The Austin Pond Society tried something different with this May Meeting and held it at one of our Sponsors Store, namely Aqua-Dome located just off Ben White in Austin, Texas. (more…)
The Austin Pond Society held it’s April Meeting at the same place and same time this past Monday, April 16, 6:30 pm at Zilker Botanical Gardens Clubhouse. It was attended by a little over forty members which was not surprising as this meeting was the Annual Plant Swap. This always nurtures a lot of interest as the members bring in their unwanted plants to exchange for others of a different variety. In theory, you had to bring in plants in order to be eligible to swap for other plants but in reality, there are always so many plants left over at the end of the meeting that it didn’t matter if you had plants of your own or not. The donating members didn’t care as they would have to take them back home if they didn’t exchange hands.
The food for the evening was the good old American staple, namely hot dogs with all of the fixin’s and deserts provided by the members. Yours truly made do with a bag of chips and several cookies as I don’t eat hot dogs. Following the meal, Jeannie, our President got right into announcements and the small bit of business that needed to be done. She was followed by Barb as the Special Events Organizer who explained to the group the rules of the Plant Swap. As usual, the volunteers who had arrived early and had helped with the set up all went early as they had have first dibs. They were given about five minutes to grab whatever they fancied before the rest of the ticket holders rushed out to fight over whatever remained. They were followed by those without tickets to hopefully grab all that was left to save the donators having to take them back home. Incidentally, the tickets signified that you actually had contributed something in the way of plants or fish. I opted to not donate anything this year as the few remaining plants that I have at home will be used in my own ponds. This did give me more time on taking the pictures and videos so it had some positives.
The swap went very quickly and the meeting was over by 7:30 pm with even the cleanup completed. This has to be one of the fastest meetings on record.
The next meeting will be held on May 21 at the Austin Aquadome. More details to follow. The three videos that I made are below.
The first is entitled 2018 April Business.
and the second is the Annual Plant Swap live.
The last is a slideshow to music of all of the pictures that I took
Written 4/25/2018
The third Monday of the month rolled around as it does on a regular basis which is also the day, actually evening, that the Austin Pond Society hold their monthly meeting. There were about forty two people that showed up and they were treated to a Chinese meal from one of our Sponsors, Bamboo Bistro. The food was absolutely delicious and there was none left at the end of the night. Thank You Bamboo Bistro. BTW, as a sponsor, they offer a 10% discount on all of their food by showing your APS Membership card.
With the meal out of the way, the Speaker for the evening was Dr Geigel who spoke to us a couple of years ago. Dr Geigel is a travelling fish doctor although he treats any and all animals and birds no matter what type they are. For the evenings lecture, he focused on fish and fish ailments. At the end of his presentation he took many questions from the floor all related to fish illnesses.
Dr Geigel Video March Meeting 2018 from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
Following the Speaker, Jeannie, our President took over. There was very little official business, just a lot of general discussion. The evening ended with the drawing for the door prizes which always leads to much mirth and laughter as different and various people win the prizes. My apologies for the quality of this video. My original video camera that I had setup, the battery went dead so I grabbed a second camera and shot this without the use of a tripod. Again, my apologies.
APS Meeting March 2018 – Business from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
The next meeting will be on April 16, Income Tax Deadline Day. Hope you have filed yours in time. This meeting is our Annual Plant Swap when members bring in their surplus fish, garden and pond plants to swap or giveaway to anyone that either wants them or is willing to take them. However, at the end of the evening, any unswapped plants are the responsibility of the original owner who must take them home. If you are looking for plants (or fish) bargains, this meeting is for you. This is not restricted to just pond plants. Any form of garden plant can also be swapped, The one exception are any invasive species which also applies to pond plants. Hope to see you there.
This is not to be confused with the Annual Swap and Sell Meeting held later in the year which is more about material items such as used pond and garden equipment.
This is the view through the windows looking outside at the Zilker Garden.
Written 3/22/2018
The Austin Pond Society held it’s monthly meeting at the usual place, Zilker Botanical Gardens in Austin. About thirty members showed up and were treated to a meal of Pulled Pork with Coleslaw. There were a lot of deserts including a strawberry pie that was absolutely delicious. Thanks to the Members for supplying these wonderful treats.
