At our April meeting, George Fear’s presentation featured underwater video of his last collecting trip from Venezuela. It was very interesting and informative to see the fish in their actual habitat - as opposed to just looking at slides of fish. George has been an NJAS member for many years, and was my second guest speaker when I took over the job of program chair ten years ago. He has spoken many times since then, and his programs keep getting better. Thank you George!

I also had the pleasure of announcing several awards won by our club members at the recent NEC convention:

NJAS won the Excellence Award for most show entries in the 2007 Exhibitor Competition, with Larry Jinks placing first, Rich Martucci placing second, and Frank Nell placing third for the most number of show entries in the individual exhibitor competition.

Ted Coletti won the Best General Article in the Articles Competition for his article on “Fish Tubbin”.

Larry Jinks won the People’s Choice award in the First Annual INNES Competition, and First Place in the judged portion of the same competition. He was presented with a large winner’s cup trophy, and a check for $500.00.

Twelve of the twenty participants in the INNES competition were NJAS members, which makes NJAS the leading NEC club when it comes to showing fish. Congratulations to all of you!

Before I close, I would like to thank Debra Kenny for joining our “open” board meeting in April at the center. I think she must have liked what she saw and heard, because she volunteered to help out our pet shop liaison.

Finally, I want to remind everyone that our meeting starts promptly at 7:45 - and those arriving prior to that time receive a “free” early bird raffle ticket for a surprise gift; last month a bottle of wine was given out, and this month a colorful “fishy” serving tray was the gift. Also, there are index cards at the registration table for anyone who has a question relating to the hobby or NJAS. Please write your question on one of the cards when you are signing in, then put it in the bucket. We will have a Q&A session just prior to the auction.

Please feel free to contact me anytime with questions or suggestions. My e-mail is cpolicastro1@verizon.net or you can call me at 609-371-1195 in the evening. See you at the May meeting!

Christine Policastro
NJAS President