Originally Posted by
Chris
Where to begin... Yahoo! email lists! :lol
I've been in the hobby since, oh maybe early to mid '01 and my passion has always been nano reefs. My first tank, a 10G did surprisingly well and I even managed to keep a Goniopora (shouldn't have bought it) alive for nearly over a year. <_<
Some time in early '02 I discovered Austin had their own little email list (Austin Reefers) abound with activity. I didn't know the history of their club, but a few active members made it worth taking an interest in. Eventually San Antonio residents were overtaking their list with our massive userbase of maybe 10-15 of us. :P
This is where a guy named Mike Liesman stepped up and created our own little Yahoo! list, and thus San Antonio Reefers was born. It started with most of our members actually being from the Austin list, and very slowly growing from there. At times conversation died in both groups, but a few firestarters like Tim Marvin helped keep things alive simply by getting the group into active discussions over certain aspects of the hobby. Other names that stand out in my mind are of course Joshua K., Ray Rendon, John Moffet and later Minh Nguyen.
It wasn't until the late summer of '02 that we had our very first meeting - a whole 10 people showed up at Tom's Rib's off NW Loop 410. This chance encounter happened to be the first of many more to come, and who would have thought we'd be where we are today. 8)
It was after that meeting that a lot of interest was growing into getting away from Yahoo! and their advertisements on our email list. After much deliberation regarding a name - some of the ideas were: to stick with San Antonio Reefkeepers (SAR), San Antonio Marine & Reefkeeping Society(SAMRC), South Texas Area Reefkeepers (STAR), Reefkeepers Association of San Antonio (RASA), Alamo Aquarists (AA- glug glug :lol) & South Texas Area Reefkeepers For Improvement of our Seas and Hobby (STARFISH). Marine Aquarists Association of South Texas (MAAST) was chosen, as it didn't shun our Austin or other area members from feeling included. :wub
October '02 - Progress! With the tiny costs of a domain and hosting ($9 for the domain, $27/year for the hosting ) we had an online forum! In either December or the following January, the site changed a little bit with the addition of our current PostNuke software. Funny enough, what we paid for in yearly hosting dues is less than what it now costs us in our monthly fee's. This site has grown so much!
At some point around this time one of San Antonio's most loved fish stores was closing down. Aquarium Sales & Service sent out a mass email informing their customers. It was either Ken or Mike, but they included the ENTIRE customer base with an inspirational message that San Antonio lacked it's own local aquaria society. We were of course little known, but I managed to email everyone back on that list to let them know about MAAST and to attract new members, it worked!
It wasn't until February that the ball was rolling again and we had our next meeting. This took place at the home of one of our members, Tina - Some Pictures!. What an exciting meeting to finally meet some of the faces and we even had our first fragging lessons from Minh Nguyen who drove all the way up from Corpus Christi.
Our next meeting took place at my dear friend Troy Valentine's house - More Pictures! This was another great meeting and we focused on how to make our own fish food. On a side note, to this day I remember Sherri's face when I stuck my finger in the fish food and gave it a taste. :P :lol
Many great meetings took place since then... SeaWorld, Jim Norris', Misti Thuesons and every where else.
In the summer of '03 with a bit of urging we started talk of making MAAST a real organization. After 3 meetings we finally had our by-laws hashed out, and on the road to non-profit status. The mold was set to create a Board of Directors to oversee the clubs future - and oh what a trip this has been!
We've had our up's and our down's, but this club has grown by so much it's sometimes hard to remember where we started. A lot of fond memories... I only hope others continue to find their own fun here and enjoy the ride as much as I have. :w00t
Charter Member
Just out of curiosity, do you still keep a reef tank? I see the Solana info in your sig, but I wanted to ask anyways.
). While I was admiring his main tank, he was telling me about MAAST. I looked into it and have been a member ever since. Just in case I never mentioned it Eric, "Thanks". Without that chance meeting, I would have never met this fantastic, diverse group of people. There have been many times when I have purchased or sold an item to a member and made a good friend that I would have never met otherwise.
Honestly, after meeting someone from this group for the first time, I mention to my wife that if I saw any of you on the street, I would have never known we would have so much in common, and I am sure the feeling was mutual. I appreciate the kindness and dedication to this hobby/lifestyle as well as to each other.
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