The original Speaker for the evening, Kieran Docker, is a Pond Builder who had an emergency with one of the ponds he had built and had to attend to it causing him to miss the meeting. That left an empty space in the proceedings but Barb Lenhardt who is our Programs Director came up with a very innovative idea to fill the time. She presented to the group an idea she had to rebuild her pond and asked the group for opinions. It was like opening up a floodgate with some very interesting ideas and comments plus a lot of good humor. In no time flat, the hour had passed. (more…)
Listed below are the Sponsors for the Austin Pond Society. We encourage you to give them your business and support. You can reach them by clicking on the link to their email. If they have a website, you can reach that by clicking on their business card.
Realtor Located in Austin
Barb Lenhardt with JP and Associates, Realtors
Cell: (512) 820-8210
Office: (972) 836-9295 ext 1418
barblenhardt@gmail.com
Located in Cedar Park
steve@hillcountrygardens.com
1407 N Bell Blvd, Cedar Park, Texas 78613
Phone: (512) 260-5050
10% discount by showing your APS Membership Card
Located in Marion, Texas
3230 Bolton Road, Marion, TX 78124
Phone:(210) 659-5841
Hours:9:00 am – 5:00 pm
10% discount by showing your APS Membership Card
You can contact them using this link.
Located in Round Rock, Texas
DeVerna Remodelling, Inc
Phone: (512) 585-5704
E-mail: jnkdeverna@gmail.com
Located in Austin (Two locations)
Bamboo Bistro 11101 Burnet Rd, Ste A-100
Austin, TX (512) 821-0022
and Bamboo Bistro West Gate
6818 W Gate Blvd,Austin, TX (512) 243-5588
10% discount by showing your APS Membership Card
Located in Austin
(512) 458-8531
Mail: skelton@envirosurvey.com
Website: www.envirosurvey.com
Located at: 9001 Brodie Lane, Austin Texas, 78748
Phone: (512) 280-1010
Website: Jets Pizza
Two Locations in Austin www.bihydro.com
4201 S. Congress Ave. Ste. 310
Austin, TX 78745
Phone: (512).444.2100
—————————
7010 Burnet Rd. Ste. A
Austin, TX 78757
Phone: (512).459.4353
25% discount above wholesale by showing your APS Membership card.
www.tmwaterscapes.com
taylor@taylormadewaterscapes.com.
We’ll get back to you within 24 hours.
Phone:(512) 225-4627 8-5, Monday through Friday.
Located in Cedar Park paullawrence4320@gmail.com for more details
Brigham Real Estate. Contact charbrigham@gmail.com for more details.
Website: www.brighamre.com
(512) 423-5707
Located in Austin
austinaquadome.com
1604 Fortview Road,Austin, TX 7870
Phone: (512) 442-1400
Tues-Sat: 11am-7pm, Sunday:12pm-5pm
Closed Mondays
10 – 20% discount by showing your APS Membership Card
Perry Aerial Photography
-serving Austin Metro area-
captainkdp@gmail.com
Tel: 512-909-6661
YOU COULD BE ADVERTISING YOUR BUSINESS HERE. Contact webmaster@austinpondsociety.org for more details
So starts a New Year for the Austin Pond Society. What will it bring, I wonder? We usually follow the same pattern every year. All of our meetings are set up to incorporate different things and we pretty much stick to the same items year after year. The Speaker that Barb Lenhardt, our Programs and Special Events Board Member had originally set up for this meeting had to withdraw at the last minute. This meant that we had to improvise which, as it turned out was no problem as we spent nearly all of the meeting discussing our lack of a Pond Tour Director and what to do instead.
But, I am getting ahead of myself. The meeting was attended by thirty members and as usual, Steven Monfrini, our Hospitality Volunteer put on a spread for us to enjoy. This time, we had many choices in which to make our own sandwich or in some cases, sandwiches. Our members absolutely outdid themselves with the choices of deserts and there was a whole table just loaded with goodies. I was torn between a sandwich or desert and resolved the issue but having both.
This past Sunday, the Board members and a few friends held their Christmas party at Jeannie Ferrier, the President’s house. Altogether there were 17 of us gathered together to enjoy each other’s company made all of the better for not having to be planning or making decisions for something or another. There were a few members missing having already made other Christmas plans but those that did attend got to enjoy all manner of good food, good company and fun and games.
The first part of the time spent together was viewing the two ponds that Steve and Jeannie have in their back yard along with all of the other garden related items that are so tastefully displayed. As usual, being Pond Enthusiasts, we bombarded Steven with many questions about different aspects of his ponds which he was more than happy to answer. it is an interesting fact that nearly all pond enthusiasts are very happy to pass along any knowledge they may have regarding different aspects of their ponds and gardens.
