Exciting Conference news !!! Last year we sold out, so this year we planned for 25% more reefers. And again, we sold out. So we have been working the casino and they have been able to get us a bigger room – we are going to be in the Grand ballroom. Last year we had 4 vendors and you asked for more, so we have 14 this year. We have Ice Cap, Reading Tree publications, Reeflo Pumps, Seazen, Boston Aqua Farms, Coral Reef Aquarium, Puppy Center, Sera, CTMarineLife, Fishy Business, Fin & Feather, Reef Nutrition, Northern Reef Aquatics and Magic Pet.
We also had sold out of lunch – and again, we got a bigger room. So if you bought a general admission ticket and would like to upgrade to a lunch ticket, send me a note and we will bill you the difference. And what is for lunch? Start with, Tossed Garden Salad Bowl with Assorted Dressings, Home Style Potato Salad, Creamy Coleslaw, Pasta Salad and Marinated Grilled Vegetables. For Entree's - Chicken Parmesan, Fried Scallops & Pot Roast with Garden Vegetables Meatloaf with Mushroom Gravy Accompanied with Two Fresh Seasonal Vegetables and Chef’s Selection of Potato or Rice, Cheddar Cheese Biscuits and Cornbread. For dessert - Hot Fruit Cobbler, Double Layer Chocolate Cake, Pineapple Upside Down Cake, Assorted Cookies and Fresh Fruit Salad.
We have added Randy Reed to our speaker list. His talk is called “Feeding your Reef”. He will talk about Pods, oyster eggs and plankton. Randy is the owner of Reef-Nutrition. Unfortunately, Christine Williams will not be with us, we have rescheduled her for later in the year.
The specials are starting to come in. Check out the website regularly for all the details. Now, we have special pricing on AquaFX RO units from Fin & Feather and Bulbs and ballasts from Ice Cap.
The 50/50 raffle – we hold a cash raffle where ½ the money goes to a winner ½ goes to the club. The club donates ½ of ours to a worthwhile cause. This year, we are donating it to the Ronald McDonald House in New Haven. They are setting up a Red Sea Max 250 for the families of patients to enjoy. For those who don’t know about the Ronald McDonald House, it is a 12 guest room house where families from anywhere in the world can stay while their children are being treated at nearby health facilities.
Last, we want your old metal halide bulbs !!!!! Bring them to the Ice Cap booth and they are going to recycle them. If you are not coming to the conference, we still want your bulbs. Drop them off at:
Puppy Center
1148 New Britain Ave
West Hartford, CT 06110
Fin & Feather
76 Plaza CT
Groton, CT
Magic Pet
1107 Silas Deane Hwy
Wethersfield, CT
Coral Reef Aquarium
1464 Fall River Ave
Seekonk, MA 02771
Something Fishy Aquarium
1185 Jefferson Blvd
Warwick, RI 02886
They will bring them to the conference for you. CTARS wants to keep these from getting into our landfills – they are loaded with mercury.