It is an Extravaganza!

It has taken me 3 whole days to get my thoughts together and write this post about the OCA Extravaganza. This is the one event that has earned its name. More than just a show or an auction, it is without a doubt THE EXTRAVAGANZA. The speakers all did a fabulous job and were available to answer questions through the entire weekend.

Friday started off at 8PM with Jay Stauffer from Penn State talking about the behavioral habits of Malawians. I am sure glad that this was the first talk because Jay gave a lot of information for me to absorb. Next at 9:30 was our friend from Pittsburgh, Eric Bodrock with a talk about some of the OddBall Scavengers that he has had experience with. Eric was his ever energetic self and held everyones attention for the entire hour he spoke. Finally on Friday night was Rusty wessel from Louisville holding us captive with a program about The Panuco Basin of Mexico that was the perfect talk for the first "Nighttime with Rusty" performance. On Saturday we had programs starting at 9AM with Don Conkel of Don Conkel Tropicals showing us the Fish Farming operations he has in Florida, Costa Rica and Guatemala. Following Don was Willem Heijns of The Netherlands who showed us all how easy it is to Breed Central American Cichlids in our home aquarium. After a few hour break to enjoy the Swap meet that was going on and take an afternoon nap, we were treted to a program about the Lake Malawi predator fish by Ad Konings. The grand finale was just that with a gentleman whose style and personality cannot be equaled anywhere, Charlie Grimes. the program was titled Collecting Cichlids in Cuatro Ciénegas and I am sure that somewhere in between the jokes and haranging of Ad Konings and anyone else that Charlie can think of, we got to Cuatro Cienegas but by that time Charlie had us laughing so hard we were all crying and couldn't see the screen anyway.

In addition to the speakers the Ohio Cichlid Association members were the most hospitable group of people I have ever met. The hospitality room was a great place to meet people after 10:30 until the hotdogs dissappeared. The "spudnuts" and coffee in the morning were great. And I even got to meet a lot of great people that I had only talked to on Facebook or just heard about. I know I am going to forget a few names but here goes. My good friend Ray "KingFish" Lucas who was his ever wonderful loving self, Frank Reece from BlueZoo Radio & TV, Klaus Steinhaus from Canada, Don Grey, Wayne Toven, Stephan Tanner, Discus Hans & Joanne, George Richter, Michael Barber, Pat & Tracy Kelly, Ron Georgione, Bill Sensor, Roberto Prati, Mike & Robin Schadle, Ken Walker, My Ride-sharing Roommate Andrew Blumhagen, and many many more. If you want to see more about this great event and some pictures, check out the OCA Website and mark down on your calendar the weekend before Thanksgiving 2010 for the next Extravaganza. I know that I will be there.