CKC Xmas Do & Presentations

The Cambridgeshire Koi Club held their Christmas Dinner at the Blue Bell Inn in Werrington on Sunday 6th December 2009.  The evening also saw the presentation of the prizes from the Club’s Photo Show held earlier in the year and a Grand Christmas Raffle with a host of great prizes on offer.

Full details of the photo show winners along with the judging matrix can be found by clicking here

The evening was well attended by the members of this growing club, and excellent seasonal fare was served up by our host Les and his team.

Between courses the results of the Photo Show were announced by Club Chairman David Pope.  Tetra UK had generously provided food prizes for all the winners, and all the major trophies had been sponsored by club members.

The first major award presented was for the Best Garden, which was sponsored and presented by David Pope and went to Martyn Underwood and Sue Machin.  Next up was the Best Collection  which was won by Matt & Lynette Hall for the excellent selection of sizes and varieties in their pond, with the award being presented by the sponsors, Tim & June Scott.

This year also saw the introduction of a new award, the Sat Sahota Memorial Trophy for the Novice Champion, given to the best koi owned by a member that has not previously won a major award.  36 year old club member Sat was tragically killed in a road traffic accident in September 2009, and the trophy was generously donated by his widow, Manjit.

The winners of the trophy this year were Nigel & Janet Rouse with their Isa Kohaku, and they also received a glass trophy to keep, which was sponsored by Matt & Lynette Hall.

The Baby Champion award also went to Nigel & Janet Rouse, with their 2008 club grow and show Shiro Utsuri and was presented by Roger Hands, of Isle of Ely Koi, who sponsored this award.

The Young Champion was a tightly contested category with more koi in this size than any other.  The award was won by a stunning Hoshikin Kohaku owned by Iain & Sally Kirkbright, and presented by the sponsor, Roger Hands of Isle of Ely Koi.

Adult Champion was won by Martyn Underwood & Sue Machin with a Kindai Showa,  which again was presented by the sponsor, Roger Hands of Isle of Ely Koi.

Mature Champion went to Roger & Sue Hands for a Kohaku, and the award was presented by Nigel Rouse who had sponsored the trophy with his wife Janet.

Before the Grand Champion was presented, the club made a start on drawing the prizes in the Grand Christmas Raffle.  The raffle raised a valuable £586 for club funds, with a staggering 91 prizes to be won.  The Raffle had been very generously supported by the koi industry, with prizes being donated by Coastal Koi, Isle of Ely Koi, Kusuri, Richdon Koi, Evolution Aqua, Nishikoi, Avenue Fisheries, JoSo Products, JanCentAn, Brunel Microscopes, Kings Lynn Koi, Koi Magazine, NT Labs Viresco UK and Fletton Garden and Pond Centre, as well as many club members.

The club is extremely grateful for the generosity of those that provided prizes and they well spread out amongst the members with only one or two missing out completely.

An hour or so later, the club was ready to announce the Grand Champion, and the winners, Iain and Sally Kirkbright were genuinely surprised to hear their names called and collected the award for their superb 80cm Richdon Exclusive Kohaku.  Roger Hands of Isle of Ely Koi, was once again on hand to present the beautiful glass decanter that he had sponsored.

The night was a great success with the food being excellent, the company great and both Photo Show awards and the raffle prizes being shared around.