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There are 2 Spike Cover Awards.
Please scroll down the page to see all of this year's winners.
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K.O.I. International Lifetime Acievement Award for Excellence in the Koi Hobby 2023
The winner is: Nancy Moore
Nancy's Bio:
My first memory regarding fish was when I was 6 years old and fly fishing with my Dad on the Deschutes River, in Oregon, and catching an 18” Rainbow Trout. As an adult, when visiting Hawaii, I saw colorful fish at the Honolulu airport and at hotels in Kona. But I knew nothing of Koi, until I had a pond installed in my garden lot in 1990, and the landscape designer said, “You need Koi.” My response was “what are Koi?” That was the beginning.
I joined the Washington Koi & Water Garden Society in 1991, shortly after water entered the pond and my 3 test koi were purchased. One of the 3 lived here for 26 years before moving on to the Summer Lands.
Since 1991, I have served the club as Membership Chair, Vice President, Program Chair, Editor (multiple times and currently), Koi Show Chair twice, Co-chair twice, and several stints as President. I became a Koi Health Advisor in 2007, which is where I first met Spike Cover, and moved on to K.O.I. shortly after it came into operation. I assisted Editor Joyce Glenn with editing for several years. My photos made the cover of KOI USA magazine twice, and I do photograph quite a bit for our newsletter and the PNKCA website, conventions in particular. I have shown Koi at almost every show, winning several Junior Grand Champion awards, among others.
As a Certified Koi Keeper (and previously as a KHA) I have visited countless ponds and discussed water quality, testing, and design with a good many ponders. Early on, I was a participant and later an organizer of our club’s Beginning and Advanced Wet Labs, under the tutelage of Dr. Tim Miller-Morgan, Oregon State University and the Hatfield Marine Science Center, Newport, OR. Each year 16 members went through the day-long Koi health training process, up until Covid. One of my goals is to educate hobbyists about the importance of KH (alkalinity) levels, as our local city water lacks KH (as well as GH).
I have been involved in the planning of at least 4 Pacific Northwest Koi Clubs Association’s Conventions, including the 25th annual in 2009, honoring the great Ed Fujimoto.
My club has voted me AKCA Person of the Year several times, and PNKCA’s Ed Fujimoto Award several times, as well. In 2011, I was the recipient of PNKCA’s prestigious Bronze Koi Award, for my contributions to the hobby. Also, I have worked every WK & WGS koi show since 1992, except for one. Our last show, however, was in 2019, pre-Covid. This year, I have organized 10 programs and will have published 11 issues of our newsletter, which are e-mailed to our members.
My 10 large Koi reside in a heated outdoor polyurea elastomer Koi Containment System, 5,600 gallons. My remaining (think Osprey and Raccoons) 8 goldfish live in my original 10,000-gallon Koi pond which is visually wonderful to see and hear but is not really a suitable Koi pond. Lesson learned.
Nancy's Nomination Letter:
I wish to nominate Nancy Moore as highly deserving of this lifetime achievement award because of her longstanding dedication and selfless efforts toward promoting Koi health and husbandry. Her distinguishing factors for this award include:
•Over three decades of continuous uncompensated efforts, often on a fulltime basis;
•Local, regional, and national leadership and involvement in Kkoi husbandry, health, and promotion of the hobby;
•Accomplishment in attaining certification in Koi health and continuous improvement of knowledge with consultation and collaboration with Koi health authorities;
•Devotion to sharing knowledge and assisting club members and the general public.
Nancy took an early retirement as an English professor and began her second, albeit unpaid, career in 1990 with the installation of a Koi pond. This pond several years later became the goldfish garden pond after installing a state of the art “Koi containment facility” and a separate sick/quarantine tank, both with advanced filtration and heat. She joined the Washington Koi and Water Gardens in 1991, shortly after it was founded, and soon became a board member serving in various leadership and support positions (and sometimes two at a time) ever since, having had only 2-3 years off the board.
For the past 20 years, Nancy has served nearly continuously as our newsletter editor using her superb communications, editorial, and educator skills to make our club’s newsletter (11 issues a year) one of the finest among Koi clubs in country. In addition to writing regular articles on Koi and pond health, she also spends time documenting club and koi events, equipment/products, and other relevant issues, as well as soliciting informative articles. This has allowed members who could not attend the meetings to be able to keep up with club activities and learn how to care for their ponds and fish.
The newsletter and our club members have also benefited from Nancy’s outreach within and outside our club, and her wide network of Koi colleagues developed over the years. She has been a member of K.O.I., Pacific Northwest Koi Clubs Association, AKCA, and the Koi Society. With AKCA, she assisted the KOI USA Editor, Joyce Glenn, with proofreading, and she submitted several articles.
Since 2006, Nancy has been a conduit for the latest on koi health issues from Spike Cover and other koi health authorities for both members and nonmembers in her quest to help us institute best practices for our ponds and keep healthier and happier Koi. The Puget Sound area of Western Washington presents many challenges to Koi keeping. Our mild winters, rainy long springs, and temperate summers result in only a brief part of the year with optimal Koi water temperatures, whereas for much of the year, pond temperatures are in the danger zone for parasitic and pathogenic infections combined with a compromised Koi immune system. Our ponds are also wildlife food banks for raccoons, otters, herons, king fishers, osprey, and eagles.
Shortly after our club initiated wet labs with Dr. Tim Miller-Morgan in 2004, Nancy took on the role of organizing these labs for the next decades and encouraged new members and beginning pond keepers to attend. She has noticed the impact of this training over the years with reduced 911 calls for sick fish. In 2006, Nancy enrolled in the Koi Health Advisor program run by Spike Cover and colleagues through Koi USA and became a certified Koi Health Advisor in 2007. Initially, Nancy visited 5-8 ponds a year to aid members and nonmembers alike. Over time, with efforts to increase awareness on proper koi husbandry and pond/filtration design, this number has steadily fallen to about 1 visit a year currently, with mostly remote consultations.
Nancy’s accomplishments in learning the technical issues of Koi health and pond water quality are highly remarkable, given her lack of formal training in the STEM fields. After completing her KHA certification (now Certified Koi Keeper), she has maintained her certification through continuing education and kept in frequent contact with Spike Cover and other Koi health authorities. She has shown us that proper pond water quality maintenance and biosecurity are far more important than medicating either prophylactically or after the fish are sick, and that medications use should not be used without a proper diagnosis. A particular issue for most water sources in our area is carbonate hardness to stabilize pH, an issue that is little known by the general public. Nancy frequently welcomes Koi keepers to her home to provide or lend supplies, and for training. This year she hosted one of a number of sessions she has held at her ponds over the years on how to test pond water quality and to properly maintain ponds.
Nancy has spearheaded public outreach efforts for our club, tirelessly organizing and staffing booths at various public events each year to provide information on koi and Koi keeping. Even during the Covid years when public and club meetings were not possible, her leadership held our club together, even gaining new members through providing information and connection via the newsletter and video conference for club meetings and presentations. Her efforts continued to bring programs of interest to the membership.
In summary, I can think of no more deserving person than Nancy for this award to recognize her outstanding and impactful lifetime achievements to improve Koi health, husbandry, and enjoyment for us all.
K.O.I. International Spike Cover Service Awards 2023
Winners listed alphabetically by last name.
Cindy Badder Click Here to read Bio
Kevin Fuess Click Here to read Bio
Duncan Griffiths Click Here to read Bio
Syd Mitchell Click Here to read Bio
Chris Neaves Click Here to read Bio
Karen Pattist Click Here to read Bio
Congratulations to all!
