KOI CLUB MEETINGS: Why Bother!

   Thinking back, why did I want to go to a meeting the first time? I remember now, I didn’t have anything better to do! I was lonely. I was recently “re-singled” and received a nice invitation in the mail from one of the vendors (the Nassau Flower Show) I’d attended had lots of them and I signed every one of their lists so I could receive junk mail, feel better) inviting me to be part of a koi show at Hofstra University in September. The first MAKC meeting would be held about 10 miles from my house the following Sunday. Oh, how nice! I was nervous, but I did have a koi pond in the yard (what I called a koi pond anyway, since there was a koi swimming in it). That was 1996.

    Okay, so that’s why I joined. But why did I stay? Why did I keep coming back to the meetings? I’ll tell you, I found the greatest friends, people who talked my language. The guy who walked out that day in ’96 wasn’t such a jerk; he just didn’t speak my language. We had nothing in common. But I didn’t realize how badly matched we were until I joined the MAKC koi club. He spoke “cars and motors” and I spoke “koi and flowers”. I met people who lived in my area, suffered the same problems as I did with the weather conditions, pH and other water issues, and learned how to deal with them. Ah, so not only did we speak the same language, they were more advanced than I was. 

    And today, now that I am even more advanced, thanks to seminars, lectures, and KHA labs, why would I bother with meetings now?? Oh, sure, I love the raffles and freebies. But now, I have something to offer someone else. No, it is not my incredible knowledge of gardens and koi. No, it isn’t my amazing beauty either. And it isn’t my extremely affable personality which can be changeable without notice, like the weather. It is because I truly enjoy them and look forward to the once-a-month get-together with (now) old-time friends. I want to know how they are, how they made out with their ailments, with their new grandkids, and if they remembered to turn off the hose when refilling the pond.
   We don’t care about politics or who is in charge, but we do care about each other. My friend, Andrea, used to kick me under the table and tell me not to take myself so seriously. No, I cannot scold members and I’m not going to pick up my marbles and go home if someone else does not like what I’m doing. I’m the lucky one because I’ve stayed.
   We have more than a “club” here. We have a life support system! And I hope others will come to appreciate what meetings have to offer to them, too. I hope the clubs will always be there to offer support to newcomers and straggling pond-ers in the future…..Carolyn Weise  Florida