The Party's Over

[Raychel A Watkins]

The party is over, the house keepers have cleaned all rooms, and new people have taken the rooms we occupied. A new conference is scheduled to take the places where we met.  I sat up the other night after all had quieted down and I couldn't sleepand wrote this but my computer wiped it out. .  The adreneline level was high even if I can't spell it. Now my  levels have quieted down but my feelings are still the same.  We just pulled off a miracle.  We need to stand up and shout MAHALO NUI LOA to Gina and Sylvia. That is Hawaiian for thank you very much from the bottom of my heart.  We owe them our gratitude for all the work they had to do to pull off this miracle.  They accomplished this over all the other work they had on their plate.  Gina had her bid training the day after, Sylvia had her book, her duties with her business, an open house,  All I had to do was make a few plane reservations.  My personal Mahalo to you two wonderful Ladies.  I will continue to reap a harvest from this weekend for a long time.  We are on the road fellow aquapons but now we have been upgraded to first class.

I looked around those meeting rooms in awe.  There  sat 250 people who previously had never met except on cyber space . They were laughing and talking as if they knew each other.  We all were in one accord on the idea that aquaponics is the future.  We will never agree on the way we do aquaponics but we will go out and share with others the value and benefits that raising food this way. 

The talks were very appropriate and very informing.  They showed to me the many reasons we do this and the many ways we go about it.  We had the small backyard people clear up to those building huge buildings full of food.  There were people there with hopes of feeding the world.  Melissa R is only 19 years old and has just returned from Ghana were she was spreading the news.  We need to get our young people involved and they will change the world.

The farm tours were as wonderful as they were different.  Thank you for letting us see how you do it.  I was impressed with the things you have accomplished.  You are an inspiration to us. 

I am still in Florida visiting friends I haven't seen in over 20 years.  So I killed 2 birds with one stone.  Of course I shared aquaponics with them.  We have to be ambassadors, evangelists, and persuaders that we have found the answer to good health, fresh food, and mental relaxation. 

Keep up the work everyone and those of you who went to the conference share with us how you felt and what you learned.  Aquapon Flu is the only disease that I due not wish a cure to be found for.

[Murray Hallam]

I am back home now in Australia and I am still a little amazed at what has happened. What a wonderful conference. To think we have friends and people of like mind from every corner of the globe. It is just wonderful. To Sylvia and Gina and all the others who put in to make it happen, right down to the last happy participant, thank you.  I am so glad to have been there. Can't wait to book for the next one!!

[Gina Cavaliero]

MAHALO NUI LOA to you Raychel, and to the 254 other aquapons that descended upon Orlando last weekend and the presenters and speakers and to Alan and Tonya and even to the hotel staff that worked so hard to make our stay comfortable and the event run smoothly.  All Sylvia and I did was give all of you a vehicle and all of you brought the fuel and the energy and created this incredible synergy.  I have been to other conferences and meetings, smaller, larger, but never have I experienced the energy level and excitement that we all witnessed. Our community has hungered for what we were able to pull together and our world hungers for what we will collectively be able to deliver.  Thank you for coming, thank you for bringing every bit of yourselves and for making what we started beyond incredible.  Again, MAHALO NUI LOA from every bit of my being.

[Frank Gapinski]

I had a great time and wish to thank Gina and Sylvia for their wonderful hospitality and generosity over our weeks stay in Florida. Murray Hallam is still wiping the lipstick from his cheeks!
I'm typing this on Murrays iPad while sitting in on an inspiring talk on Greenhouse design from Tim Manne from Friendly Aquaponics.
The knowledge keeps rolling along.
Cheers Frank

[Sasha Grove]

It wasa  great conference! We learned so much. Preached aquaponics on the plane all the way home to Michigan to a school teacher. We are now friends on facebook. The food of the future will spread. We have eight kids to pass the torch to!

 

[Raychel A Watkins]

My  blog that got eaten by the computer was much more eloquent.  I said that the party was over but that we stand on the threshold of a revolution of healthy food.  It does not matter what you think of the tea party but you have to know that they have not let anything stop them.  We must become unified like them and take on the GIANTS that stand in the way of getting everyone to understand what is happening to them because of the food they eat.  We must get aquaponics into the forefront and the food it produces into the mouths and stomachs of everyone rich, poor, or in .between.  I believe that this weekend should have shown us that we are on our way.  I do not believe that there was any person there that went home without being charged up and ready to do his part even if that is only to keep on keeping on.   I don't think anyone could have been disappointed with what they experienced.  Now every one knows just how many of us are out there and that we all have like minds.  And amazingly we are not attached to to some collective mind like the Borg. We all have minds that at this moment are filled with ideas of what to do next.  We shall meet here daily and in another conference next year to share what miracles have happened since we last met

[TCLynx]

I agree and I bow down in amazement at what Gina and Sylvia (and t... pulled off in such short order with little/no experience in running... for a job well done.

 

And to everyone else, the energy from this conference was amazing and I can only compare it to the squiggly good feeling I get from eating a home grown meal (by the way that super good feeling of eating a meal that came mostly from the home garden is what causes me to spread the word of growing your own food to everyone I can.)

[Earl ward]

could not agree more

[Steve Perreault]

Raychel - I'm sure that everyone at the conference agrees whole heartedly that Gina and Silvia deserve a standing ovation for making this conference happen. That party may be over, but there will be many more - I guarantee it. I've never felt such energy from a conference before. I feel a REVELOUTION starting!

I share your excitement and awe of the accomplishments some members have made. In my case, the bountiful harvest as you put it includes new friends, knowledge and a new found passion.

Thanks to all the members that opened their farm up to tour, the conference speakers and all the members that I met. Wow - what a harvest!

[Sylvia Bernstein]

Thank you for your beatiful Hawaiian sentiments, Raychel, and for sharing your thoughts about our miraculous weekend.  I"m at Gina's training with Murray, Frank, Wayne and others who I just met on Friday and are now dear friends.  I agree that we truly became a community this weekend, and stepped outside of our covenent cyber bonds and into a future of true fellowship and common purpose.  I'm incredibly glad that you were able to be a part of that and that I was able to meet you in person! 

Hear's to the flu!

Sylvia