THANK YOU!!!

[jonclark96]

I wanted to thank all the folks who came out for The BFD 5 and made it a great weekend! Although I am exhausted, I had a blast and hope every one who attended enjoyed themselves.

I also want to thank all of those who helped make the event a success. I apologize ahead of time if I forget anyone, but here it goes:

Thanks to Matt C., Christine for running registration! Also thanks to all the folks who spent some time at the registration desk - I know there were quite a few folks who helped out!

Thanks to Matt Q for running the kids contest. It really was great so see so many kids with so much energy!

Thanks to Victor for running the Aquarium Beautiful contest. Every year, the entries get better and better and things went smoothly!

Thanks to Michael O'shea for running the auctions and donations. It was a huge task and everything went really, really well. Again, my apologies for not recognizing you at the reception.

Thanks to Jim and Manuel for handling the treasurer duties through the weekend! It is a full time job and you guys did great.

Thanks to Rachel, Pat, and Christine for being our speaker liaisons.

Thanks to Jason for running AV and Abby for helping out on Friday. Another great job.

Thanks to Matt C., Kent, Abby, Matt E., and Jim for set up help on Friday. We got it done quick!

Thanks to all the folks who helped bag fish up for the auction and then ran bags later on. I know there were a lot of folks who helped out and I don't want to forget any names.

Special thanks to Matt Quinn, Christine, and Tony - you guys are really awesome. The BFD wouldn't be what it is without everything that you all do. There is so much going on and you are always there to help make sure things are going in the right direction. We rocked it!

 

[Pat Kelly]

I will second that. You guys do a GREAT job.
Every year gets better and bigger..

 

[Carolineep]

Where is the liove button?

Everything seemed to run so smooth and I know that is because you guys ran your butts off.

Thank you and well done

 

[Becca]

Thank you, too, Jon!

It was nice to see a few new folks volunteering, too !

 

[mchambers]

Special thanks to you, Jon, and to Christine, Matt Q, and Tony, who collectively are responsible for much of the planning and organization of the BFD.

 

[dogofwar]

Jon pretty much covered it...except thanking himself. He is and truly was the force keeping the BFD train on the tracks. And he (and his family) deserve a huge thank you from all of us!

There are a million little things (and dozens of big things) that can be showstoppers (or at least throw things out of whack). It's great teamwork that has made it all happen each of the past five (!) years...

Thanks to the whole CCA team!

So who wants to be Chair of the BFD 6? Mr. Clark deserves a break (although I'm sure he will help no matter what)

Matt

PS If someone lost a 10" barred red devil, Josh has it for you (not kidding).

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

I was thinking the same thing, usually every year Jon thanks everyone, but he deserves a huge thanks from everyone. A lot of people made the event a success, I was glad to see it run smoothly with very little issues.

Not it for the next chair, though I'm glad we're already looking forward to the next one.

 

[CichlidDan]

Thank you for everyone's hard work for making this a special event!

 

[F8LBITE]

I had a great time. Thanks for everything guys!

 

[Carolineep]

PS If someone lost a 10" barred red devil, Josh has it for you (not kidding).[/QUOTE]

How do you lose a 10 inch Fish?
Do I wanna know where you found it?

 

[jonclark96]

In a cooler left behind in the ball room.

 

[xny89]

As I was leaving late Saturday night, I saw Jon and Christine sitting; first time I've seen Jon without his hat, and he just looked exhausted. Jon, you did a wonderful job and it was a pleasure working with everybody. I do have a wonderful story to add - Just as the auction was starting, a mother and her 12-13 year old son approached me to ask about how the auction would operate. They seemed genuinely intimidated by the crowd and the process. I gave them a little advice, like wait for the opening price to get established, know your price limit, and get aggressive to get what you want. Well, the boy got his two bags of fish and still had an extra $15. The looks on their faces afterwards was unbeatable!

 

[lkelly]

Seldom seen photo of Jon without his hat on:

 

[jonclark96]

Lane - you weren't suppose to share that with everyone!

Again, thanks for all the folks who helped out over the weekend. We couldn't do it without you!

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

I wanted to give a big thanks to everyone who helped me out with prepping for the auction, its one of the biggest jobs that makes a big difference in how well the auction runs.

Jon and Tony for helping me tank the fish on friday night, I knows its a lot of fish for a limited amount of tanks. Matt, Mo, Dave, Mahesh and everyone else who helped catch and bag fish. Sorry if I missed anyone I'm sure I did, its just easy to get distracted and not keep track of everyone. Thanks to Donna and Jim for the labeling and bag prep.

I received several compliments on the quality of bagging, at least one from a person very experienced with shipping fish, so it speaks a lot to the quality of help. Its also very appreciated by the people who win the auctions, they don't have to worry about the fish surviving the trip home.

Thanks to all of the runners who helped deliver the lots to the winning bidder, its an essential part of a successful auction. I didn't get a chance to write down names, and I know I'd miss people if I tried to list them, but I greatly appreciate everyone.

Thanks to the people who helped drain the auction tanks, and later break down the rack, its a lot of work but absolutely necessary.

Hope I got nearly everyone, but I do appreciate everyone there, I just don't have a great ability to remember all of the people who surround me and make the whole process a success.