Volume 3, #11 November 2017
Editor: Alan R. De Angelo
Contact: [email protected]
Greetings and Salutations!
It’s 64 degrees and cloudy in northern Illinois today. I’m waiting for the bottom to fall out and the cold winds to begin to blow. I already read a notice from a semi-local on-line retailer that livestock shipping will soon cease due to the rush of Christmas orders. If you were planning to get some new fishes through shipping, you better make those arrangements soon. It would be a shame to lose fish in the holiday rush.
The Aquatic Experience was another great success. The ACA once again had a booth there and it was manned by Jan and Phil Benes, Scott Mclaughlin and Elizabeth Napier-Bonvillain. They were doing a fantastic job of engaging the crowd of onlookers at the all-cichlid show. I was only able to stay a short while but had a great time. Next year it is moving to the NE so keep an eye out for announcements. You should attend if you have a chance.
The ACA also had a booth at the OCA Extravaganza to show the flag, so to speak. We are trying to get more exposure and let people know that we are back with a vengeance. Scott, Liz, Jan and Phil were the booth workers there as well. These fine folks should get a round of applause for all the hard work that they do for the ACA.
Speaking of hard work, the Election Results are in. Congratulations to Jan Benes, Josh Cunningham, Mike Helford, Wayne Leibel, Paul Loiselle and Pat Tosie who will be the 2018-2019 BOT members. Peter George, Andy Hudson and I are the 2017-2018 members. I will announce the new Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary after the vote next month.
Now, to the meat and potatoes of this issue. The State of Hawaii has banned collection of marine fishes. This was done based on feelings, sentiment and lies and not on facts which were presented to the courts. It has been a terrible blow to our hobby. What can you do to help out? First, you can support PIJAC, the organization that fights for our hobby and all of the pet care industry and secondly, you can donate to a good cause.
I have included a pdf of the project that the ACA has chosen to support. What I have chosen to call the Rio Negro Sustainable Resource Project. It is a documentary film that will educate Americans, both elected officials and others, and the world, about the good that the aquarium hobby does and the positive impact it has on our world. The nay-sayers have too loud of a voice and we need to show the other side of the coin. You may know about CARES. You may know about the reintroduction of Chidango saulosi and the Pin-Striped Damba in their home ranges but no one else does. You may also know that if we can give the natives a way to earn a living without slashing and burning the rainforest, we are all better off. But how many others do? We need to educate them. This documentary is but one step in the process.
The ACA is trying to raise $4,500 to help this project and we are almost halfway there. So please, think about what saving the hobby means to you and donate to the cause. Go to acadonations.weebly.com and give what you can. You can also join at this location, become a Life Member or increase your Membership Level, like I did. I believe that I am the first Patron Level Life Member of the ACA. I earmarked my donation to the Educational Project and leveled up.
That’s it folks. I’ll be working on the December issue soon where I will close out my year as ACA Chair, talk about Houston, hybrids, a plug for articles for BB and a few more things. Until then, please, donate to the above project. Our hobby needs our help.
Thank you so much,
Alan
B B N E W💲
BB submissions pay (or funds can be directed to Conservation/Research projects in your name)! Authors/photographers please contact the Editor at [email protected] for details.
You do not need to be an ACA member to submit material for publication.
NB: ACA does not assume copyright of images, neither are they added to a database without permission. In the event that we desire to re-use an image in other projects, permission would be sought and supplementary payment is guaranteed.
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New Membership Structure:
$35 Annual ACA Membership.
Life Memberships — build your membership levels incrementally and move up in rank. All memberships above the basic Life Membership will be published annually in an ACA publication to recognize your contributions to Conservation, Research and Education.
$1000 LIFE Membership — all current Life Memberships still honored, no increase in dues. This and all higher-level memberships receive a Life Membership to the ACA.
Higher levels of donation/membership:
$1250 Patron Member;
$1500 Endowment Member;
$1750 Benefactor Member;
$2000 Conservation Member;
$2500 Legacy Member;
Chairman’s Circle (individual donations of $5000+)
You can also include the ACA in your estate plan as several members have already done. Please visit the link below.
General Donations
You can also donate smaller or larger increments, make personal or corporate donations, etc at the link below. It is only by your support that the ACA can maintain its leadership in Cichlid Conservation, Research and Education. Remember, it is tax deductible. Please find out more at the link below:
👶 👱 👴 Life Memberships/Donations
You can very easily give your friends/family an ACA Gift Membership, bringing them all the benefits attendant thereto. A lasting gift that has flow-on beneficial effects via the ACA’s research and conservation
programs, etc.
To organise an ACA Gift Membership, please:
1) Send payment(s) of $35 per gift membership to the ACA PayPal account at [email protected].
2) Send an email to ACA Treasurer, Tim Hovanec, at [email protected] with a CC to ACA Membership Coordinator, Claudia Dickinson ([email protected]), stating that you have just
sent money for a gift membership/s and the names and email addresses of the recipients.
3) Each ACA Gift Membership recipient will then receive an ACA Gift Member email with a copy to the
gift-giver, followed by email welcome letters from the ACA and CRC.
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ACA BI-MONTHLY PHOTO CONTEST
NOW ON FACEBOOK! CLICK HERE AND JOIN IN
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LOCAL CLUB EVENTS
Send your cichlid-related news/events to the AN Editor at [email protected] and we will be happy to spread the word for you. Allow six weeks lead time. Thank you.
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EDIT YOUR MEMBERSHIP DETAILS
Check/edit your Contact Details on CRC yourself when you move or change your e-mail address. It’s so simple … try it.
Go to cichlidae.com and click your username in the Welcome Panel
Log-in
Select the Edit Tab and make changes
Click Save
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NOW AVAILABLE FROM BB BACK ISSUES
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Support the ACA by shopping at AmazonSmile
Simply go to smile.amazon.com, choose the American Cichlid Association as your charity and Amazon will donate 0.5% of each purchase to the ACA!
It’s easy and basically free money. Please help spread the word.
