Geneva Area Pond Club's free meeting on May 4

This event will be held in our most popular meeting place, club leaders Suzanne and Peter's garden in Nyon, some 15 minutes northeast of Geneva. We'll discuss ponds while enjoying refreshments on the shaded patio and in the gazebo beside the two water-lily ponds. We'll stroll around the ponds to admire the hundreds of goldfish swimming with 15 water turtles, and find some of the 12 land tortoises ambling through the garden.

The formal part of this meeting will be a question-and-answer period, during which everyone can bring up any question pertaining to the design, construction or maintenance of garden ponds in the Geneva area. Subjects likely to come up include the purchase and installation of the best liners, pumps, filters and fountains; the availability, planting and propagation of aquatic and bog plants; the selection and breeding of goldfish, koi and other pond fish; plus ways to protect your fish from herons, make your pond safe for children, prevent or eliminate green-water algae, and solutions for any other problem you may have. Bring all your questions for the experts and other club members to answer, based on their own experiences.

But these events are social as well as educational, so the informal part of each meeting invariably includes discussions on every other subject under the sun. All the snacks and drinks prepared by Suzanne generate lively conversations, and help club members get to know one another well. Come to meet all the new members who joined the club this winter, and welcome them into the community. Visitors are always welcome at these events, whether they have or don't have a pond. Invite interested friends, neighbors and children to join you at this free event.

Let them know they can also join the Geneva Area Pond Club for free right on the club's web site. Have them log on to http://ponds.meetup.c... to read all about the club, and to learn how to navigate its extensive web site. If they like what they read, they can instantly become members by clicking on the red link marked 'Sign up.' Then they can be informed about each meeting weeks in advance, and attend every event for free.

Full details of each meeting are always listed in the 'Calendar' section of the club's web site. The May 4 meeting is described at http://ponds.meetup.c.... A list of all our other upcoming meetings is at http://ponds.meetup.c.... Click on each meeting's title to read its details, then submit your RSVP on that page by clicking Yes, Maybe, or No to indicate if you can or can't attend. If your plans change, you can always return to a meeting's description to revise your RSVP.

Every other page of the web site should be of interest to anyone interested in ponds or the Geneva Area pond Club. The 'Welcome' page at http://ponds.meetup.c... lists the latest additions to the web site, such as the newest members, articles, messages, polls, and photo albums. The 'Members' section at http://ponds.meetup.c... lists the 100 families or individuals who are current club members, with descriptions of some of their ponds and other interests. The 'Messages' section at http://ponds.meetup.c... includes tutorial articles about ponds, plus offers of free fish and plants for our members.

The web site's 'Polls' section at http://ponds.meetup.c... lists the current questions to be voted on by members, so they can determine the management of the club. Everyone can see the current vote count for each proposal, but only club members can submit or revise their votes and instantly see the cange in results. The 'Files' section at http://ponds.meetup.c... includes some of Peter's illustrated articles published on the Internet's largest web site about ponds, Water Gardeners International. Peter is the editor of all articles from Europe.

The site's 'Photos' section at http://ponds.meetup.c... features over 400 captioned photos of pond fish and pond plants to help identify the available varieties, plus albums of club members' ponds. Members can submit photos of their own ponds to PeterSuzanne2@hotmail.com, and have them posted on the web site. If you submit at least ten photos with captions, Peter will create a new photo album featuring your own pond.

Each page of the club's web site is informative, so check them all. But first submit your RSVP for the May 4 meeting in Nyon. Suzanne and Peter will introduce all the new members there.