club members who helped out with the hosting this big event (largest auction in Ontario in 2022) and volunteered their time during the day to make it a success. We also received support from members of other clubs to make the auction run smoothly throughout the day.

Our November meeting will feature Peter Desouza, and he will talk about collecting adventures in Cameroon. We will also have our usual member door prize draw; raffle draws and our monthly  auction.

Due to the pandemic, we have not had club elections since 2019, so we are going to have elections for the executive during our November meeting. All positions are open, see ad in the SCAT for further details.

Our retail sponsors, included in this SCAT will be extending discounts to those with new 2022 memberships. Please try to support our sponsors.

Also please email your photos and aquarium related articles for inclusion into futuree ditions of the SCAT. Thank you for the photos and articles that some of our members have provided in the past. It would be greatly appreciated. Also, members can put in aquarium related wanted and sale ads in the SCAT. Just email me to put your ad in the next SCAT.

If you are breeding fish and would like to receive recognition for doing so, please complete the breeders form and e-mail to Tom Bridges.

If you have any suggestions or ideas for future club meetings or events, please feel free to contact any members of the executive. We hope that you and your families are keeping well and  hope to see you at our next meeting.

Pat