Mid Staffs - Grow and Show Event.

Last Sunday saw the Mid Staffs Koi Society hold their Grow and Show Results Event.

This is a staple for the club and seems to be very popular indeed. Held at Bill Oakley‘s home and organised by Colleen Joynes (who cooks a mean BBQ) and the club committee, it really is a great day in their koi calendar.

Last year members of the club purchased some tosai Kujaku bred by Wada koi farm and supplied by Koi Carp, with the view of developing them in their private ponds. Twelve months later, the Koi were brought back to Bills home to be judged by some ‘tall bloke‘ and the winner announced!

The club had arranged some brilliant prizes with the help of Alex from Kusuri...

1st Prize £300 and 5kg bag of Kusuri Wheatgerm

2nd Prize £200 and 1.5kg Kusuri Wheatgerm.

3rd Prize £100 and 650g of Kusuri Wheatgerm.

- As you can see, there’s plenty a reason to get involved!

3rd Place went to this Kujaku owned by Kevin.

2nd Place went to Tony Barker and this lovely Kujaku that saw tremendous growth.

1st place went to Neil Jackson‘s Kujaku that had beautiful skin quality and a great body shape.

Everyone gathered round to congratulate the winners and give out the prizes. As you can see the sun was shining, the sausages and bacon were a-cookin’ and everyone was in high spirits!

Next up was an auction of koi very generously donated by Kevin Powell of Koi Carp, a great little mix of varieties up for grabs to raise funds for the club...

Koi were bowled and bids were placed, the club have a great sense of humour and I couldn’t keep a straight face as they battled one another for the koi on offer. Many a bargain was had and lots of people went home with new additions.

There was also a raffle with a great selection of prizes to be won, donated by Kusuri, The Koi Collection and Methley Koi - among others. It was a great day for people to socialise, catch up and talk koi.

It‘s important for us to remember just how vital koi clubs are to the hobby and the industry on the whole. With things the way they are economically at the moment and next year likely to be even more tricky with getting the show scene back on its feet, I have nothing but admiration for the Mid Staffs and their desire and determination to keep the flame burning!

It just goes to show that you can’t kill the spirits of true koi enthusiasts! If you’d like to find out more information about the Mid Staffs Koi Society, please contact Paul Dolan: p.dolan@coordsport.com

To wrap up here is a short clip of Bills koi enjoying the sun. (The gin rin chagoi is 1m in length)