APS Board Christmas Party Slideshow 2017.mpg from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
We all moved back indoors and I took a lot of pictures of the guests and the layout. The lighting was a real challenge with indoor lights, dark areas and then outdoor light coming through the windows. I was constantly having to make adjustments to the camera. There was a lot of food and people were wandering around from place to place with plates in their hands and happily munching away as they explored all of the different dishes that were available. People paired of in groups as different conversations were going on.
Jeannie called us all together as it was time to play our Annual Christmas game of swapping presents. This game is a little different as you were issued a number and when it was your turn, were able to go and pick out one of the wrapped gifts. You had to open it so that others could see what you had drawn as the next number was able to choose between taking a new unopened gift OR steal one from the gifts already opened and on display with the other guests around the room. If you took one of the other persons gifts, then they had the chance to go again in the hope of being able to keep what they had this time. I think I set a new record as I lost 4 gifts that I had won finally ending up with a bottle of wine that no one could steal from me as I was the last person to draw. As I don’t drink, I was able to swap it with Steven for a cactus which was a part of the gifts he had won. It was a lot of fun and raised much laughter as the presents were unwrapped only to be stolen by others.
APS Board Christmas Party 2017 from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
Following the game, Jeannie announced that next year’s Pond Tour would be a very small members only spread over 3 weekends with Nancy Reinert organizing the South side, Nancy Hall the North and B.J. Jenkins the East side of town. That is assuming that no one steps up to be the Pond Tour Chairperson.
The party broke up after a very nice afternoon’s entertainment of good cheer, good food and good company as we each made our way home. This was the last activity for this year for the Austin Pond Society.
This has been a good year for the group. We had several very good and entertaining speakers at our meetings, the Plant Swap was fun as was the Swap and Sell meeting. The Pond Tour was a smashing success thanks to Ted and his band of willing helpers and we raised $4000.00 dollars for a charitable cause. On the Fish Rescue side of things both Jeannie and Steven with help from others and Frank who worked mostly alone on the smaller rescues, were busy throughout the year. Membership hovers around the 100 mark with about half of that number attending the monthly meetings. As usual, Steven as the Hospitality Volunteer remains the most popular person in the club as the food provided was excellent. We look forward to the start of a new year and a new season for the Austin Pond Society. The first meeting will be held at the Zilker Gardens Clubhouse on Monday, January 15 2018. Hope to see you there.
Website: http://www.austinpondsociety.org
Membership: membership@austinpondsociety.org
Questions: president@austinpondsociety.org
Written 12/19/2017
The Members at the Party 2017
The Austin Pond Society held their Annual Christmas Party at the November Meeting which is the last meeting of the year. Around 55 members showed up, many of whom were dressed in their Christmas finery and with several wearing strange looking hats decorated in a Christmas motif. All the members were really getting into the swing of things as on Sunday afternoon, several of them had come in to set up the tables and decorate the room in the Christmas Spirit and the setting was very conducive for a Christmas Party.
Christmas Party 2017 Slide Show from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
The food comprised of Roast Beef and Ham provided by our very popular Steven Monfrini, with all of the fixings many of which were supplied by the members who also supplied the deserts and appetizers. There was a lot of food but by the end of the evening, it was all gone. There were several bowls of punch to drink, some with and some without so the members had a choice.
Christmas Party 2017 from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
The guests of honor were Mr and Mrs Klause from the Austin Police Department who were here to pick up the many gifts that the members had each brought in for the kids in need so they would at least get a gift on that special day.
Among the several things available to the members were a Blackjack Table complete with a professional croupier the proceeds of which went towards the Mayfield Ponds Project. The players each donated $10:00 to the cause and played until they lost. There was another game in which the members had to do something with Candy Canes. I never was able to figure out just what they were supposed to do…
There was also an area that was in the business of making funny hats complete with flashing lights for anyone brave enough to wear such a contraption and enter into the Funny Hat Contest later in the evening.
Christmas Party 2017 food line from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
The first part of the evening was devoted to the very important business of feeding our faces which we all proceeded to do with much gusto. Following that, Jeannie our President took charge as she went through the very small amount of business that needed to be conducted. The main and very important part was the appeal for someone, anyone to step up to fill the vacancy for the Pond Tour Chairman without whom, we will not have a Pond Tour as we know it, next year. She then introduced the new Board all of whom with the exception of Keith as Secretary, are all returning members. The New Board officially takes over January 1 of next year. Following the announcements, Jeannie called upon Ted Paone as this past two year’s Pond Tour Chairman and presented him with an Honorarium for all of his efforts.
