Editor: Alan R.De Angelo
Greetings and Salutations!

I have combined the May and June issues of the ACA NEWS for several reasons, mostly because so much has been going on lately that I wanted to present it all to you at one time. The ACA is on its way to getting its stuff back together again, if you know what I mean.

e-ACA

What has occurred is huge. Sean Danekind was getting swamped with work and family obligations so the cavalry arrived in force. Daryl Hutchins, Juan Miguel Artigas Azas and Mo Devlin all joined in with their computer expertise and formed a cohesive unit, with Sean, to get things together. As you will see in the Props that were voted on by the BOT, Juan Miguel is the new Membership Administrator. This made perfect sense as the Cichlid Room Companion uses the membership list and e-mail addresses to allow access to it. So, welcome Juan Miguel to the cadre.

Daryl Hutchins, the ACA’s Editor, also has in-depth knowledge of the web and publishing and has joined in. Mo Devlin, also has this knowledge and is also very involved in our marketing efforts. Combined, things are getting accomplished at a rapid pace and good things are happening. I, on the other hand, turn my computer on and feel accomplished, so thank goodness we have these tech savvy people in the ACA.

Speaking of Daryl and BB, two editions of BB have now come out under Daryl’s tutelage, #283 and #284. They look great. By the way, Daryl needs articles and photos for BB. If you have experience with a certain fish, method, experience or technique, write an article about. Not sure of your writing skills? Don’t worry about it. The ACA has a host of editors that can punch up the article and work with you on getting it right. So, send your contributions to Daryl Hutchins.

BOT elections were not officially held and while it is technically not appropriate according to the By-Laws, the decision was made to elect all of those running to the BOT. We could not afford the time lost in figuring out how to get the elections done quickly enough to make decisions for the 2016 convention and numerous other topics that needed immediate attention. Next year, the BOT will be back on track through normal channels. Desperate times called for desperate measures. While a few may complain, we almost did not have an ACA to complain about. You can read more about that in Chuck Rambo’s out-going BOT Chair letter. If you are considering a run for the BOT, start getting your thoughts together for a bio, the call for them will be coming soon.

Welcome to Jan Benes our new BOT Chair. Jan’s experience in the job made her a great candidate. She easily took over where Chuck left off for a smooth transition. By the way, Chuck really didn’t leave as he is now Vice Chair of the BOT.

BB 1-20 Rusty Wessel and Ad Konings collaborated on the project of publishing the early years of the ACA. Through this collection of BB’s, one can trace the path of the ACA’s growth and the excitement present when the birth of the ACA occurred. Dick Stratton (the first BB Editor), Guy Jordan, Paul Loiselle, Robert Goldstein, Jim Langhammer and many more were active in the ACA at the time. It is a great read and a great collector’s item. At this time, only 50 have been produced with no plans of more printings. So, if you love books and the feel of paper in your hands, as well as the nostalgia of the early ACA, this may be the thing for you. Send $35 plus $5 S&H ($12 Int’l) to: [email protected] subject “BB 1-20” for your copy. Copies can also be purchased from Mike Schadle at his touring book sales display, The Fish Factory, or via email [email protected]

ACA Forum The web site and Forum are coming along nicely. People say that the forum is not used, so use it. As more people check in and post things, you will feel better about joining in yourself.

Convention If you are planning on going to the greatest annual assemblage of cichlid lovers on earth, you should make your plans now. A great line up of speakers and wonderful accommodations await you. Not to mention the best group of cichlid nuts you could ever ask for. Look at the convention flyer in this issue, in the BB,or at FB’s ACA Convention page. You can also visit: ACAconvention2015.com

BOT Props:
15-10 Chuck Rambo for Vice Chair-PASSED
15-11 Mike Meyer for Secretary-PASSED
15-12 To engage Juan Miguel Artigas Azas as Membership Administrator-PASS
15-13 BB #283 & BB #284 will be made available to the public-PASSED
15-14 To give Mo Devlin $200 for advertising on FB-PASSED

Don’t forget to send Daryl Hutchins any contributions for BB.

