Cleveland Ohio, April 29, 2000
- As you enter the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, the auditorium facility where the GFSA convention is being held is immediately ahead on your left. A colorful poster on an easel beckons you inside to look. And that is just what many people did on Saturday, as zoo visitors poured into the show area, looking at the exhibited fish and investigating the vendor area and ongoing talks and presentations.
Convention this way!
Mixed in with the families spending a day at the zoo were the many people who had traveled to Cleveland expressly to attend the convention. They attended talks, looked at the many hundreds of beautiful fish on exhibit and in vendors tanks, and, mostly, just talked goldfish with old and new friends.
As you enter the GFSA convention area, your first site is the rows of tanks containing the exhibited fish. In back are product vendor displays, to the left is the GFSA booth and to the right is the Tetra booth. All of the vendors at the convention have offered tremendous support and enthusiastic participation in the convention. But Tetra deserves special mention; their early sponsorship of the event helped make it possible; as a company, Tetra has amply demonstrated their commitment to the US goldfish hobbyists.
Show ahead!
Show tanks to the left
Tetra product display and company representative, who ably answered questions on Tetra's goldfish products and corporate commitment to excellence
The judges also surveyed the exhibited fish, in an effort to prepare for their official duties on Sunday morning. Dr. Joe Smartt, the noted British goldfish authority and author, was on hand to serve as head judge, leading five teams of judges. Each team is assigned to one of the class groups and will be composed of two experienced judges and a number of apprentice judges. This structure is intended to both expedite the judging process (which stretches out to 5 or 6 hours at many shows) and give as many who are interested in judging experience.
Dr. Smartt, preparing to view the assembled show entrants
In the auditorium there are many more vendor tables and displays and most notably many fish for sale. The guest of honor here is of course at the Goldfish Connection booth: China Gold herself, waiting for a new owner.
China Gold is a big, beautiful fish. She is in a 55 gallon tank and pretty much spans the depth of the tank.