Christmas Party 2017 Business from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
With the business out of the way came the very difficult task of choosing the Tallest Hat Winner along with other members who were sporting all kinds of flashing and blinking contraptions on their heads. Everyone really got into the spirit of things.
The winner of the Tall Hat was Catherine Bilbrey with Nancy Reinert as the runner up.
Christmas Party 2017 Crazy Hats from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
Another member, Karl Tinsley brought in his latest work of interest which is a Sand Board that he had constructed along with all of the programing that it takes to make it work. Basically, it is comprised of a flat box about 2 inches high and about 2 feet square with a glass cover sitting on a small table. In this box is a covering of sand on the bottom and a single large ball bearing. Karl has written software that drives the ball bearing into marking grooves in the sand in a designated pattern including his favorite Alpacas, of which he and his wife Linda own several. It is fascinating to watch as the bearing moves up and down creating pictures in the sand.
Karls input. The sand table uses a magnet mounted on a computer-controlled mechanism to move a steel ball through sand, creating stunning designs. The table and the designs it draws were created by Karl Tinsley. You can see some videos of the table on my youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChLaaBO5pY1QpVtX9WOEYiw
Here are some of the designs that the table has made through Karl’s programming.
This short video shows the table working.
IMG_2163 from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
With all of the food and drinks gone and no more games to play, the evening gradually wound down until the few remaining members stripped off the table cloths, straightened up the room and closed the doors on another fun and successful year for the Austin Pond Society.
Our first meeting for 2018 will be on January 15 at the Zilker Gardens Botanical Center starting as 6:30 pm. Hope to see you there.
Don’t forget to keep checking the website especially in the MarketPlace section as the availability of used equipment and pond plants is always changing. If you have equipment or plants you want to sell or give away, use this link to take you to the form.
Written 12/7/2017
The Austin Pond Society held it’s monthly meeting on Monday, October 16 at the usual place, the Zilker Botanical Gardens Clubhouse. The meeting was attended by around 35 members with a couple of new ones adding to the group. New members are always welcome. The meal provided by the very popular Stephen Monfrini, consisted of pulled pork rolls with salads and dessert’s provided by the members. As usual, a very welcome start to what was a very busy evening.
This meeting started with Jeannie, the President explaining to everyone the rules regarding the photo contest for next years calendars. The entries would be identified by a number only and the members would choose the first, second and third places in each category. There were four categories, fish, ponds, wildlife associated to a pond and water plants.
Following the time allowed to review and vote on the pictures, the speaker for the evening, Paul Lawrence from “ Texas Land and Water Designs” talked to us for about an hour on the finer points of garden selection which emphasized included plants, where and what sort, contrasts, locations, statues and other solid objects and other ideas that may not occur to most of us. I had some technical difficulties with one of my cameras and it took me awhile to get it sorted out so I missed the first part of his discussion PLUS the camera was out of focus for a bit. My apologies for the poor performance on my part.
Paul Lawrence from “ Texas Land & Water Designs” Oct 2017 from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
Following Paul, we moved right into the election of officers for this upcoming year, 2018. As chair of the nomination committee, Julienne Smith explained the format for electing the officers and smoothly switched into announcing those board members who were willing to hold a position and return for another year. These officers were all elected by acclamation.
Business Section October 2017 from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
Below is a list of all of the newly re-elected Officers.
President – Jeannie Ferrier
Secretary – Keith Neuse
Treasurer – Jack Marshall
Parliamentarian – Nancy Reinart
Below is a list of all of the newly re-elected Directors.
Historian/Photographer – Glen Hubenthal
Hospitality – Stephen Monfrini
Programs/Special Events – Barbara Lenhardt
Librarian – Margaret Boeneke
Membership – Rodney Lewis
Publicity/Public Relations – Ellen Filtness
Webmaster – Francis Allcorn
All are returning officers with the exception of Keith Neuse as the Secretary. Keith is no stranger to the Board as he helped Rodney with the Membership this past year. Welcome Keith.
We would like to give our thanks to Julienne Smith who has been an active Board Member for seven years and has finally decided to step down. Thanks Julie for all of your hard work over all of those years.
The only position that was not filled was that of the Pond Tour Director without whom there will be no Pond Tour in the foreseeable future. This is probably one of the the most important and definitely the busiest position on the whole board for at least half of the year. Although there are many people that step up and work on the various Pond Tour Committees, the Director is the one that pulls it all together.
Please note that without a Pond Tour Director and therefore no pond tours, we will NOT be able to make the donations and charitable contributions that we normally make as this is our only substantive fund raiser.
