Ottawa Valley Aquarium Society (OVAS) Annual GIANT Auction – 2011

Once again, the club’s volunteers did a great job with the auction but, from time to time, the audience left them speechless.

How much for that great looking bag of air????

Every hour or so, the auction process would stop, members of the audience would get a chance to get up for a stretch, visit the canteen for more hot dogs and sandwiches and coffee, buy more raffle tickets and compare notes on what they had bought or not bought.

Intermissions were a great time to pass on the fine art of OVAS hot dog decorating to the younger generation :-).

Of course, at each intermission, there were fewer tables to look at and fewer items to discover.

The raffle ticket sales were a success. Of course, I had to take some pride in that. After, all was said and done, I’m pretty sure that I sold the winning ticket! Thanks again to the sponsors. Nice prizes make the selling of raffle tickets a much easier job. I had quietly hoped that I might win the big tank but it headed off to Montreal with the lucky winner. (Errol: thanks for supplying me with the tank winner’s photo).

For those who might not have got all of the items that they had hoped for, there was still a big smile for those surprise items that I’m sure they never expected to leave with when the morning had started. And, getting home with just a $10 bag of plants is sometimes quite the accomplishment :-).

Another successful OVAS ANNUAL GIANT AUCTION was over for another year, the chairs were stacked, the vendors were paid, and I headed west into the sunset.

Time to mark the calendar for the next Super Encan de S.A.M. (Montreal) – usually mid to late April (not sure of this year’s dates). Update: Checked out the S.A.M site and found this info: SUPER ENCAN OUVERT À TOUS Le prochain Super Encan aura lieu le 1 mai 2011 Prix d’entrée : vendeurs et acheteurs 2$ Le prochain SUPER ENCAN de la S.A.M. aura lieu le 01 Mai 2011 au 75 Sir-Georges-Étienne-Cartier à Montréal à 12 h (midi).

Time to mark the calendar for the OVAS 2012 ANNUAL GIANT AUCTION – likely the first weekend of March 2012

If you can’t remember, this is what last year’s 2010 auction looked like.

Can’t wait until another auction, consider attending a local aquarium society meeting. Click on the links below to find out more about who these abbreviated fish folks are or do 🙂

OVAS – this one is easy to guess if you were at the auction. Club meetings are held the fourth Monday of the month at J.A. Dulude Arena, 941 Clyde Ave, Ottawa, ON K1Z 5A6 with the exception of December, July and August. Meetings begin at 7:00 p.m. and usually run about two hours. UPDATE: July 2012 – Effective Fall 2012 the club meetings will be held at a new location: Tom Brown Arena located @ -141 Bayview Rd, Ottawa, ON K1Y 4M3 More info re the move and the September events see here: OVAS move.

SAM in Montreal Réunion mensuelle: Les réunions générales se tiennent le troisième mardi de chaque mois à 8:00h au CRCS Saint-Zotique, 75 Sir-Georges-Étienne-Cartier, Montréal. Il n’y a pas de réunion en juillet et août. (location)

MAS in Montreal Meetings are held at 8:00pm on the second Wednesday of each month,
except for July and August. They are held in the hall of: The Church of St. Columba, 4020 Hingston Avenue, Notre Dame de Grace (NDG), Montreal, Quebec. (location)

MAST in Toronto Meetings: Every second Wednesday of every month (except July and August). Meetings are from 7:30pm – 10:00pm at the Hillcrest Library (south edge of Pickle Barrel Mall), 5801 Leslie Street (halfway between Finch and Steeles Avenue East), Toronto, Ontario. (location)

Toronto Willowdale Aquarium Society: Monthly club meetings, except for July and August, are held at the Earl Haig Secondary School, 100 Princess Avenue, North York. Just east of Yonge and Empress intersection, a five minute walk from the North York Centre Subway Station. (location)

A.R.A.Q. in Quebec City: Lieu des réunions : Salle communautaire de l’Église Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin, au 2125, rue Louis-Jolliet, à un coin de rue de l’intersection de l’avenue Myrand et du chemin Ste-Foy, près de l’Université Laval. (location)

Salt or Fresh – Your choice! Have a great day with a fish!