ZNA Southern Koi Association 2007 Naples Show

[MikeM]

SKA once again held a November show in Naples, Florida. I made it down on Saturday for several hours. There were, I think, 26 tanks. While it was small in size, there were quality fish in every size.

The setting was the tiny Naples Depot, which has become a small community museum with a focus on trains. A miniature train ride for kids (of all ages) encircles the site, so every few minutes a mini-trian would go by the show tanks. After lunch, the judges got on board for laughs.

[Russell Peters]

Quote: Originally Posted by MikeM SKA once again held a November show in Naples, Florida. I made it down on Saturday for several hours. There were, I think, 26 tanks. While it was small in size, there were quality fish in every size. The setting was the tiny Naples Depot, which has become a small community museum with a focus on trains. A miniature train ride for kids (of all ages) encircles the site, so every few minutes a mini-trian would go by the show tanks. After lunch, the judges got on board for laughs.

How cool is that! It looks like the weather was great for a Koi show and train rides. Was JR collecting $'s for the ride.LOL

[MikeM]

Toot! Toot!!


Everyone always wants to know about the GC, so let's start there... Henry Culpepper's 83cm Showa (not entered as ginrin) took the honors. She won in Atlanta a couple of months ago, and did it easily again. Here is the formal pic.

[MikeM]

But I like the friendliness of this fish, even if that does not get extra judging points. She was up waiting to be hand-fed half the day. Clearly, she does not care for the fasting before a show.

[MikeM]

And next to her is Henry's 73cm Tancho Showa, which took the honors as Grand Champion B.

[MikeM]

Congrats, Henry, on the double win.

Henry's main competition came from Martin Wilcox, who has long been known for the size he puts on his koi. Last year, Martin's Shiro Utsuri took the top prize. This year, his 73cm Kohaku took Reserve GC.

[MikeM]

And, Martin's 79cm Showa took Mature Champion.

[lypope]

Mike, she was doing the same thing in Atlanta. Friendliest koi I've ever seen at a show. On Sunday she was begging for food and a family walked by, the mom asked, "What do you feed those fish?" Henry, without batting an eye or cracking a smile said, "Little girls, and she's really hungry right now!" Took Mom a minute, but she eventually did laugh ... while backing away from the tank with a close eye on her two little daughters!

[MikeM]

I think this photo better suggests the mass of Martin's Showa.

[MikeM]

The crowd-pleaser was Luyen Nguyen's 86cm Kigoi. You might recall that she was entered in the 2006 Naples show. This year she had put on both weight and length, which led to the Jumbo Award.