June 2009 - Kitchener Waterloo Aquarium Society

J U N E 2 0 0 9
asking for the fish which could proudly bear the mantle of
‘most feared fish in the Amazon’. There were lots of takers from
piranhas which bite to marine sharks which may travel
thousands of km upriver, and from electric eels with hundreds
of volts to rays with those nasty barbs. Bob gave his designation
however to the lowly, ugly, skinny little catfish which is reputed
to follow urine streams up into the male urethra and painfully
lodge itself therein. About here most of the men in the audience
leaned back and crossed their legs tightly. Enough said.
Best fish in the Show was a magnificent Black Molly male which
coincidentally also won best fish at the recent Brant Aquarium
Society show, owned by Shawn and William Austin. Congrats
gents. To finish off the show a calculation is always made to
determine the competitor with the highest aggregate, meaning
the most points garnered with entries that date. At the
convention show the adult leader was Anthony McAslin but
beating him out in points was the high aggregate Junior, again
our own Jonathan Samson. Wow! Great competition and well
done both!
But we’re not done yet – KWAS gold continued at this golden
anniversary convention. Jr Hobbyist of the year went to
Jonathan Samson, Sr Hobbyist to Zenin Skomorowski, Betta
Champ of the year to Zena Ng, Jr Champion of Champions to
Jonathan Samson (best results over all the shows in the season)
and last but not least Phil Maznyk took honours for Best
Newsletter and Best Website. UNBELIEVABLY GREAT folks !!!
The next morning, the bleary-eyed who stayed too long in the
hospitality suite the night before, missed CAOAC’s annual
general meeting and elections which were by the way ably
handled by KWAS’ own Phil Maznyk. Special congratulations
to our Dave Boehm who was re-elected to the position of
Treasurer.
The awards brunch followed and several friendly rivalries came
to the fore. The Samson clan showed dad’s single award and
son Jonathan’s entire cluster of awards, most of them competing
in the adult classes. Fierce competition also emerged between
Jonathan and our friend Griffin Quigley who this time around
competed under the new Cambridge club banner. Well done to
both of you and keep it happening lads!
KWAS President Geoff Money gave justice to our latest club
initiative, the Miecia Burden Ambassador’s Award for
Outstanding Promotion of the Aquarium Hobby. There wasn’t a
dry eye in the room least of all mine, as Dave Boehm accepted
the inaugural award as given posthumously to Miecia. The final
presentation to husband Brian Burden will follow.
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