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Greater Akron Aquarium Society

History

HISTORY OF THE GREATER AKRON AQUARIUM SOCIETY

Akron Aquarium Society

First meeting: September 7, 1934 held at M. O’Neils store

Officers:

President – Dr. H. E. Blass

Vice President – J. D. Hartley

Secretary – Harry Paul

Treasurer – T. F. Curley

Show Chairman – W. A. Belt

Held 11 annual shows. H. H. Paul was the last President and W. J. Church was the last Secretary.
Last show held October 6, 1949. Society ceased to exist after the show.

Greater Akron Aquarium Society

Founders: Mr. Fred Stryker, Mr. E. J. Van Boven

First Meeting: August 17, 1952 held at Ellet Branch of Akron Public Library

Officers:

President – Fred Stryker

Vice President – Emery J. Van Boven

Secretary – Roy Whaley

Treasurer – William Brown

Tank Topics Trivia

First issue printed by Tom Huth, who’s still an active Life Member, in September 1972.

Previously, a one-page newsletter was started in April 1972.
Prior to that, only a postcard Meeting Reminder was mailed out monthly.

Mike Neelon won the contest to name the new newsletter. It was a name previously
used by The Cleveland Aquarium Society before they changed their newsletter’s name
to The Wet Thumb. Mike was, and still is, an active member of both clubs.

The first locally written article was the column, Hows and Whys of Saltwater by Mike Neelon,
printed in April 1973 – in other words, it took a whole year for the Editor to get an article back then!

GAAS Shows

(The North American Goldfish Championship has been part of the GAAS shows since 1981)

1960 Guppy Show 134 Entries
1961 Guppy Show 250 Entries
1962 Guppy Show 250+ Entries
1963 Guppy Show 302 Entries
1964 Guppy Show 300+ Entries
1971 GAAS Tropical Fish Show Chapel Hill Mall
1972 GAAS Fish Show Chapel Hill Mall – 285 Entries
1973 GAAS Fall Fish Show Summit Mall
1974 Tropical Fishorama Show Summit Mall – 352 Entries
1975 Tropical Fishorama ’75 Summit Mall – 572 Entries
1976 Tropical Fishorama ’76 Summit Mall – 709 Entries
1977 Intra-Aqua ’77 Summit Mall – 731 Entries
1978 Ultra-Aqua ’78 Summit Mall – 910 Entries
1979 Ultra-Aqua ’79 Summit Mall – 918 Entries
1980 Ultra-Aqua ’80 Rolling Acres Mall – 821 Entries
1981 Ultra-Aqua ’81 Rolling Acres Mall – 772 Entries
1982 Ultra-Aqua ’82 Chapel Hill Mall – 720 Entries
1983 Ultra-Aqua ’83 Chapel Hill Mall – 818 Entries
1984 Ultra-Aqua ’84 Chapel Hill Mall – 1546 Entries
1985 Ultra-Aqua ’85 Chapel Hill Mall – 1521 Entries
1986 Ultra-Aqua ’86 Chapel Hill Mall – 1084 Entries
1987 Ultra-Aqua ’87 Chapel Hill Mall
1988 Ultra-Aqua ’88/SWACOL Championship/Great Lakes Catfish & Loach Championship Chapel Hill Mall – 877 Entries
1989 Ultra-Aqua ’89/SWACOL Championship/Great Lakes Catfish & Loach Championship Summit Co. Fairground – 672 Entries
1990 Ultra-Aqua ’90/ALA Convention Summit Co. Fairground – 779 Entries
1991 Ultra-Aqua ’91/CAOAC Convention Boston Heights Holiday Inn
1992 Ultra-Aqua ’92 Chapel Hill Mall
1993 Ultra-Aqua ’93 Chapel Hill Mall – 554 Entries
1994 Ultra-Aqua ’94/Goldfish Society of America’s 1st Annual Convention Chapel Hill Mall
1995 Ultra-Aqua ’95 Chapel Hill Mall – 553 Entries
1996 Ultra-Aqua ’96 Chapel Hill Mall – 545 Entries
1997 Ultra-Aqua ’97 Chapel Hill Mall – “Larger”
1998 Ultra-Aqua ’98 Chapel Hill Mall – 513 Entries
1999 Ultra-Aqua ’99 SYB Party Center – 413 Entries
2000 Ultra-Aqua 2000 Tallmadge Community Ctr.
2001 Ultra-Aqua 2001 Tallmadge Community Ctr. – 569 Entries
2002 Ultra-Aqua 2002/Golden Anniversary Show Tallmadge Community Ctr. – 505 Entries
2003 Ultra-Aqua 2003 Tallmadge Community Ctr. – 534 Entries
2004 Ultra-Aqua 2004 Tallmadge Community Ctr. – 443 Entries
2005 Ultra-Aqua 2005 Tallmadge Community Ctr.
2006 Ultra-Aqua 2006 Tallmadge Community Ctr.
2007 Ultra-Aqua 2007 Tallmadge Community Ctr.
2008 Ultra-Aqua 2008 Tallmadge Community Ctr. – 363 Entries
2009 Ultra-Aqua 2009 Tallmadge Community Ctr. – 365 Entries
2010 Ultra-Aqua 2010 Tallmadge Community Ctr. – 361 Entries
2011 Ultra-Aqua 2011 Tallmadge Community Ctr. – 396 Entries
2012 Ultra-Aqua 2012 Tallmadge Community Ctr. – 338 Entries
2013 Ultra-Aqua 2013 Tallmadge Community Ctr. – 354 Entries
2014 Ultra-Aqua 2014 Tallmadge Community Ctr. – 365 Entries
2015 Ultra-Aqua 2015 Tallmadge Community Ctr. – 381 Entries
2016 Ultra-Aqua 2016 Tallmadge Community Ctr. – 282 Entries
2017 Ultra-Aqua 2017 Tallmadge Community Ctr. – 353 Entries
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Recent Posts

  • May 2025

Upcoming Events

Please join us at our next meeting on Friday, May 9, 2025, at 8 pm at the Ritchie Memorial Shelter House in Tallmadge, Ohio.

Contact Us

The Greater Akron Aquarium Society
E-mail contact: program@akronfishclub.com

The Greater Akron Aquarium Society is a registered 501(c)(3) charity organization.

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