[Auntiesue]

I will add one thing, and one thing only. If you would take the time to visit our web site, you will see a notation below the exhibitors packet that plainly says that ALL ARE WELCOME.

This conversation has greatly saddened me. Here in MN we are still glowing in our success of our very own first show - and it was a success BTW. You likely do not know that only 2 UMKC members even knew how to pull this off!! The rest volunteered and did what was asked of them. Yes, there were mistakes and we'll clean those up so next year is better then this year. But this conversation is taking so much of the after-glow and enjoyment away from us UMKC members. We worked OUR BUTTS off pulling this together and if we missed a few points along the way, I'm sorry for that. With the club's limited resources and VERY LIMITED manpower (we have only 30 active members), it would have been impossible to cover all our bases including personal invitations to a select few.

Now let this die, give us the opportunity to pat ourselves on the back a little and enjoy our success instead of having to defend what we know was a great introduction of koi to a market (MN) that is so new in the US.

I doubt that you would have attended anyway Lee. MN is just too far for you to travel and I doubt Ray Abel would have brought your fish up here for such a new and small show.

Sue