Outgoing Chair’s Letter

Times Up!

My term as the Chairman for the ACA has finally run its course. While I will no longer be the Chair I will still serve on the BOT as a member for the remainder of 2015. I would like to thank the BOT members and committee chairs that participated for their support during my term. Despite some of my best efforts we were not able to accomplish as much as I would have liked. Still we did have some high points.

The 2014 ACA convention in Kentucky was a financial record setter. Rusty Wessel and the Louisville Tropical Fish Fanciers did a great job running an entertaining, fun and financially responsible convention. A great time was had by all and both clubs made some money.

I need to sincerely thank Juan Miguel Artigas for agreeing to allow the ACA membership to have access to the world famous Cichlid Room Companion. This is an incredible resource that Juan has worked on for many years and can now be enjoyed by ACA members from all over the world.

Daryl Hutchins from Australia came out of nowhere and volunteered to take over BB and take it to the next level. We are so fortunate to have a person who loves cichlids, had experience in electronic publishing and a desire to help the ACA. He has already put out one great issue and I look forward to seeing what the future of holds for BB under his expertise. The person who got us up to this point was Claudia Dickinson. I know personally know how difficult it was for Claudia to put every issue of BB together. On behalf of the ACA I would like to thank her for all her hard work on BB over the years.

Alan Deangelo from Chicago thought the ACA membership needed to know what was going on. With the website and publications stalled at the time, he volunteered to step up and put together the ACA Newsletter. This newsletter was responsible for notifying members about the BOT election for 2015.

We had a ballot of six candidates for the 2015 BOT election but unfortunately we were unable to make the election happen electronically. So since we could not run an election all the candidates were placed on the BOT by the existing members of the BOT.

The new BOT members are:

Mo Devlin — Former ACA Chairman, world famous fish photographer that has great plans for marketing the ACA.
Rusty Wessel — World traveler, author and fish collector that owns the world famous Rusty’s fish house.
Jan Benes — Was a great BOT member and vice-chair last year and enthusiastically loves the ACA and fish.
Scott Jacobson — Wants to improve communications with ACA members West of the Mississippi. Loves South American Cichlids
Alan Deangelo — ACA Newsletter Editor and longtime ACA member hoping to get things back on track.
Sean Danekind — Sean has taken it upon himself to try and fix the many challenging tasks facing the ACA like the website and membership.

Most of all, I would like to thank the members that have stuck with the ACA during these challenging times.

Chuck Rambo

Incoming Chair’s Letter

Welcome to another issue of ACA News! Thanks to Al for putting it together every month and keeping us informed and entertained.

And Buntbarsche Bulletin should be in your hands, electronically, by now. Our new Editor, Daryl Hutchins, has done a great job with his first issue and we can look forward to receiving it on a regular schedule again.

July is nearly here and that means my favorite event of the year, the annual ACA Convention. This year we are off to Springfield, Massachusetts, for a weekend full of fish, fun, and most importantly, friends. I always have a great time chatting with everyone, old friends and new friends. And there are plenty of interesting things for the non-fishy members of your family to do while you are in the showroom or listening to the speakers. They have an excellent line-up of national and international speakers who will bring you up-to-date with the latest news in the cichlid world. And plenty of fish for sale, too. Cichlid heaven! I encourage you to attend if you can.
Your new Board of Trustees is in place:

• Jan Benes, Chairman
• Chuck Rambo, Vice-Chairman
• Michael Meyer, Secretary
• Sam Borstein
• Sean Danekind
• Al DeAngleo
• Mo Devlin
• Scott Jacobson
• Wayne Leibel
• Rusty Wessel

We are working to update our web presence, have launched ACA News, and have gotten BB back on track. (Material for the publications is always welcome!) Members of the BOT will be manning the ACA table at the convention and we invite you to stop by and say, “Hello.” Your input and feedback is always welcome.

See you soon!

Jan Benes