Winter has finally arrived, have you noticed changes in your pond. Are you still running the waterfalls or did you shut it down for the season? At pond professors, we kept both streams and waterfalls running until recently. Due to our second pond having a long shallow stream, we experienced freezing in the stream that created an ice damn. The pump was struggling, and we were adding water every other day to keep up with the ice formations. After struggling with the hose for a few weeks, we changed the pond over to a De-Icer unit. After one week, we have not had to add water and the pond is again almost maintenance free. Most important for me, I don’t have to wrestle with a frozen hose in those –20 wind temps. We have had a few calls from customers asking about losing water, pumps running slow, and changing their ponds over to De-Icers at this time of the year. I wanted to address all of these items and offer a few other suggestions. First off, the losing water issue is from the formation of ice in the waterfall and streams. As ice is formed, it will take water from the pond and lower the water level. Adding water during the winter is normal, 2-3 times per week depending on the amount of ice being formed. Pumps running slow can be from a variety of items. Aquascape pumps are designed to pass solids, but sometimes a fish, plant or other debris will block the water flow of the pump. Removing the pump and clearing any blockage will improve the water flow. Finally, changing a pond from an open waterfall to a De-Icer unit can be completed at any time in the winter or summer season. A hole will need to be made in the ice directly in front of the skimmer box for the De-Icer unit to be installed. Winter is almost over and soon we will be enjoying our ponds full-time!!

Pond Professors is looking forward to Spring 2004 and being able to offer new services and products to all our customers. Our most exciting addition to your company is that starting in October of 2003, Kimberly Story joined Pond Professors as our full-time office manager and construction coordinator. This will enable us to have regular office hours for our customers. Beginning 2004 season, we will be stocking pond fish of different varieties, color and size. An array of water garden plants will be in stock along with the ability for special orders. A complete line of Aquascapes products will be on hand for the pond owner to stop and pickup. Our office will be staffed and open Tuesday-Friday 10-6 with weekends open by chance or appointment. We will be offering new products to help with the care and upkeep of wategardens, fountains and other water features. From Mini do-it-yourself pond kits to toys for the pond, we will have a lot to pick from at our location. The newest service we have added due to several requests is our Pond Sitting Service. Customers can schedule with our office when they will be out of town and our staff will check their pond for debris, water level, fish health and any other issues that my arise while they are out of town. We are looking to add to our staff, if you know of someone who would enjoy our business, please send them our way.

As many of our customers know, we are part of a local pond club called W.S.C.A.P.E.S. located in Rock county with members from all over Wisconsin and Ill. Recently, the club has been invited to join N.A.W.A.G.S. as a local charter club. N.A.W.A.G.S. mission is to be an organization that will unite clubs across the country in the common pursuit of the water gardening hobby. This national organization of pond lovers is dedicated to the Enjoyment, Education, Promotion and Protection of the water gardening hobby. By working together, this organization believes that as a group they can be very influential when government officials are making decisions. Providing them with accurate information and making sure they are aware of the facts, when a major regulatory issue is raised. There are a number of issues threatening the water garden hobby currently. From Water restrictions, Plant and Fish Regulations, West Nile Virus, Building, Safety and Insurance Issues. At this time, the local club will need to meet and discuss the different benefits and requirements to transform into a N.A.W.A.G.S. chapter. This is a great honor that is limited to clubs within a certain radius of the state. