Drs Foster Smith Retail/Coral Facility Trip

[firsthesitation]

Some of you may know I talked to Kevin Cohen a little while back. He generously offered our club a tour of their facility and hand selection on corals when the trip was over. Also they may also do a raffle for us. I attached a poll here to get an idea of what is going to work for people. I've got all his contact information so I can take point on this for communication with them. As you can see we are limited to a maximum of 60 members to a group so once we've selected a date I think we'll have to do a count for attendance and the 1st 60 will get in. On the other hand, I'll email Kevin and see if we can say we've got 2 clubs coming and see if we can double attendance. Get back to you guys on that one.

Here's what I got back from Kevin:

Aquaculture Coral & Marine Life Facility Tour Guidelines

Tour Information Center
Thank you for your interest in our Aquaculture Coral & Marine Life Facility. While our Aquaculture Coral & Marine Life Facility is closed to the general public, a limited number of special tours for Reef Clubs and Societies may be available if scheduled in advance.

Learn More before Scheduling a Tour
First opened in July, 2005, our Aquaculture Coral & Marine Life Facility is one of the nation's few premier coral propagation facilities. Our cutting-edge facility employs the most sophisticated technology in lighting, filtration, water movement, and quarantine systems to ensure the hardiest and disease-free coral and fish selection for home aquariums. Our staff of aquatic experts and diagnostic specialists personally oversees the health of all of the aquatic life housed in Rhinelander, WI.

Designed by LiveAquaria.com Director Kevin Kohen, this unique facility is dedicated to education, conservation and the advancement of the hobby through best practices and smart choices. We are proud to offer reef and marine aquarium enthusiast's one of the largest selections of premium captive grown, aquacultured and maricultured aquatic life. Through our
successful efforts in coral propagation, an ever-increasing number of Certified Captive Grown Corals (CCGC) is available for reef hobbyist. We are so confident of our hardy aquacultured corals we back each CCGC frag with a Certificate of Authenticity and an industry-leading 30-day guarantee.

Our Aquaculture Coral & Marine Life Facility is also home to the exclusive WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) Diver's Den(r). Our holding systems house a prized selection of hard-to-find fish, corals and invertebrates. Each species is quarantined and then photographed for sale so what you see is TRULY what you get.

Details for Reef Club Visits
* A minimum of 30 days prior notice is required to schedule the tour.
* Group size must be at least 20 club members with a limit of 60.
* Tours are available only on weekends (Saturday or Sunday) throughout the year, from 12:00-4:00 PM.
* One visit per year per club.
* Specimens from the facility are available for purchase at the completion of the formal tour. Purchases must be taken home the same day of the scheduled tour. Please Note: The only accepted form of payment is a valid credit card or a Drs. Foster and Smith/LiveAquaria.com gift certificate.
* Adequate staffing will be provided for questions and consultation with club members.
* To arrange a scheduled tour of our Aquaculture Coral & Marine Life Facility please contact us via email

[Jrmass]

Would be good timing to have the club tour on the 13th (as that is also the weekend of the NWRS club frag swap which is ALSO in Rhinelander) Just thought that I would mention that to some of you guys who wouldn't mind doubling up the weekend.

Jason

[Afish4u]

I thought in a different post that it was mentioned that the weekend of the swap wasn't going to work for the store to do a tour?...... Anyway What ever weekend it is. I"M in for sure. And possibly Liz and Andrew. So I think that makes me on the List

[Jrmass]

Originally Posted by Afish4u

I thought in a different post that it was mentioned that the weekend of the swap wasn't going to work for the store to do a tour?...... Anyway What ever weekend it is. I"M in for sure. And possibly Liz and Andrew. So I think that makes me on the List

Oh I didn't know that. I just figured that it would be a PERFECT time seeing that we could just kill two birds with one stone.

Jas

[Afish4u]

double check with brad I think he might know. btw I put my name down now since I haven't been on much lately. And probably won't be on as much now to

[ZMattie]

I will definetly go! Count me in on the list!

[Jordan55]

What about the 1 trip per year per group? and minimum of 20 people going? is that not a rule or am i miss understanding?

[ZMattie]

Yea, thats what it says Jordan, min of 20 people, max of 60... Right now were just picking the date, then well make sure we have enough people to go, which im sure we will... This is also the first time weve gone for a tour as a group (LARK) and we will more than likely make it a yearly thing.. IDK if that answers your question, I was kind of confused on what you were asking..

[Jordan55]

No that answers the question, i was just under the assumption that the last group that just went was mostly LARK members and did not seem to be 20+. Would love to go and see the coral farm with the LARK group.

[ZMattie]

Ohhhh... The last group that went didnt get a tour, it was just mentioned that they were going to try to get one. Thats where this all came from, Nick talked to a manager and asked him how we, as a group, could get a tour..

[D.J.]

kim and myself are for sure wanting to go....but i think the weekend of the frag swap is out...that was mentioned once and i think that it wasnt possible for them or something.....i cant remember now...il see if i can find it....


this bites a big one as well......is this for the WHOLE store or just outa the back?
* Specimens from the facility are available for purchase at the completion of the formal tour. Purchases must be taken home the same day of the scheduled tour. Please Note: The only accepted form of payment is a valid credit card or a Drs. Foster and Smith/LiveAquaria.com gift certificate

i only use cash...as of now....not getting into a bank untill all this depression crap is over with...to many banks goin belly up for me....

[Jrmass]

Originally Posted by D.J.

kim and myself are for sure wanting to go....but i think the weekend of the frag swap is out...that was mentioned once and i think that it wasnt possible for them or something.....i cant remember now...il see if i can find it....


this bites a big one as well......is this for the WHOLE store or just outa the back?
* Specimens from the facility are available for purchase at the completion of the formal tour. Purchases must be taken home the same day of the scheduled tour. Please Note: The only accepted form of payment is a valid credit card or a Drs. Foster and Smith/LiveAquaria.com gift certificate

i only use cash...as of now....not getting into a bank untill all this depression crap is over with...to many banks goin belly up for me....

I'm not really sure what the banks going belly up has to do with a credit card? If you credit card company went out of business they would just be bought up by another one and you wouldn't even know it because your interest rates are locked in on a CC. Besides that you could do just like Jen and I do. We got a card that kicks us cash back when we use it (5% on every dollar spent on shell gas and 1% on ALL other purchases) and we just pay it 100% off at the end of the month so the Credit Card company gets squat out of it. (basically the same as paying with cash but, we just pay our entire debt at the end of the month).

Jason

[D.J.]

ya ive been thru the CC thing....never doing that agin...i just got of them...A-HOLES.....oh well...

[hansmatt]

ditto Jason, we've got a bunch of cards, working the game to my advantage. Got 0% for a year, put a bunch of stuff (trip etc) on it, paid off at the end of term while freeing up money to get going rate (ok...so the going rate was .01%...but that's more than I started with).I used a card that had 5% everything for 3 months, put everything and then some on it, and also just used "points" for 3 rt air from lacrosse to orlando. simple rule...spend less than you can afford to, and pay off the cards in full each month. I put EVERYTHING on a card, though the final bill is bigger, it at least gains me $ in the end.
ok, now if that's not stealing a thread, I don't know what is

[firsthesitation]

You guys wanna stay on topic. We're going up there to get in MORE debt if anything we should be opening interest free cards specifically for this trip. :P