Following the voting, Jeannie welcomed all of the members that have entered their pictures and then branched into a discussion regarding the actual Pond Tour. Notwithstanding that we need a Director to fill that position, she suggested that maybe we should consider holding the Tour every other year or cutting it back to a single day or both. Her reasons, apart from the obvious one of lack of leadership, is that it takes such a lot of organization and involves so many people. Another reason is that Austin has so much going on that other clubs in our organization, AAGC have also cut back on their tours and shows finding it difficult to compete. A further suggestion from another officer is to have two Directors, one North and one South to halve the organizational time and responsibilities and also to cut back on the mileage. All good talking points and something to think about.
At this point, Darren and Glen announced the winners of the Photo Contest for this upcoming 2018 Calendar. The pictures, in order, will also be posted on this website on a monthly basis starting January 2018. The final act of the evening as it usually is, was the drawing for the door prizes.
The next and final meeting for the year is scheduled for November 20th and it will also be our Holiday Party. Details to follow.
Koi Person of the Year for 2017 – Alejandro Villa
The Austin Pond Society held its September Meeting at the Zilker Park Meeting Room on the 18th of the month attended by almost forty of its members. There were several new faces in the group and a couple that we hadn’t seen in awhile. Always glad to see new and returning members.
They were treated to a meal of chicken, potatoes and gravy, rolls, salad and desserts, lots of desserts most of which was consumed by the hungry members, me included. Thank you Stephen. Following the meal, Jeannie Ferrier, the President, awarded the Koi Person of the Year Award to Alejandro Villa . It was originally voted on way back in the summer but Alex had missed a few meetings and this was the first opportunity to present the award.
Below is a video of the presentation.
Koi Person of the Year 2017 from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
Following this presentation, Barbara Lenhardt, our Programs and Special Events Rep introduced the speaker for the evening, Jeff Price of Price Landscaping. His subject matter was the plants in and around our ponds and how to improve the appearance of our yards. He generated a lot of interest and there was a lot of Speaker/Audience participation. His presentation was well received.
Below is a video of Jeff and his presentation.
Jeff Price of Price Landscaping 2017 from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
Jeannie then moved on to the Business Section of the meeting and discussed many things including the equipment for both the Mayfield and Zilker Park Projects which was delivered to her house yesterday, toys for Blue Santa who will be the Beneficiary at this year’s Thanksgiving/Christmas Party, AAGC and the survey that had been circulated and filled in by the members to name a few of the items.
As it is almost time to vote on the new 2018 Board. Julienne Smith, the current Secretary and head of the nomination committee took the floor and went down the list looking for nominations for the different Board positions. Even though she received nominations for most of the positions, many of which will be filled by returning officers, it was very noticeable that there were no nominations for the Pond Tour Chairman which, next to the President, is arguably the most important position each year. Without someone to lead this effort, there won’t be a Pond Tour and although the Tour is not called for in our by-laws, it is our main money raiser for our chosen charity. Without the Tour, we will not be making any donations or providing several hundred people a weekends worth of entertainment or at least twenty pond owners their opportunity to be famous for a day with a spot in the limelight. We will vote on the Board positions at next month’s meeting with final votes for any outstanding positions closing at the November meeting. The Nominating Committee is Julienne Smith as the Chair and BJ Jenkins and Philip Smith making up the Committee. If you are interested in any of the positions on the Board, you can contact Julie at secretary@austinpondsociety.org . For more information regarding the various positions use this link.
Following the Nominating Committee, Jeannie then moved on to discuss the survey that we all filled out regarding the Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy (ZBGC) taking over Austin Area Garden Council (AAGC ). More can be read on this subject by Pam Penick. You will need to scroll halfway down the page to read about the interview between Cat Newlands, executive director of Zilker Botanical Garden Conservancy and Pam Penick. The membership approved by a show of hands their approval of the agreement. This was the last of the business and the meeting closed following the drawing for the door prizes.
The Business Video of the meeting
Business Section September 18, 2017 from Francis Allcorn on Vimeo.
A few of the members.
Margaret on the left is the Librarian. Barb on the right, the Publicity/Special Events
Julienne Smith and Philip
Ellen Filtness and her husband. Rodney and Keith in the blue tees in the background.
Nancy and Husband, Barb, Ted Paone,Jeannie with Jeff Price. Glen is in the background.
A special guest…
Good Food…
Ted, Barb, Jeff and Jeannie
Speaker Jeff Price
Post written 9/19/2017