What were your favorite koi show experiences?

[RayJordan]

- Oppertunity to be close to the judges while they discuss the koi they are ranking

- smaller shows where things are more relaxed and time to get to know club members and visitiors

- Watching newer members enjoying the event and their koi being admired by visitors

[Campcheryl]

My all time favorite was having 11 Japanese and British guests in my house, all for a koi show. No sooner I finished making breakfast and cleaning up the kitchen it was time for lunch. Oh but the late night pondside chats and laughter and friendships, all was very well worth it.

[MCA]

Having Steve C teach me how to pop open the bags.


Best of all was watching my wife receive Best GinRin B, Volunteer's Award, and the MAKC Friendship award for her GR Ochiba.

[JanT]

in the Land of Oz. Oh, maybe not, but it seemed magical.

In the late 1990's, I think it was 1997, Scott and I suddenly realized that our passion for these beautiful creatures was not stoked locally in Colorado.
So off to California, and a much needed vacation. Flew to Reno, NV, rented a car, went to wine country for a couple of days, then down to San Fran. We saw my girlfriend, who had originally introduced us many years ago - had a wonderful lunch with her in Chinatown. Stayed the night downtown and had dinner and wine on the pier....then headed to the 'real' treat. A much ballyhooed World Champ Koi Show in San Jose. We saw some folks there who we now more than recognize. Even better, we saw some incredible koi, ones that we certainly had never seen the likes of before........and almost all of them were red, white and black! WOW. We finally got the picture of true gosanke appreciation; and a certain take on those who had understood it for many years before us. I am sure of one thing; these folks were not attentive to 'newbies' with questions. In fact, it almost seemed too serious - like they were all too busy working to enjoy the beauty of the fish. I think I know why now. It was OK with us; we were on a mission. We took it all in, studied the happenings and the koi and had our own fun.
What I remember most was this was a Japanese style show! And it was truly a wonderful thing to experience.

[aquitori]

The 2005 Camellia Koi Show still is one of the best koi shows...well i mean the after show antics...

[Beniguy]

Lots of good memories, but the best possibly was being the recorder at the NorCal ZNA Show in Pleasanton. The judges were at my tank and selected my Showa as 1st Place in size 4! All I could do was stand there holding back the smile. OK, not a "major" award, but considering the quality of the rest of the koi I was jazzed!
Ed

[Russell Peters]

Quote: Originally Posted by aquitori The 2005 Camellia Koi Show still is one of the best koi shows...well i mean the after show antics...

Yup, sometimes beer and cake can be dangerous.

[schildkoi]

The great times are too many to name but here are a few:

Best Judge's dinner (Friday Evenings):

Best Show (quality of koi and judging): 2000 BKKS National, 2000 SoCal ZNA

Best Banquet (tie): 2002 Dallas....so I am told (a tad too many adult beverages), CFKS 2005 with Lee's bottle of BBD Run being auctioned.

Best after Banquet Party, OKC 1999

Best Awards: 2000 BKKS on Sunday...Cheryl the American "Cheerleader" teaching the "stiff" Brits how to do proper recognition.

Most fun: San Antonio....pick any year (Although I will say that Las Vegas 2007 was very close!

Best Learning experience: BKKS 2000 National although any (of the many) with Tim W would qualify

Steve

[carolyn swanson]

When I walked into the ZNA Norcal show grounds last month, I almost turned around and went home and gave up showing forever. The fish were such high quality that I thought that I would never be able to afford to buy comperable fish--EVER!!!! My fish were getting low self-esteem just from the fishy vibes.
However, the hotel was paid for, so I stayed.
As the show went on, I finally figured out what people saw in the experience. The Norcal people are wonderful and I enjoyed meeting new ones and got to know old acquaintances better. i talked to the judges in depth and quite enjoyed myself.
Of course Dan came through on the photos and made me proud of everyone and I consider myself tremendously lucky to live in N. Cali and have such wonderful people around.
And, last but not least, my fish came through for me.

[koiczar]

Carolyn

You should never worry about your fish keeping up with others. I guess you know that now for sure! It was a close race. Personally, I had picked your kohaku and David Tran's showa for GC and RGC. It didn't matter to me which was which, just that they were the two best on that day. Congrats to you for pulling out the win. It was VERY WELL DESERVED. Keep up the good work on maintaining/improving the quality of your fish.

Mike