National Local Fish Store Meet Up Day: July 13, 2013

Whereas the Capital Cichlid Association isn’t having a meeting on that Saturday anyway, and quite a few of us are still in town;

Whereas it’s better to actually do something about the decline of local fish stores rather than whining about it on fish club forums;

Whereas most of us really don’t need much of an excuse to visit a local fish store anyway;

Without any authority vested in me by absolutely anyone, anywhere;

I hereby proclaim Saturday, July 13, Two Thousand and Thirteen to be National Local Fish Store Meet Up day. Enthusiastic aquarium hobbyists and fish geeks world wide are entrusted with the solemn duty of organizing a meet up for their fellow club members and fish buddies at the INDEPENDENT local fish store of their choosing, after which they are directed to descend, en mass, on a local INDEPENDENT eatery of their choosing for lunch (or breakfast or dinner, whichever the case may be).

The aforementioned proscribed actions are intended to assist local INDEPENDENT (in case you missed that the first couple of times) aquarium-related businesses to withstand the creeping economic malaise of these recession-weary times, and maybe, in the case of those in dire straits, to meet a payroll or two and ward off the sheriff for at least another month;

This proclamation applies not just to traditional INDEPENDENT fish stores but also to such mom and pop enterprises that are run out of local homes, warehouses, garages or what have you as Aquatic Life Farms, Batfish Aquatics or Invertebrates by Ms. Jinkzed (provided they are up for it and agree to having a bunch of fish people descend upon them.)

Go forth and organize, help your INDEPENDENT local fish businesses and INDEPENDENT restaurants, and above all, HAVE A GOOD TIME.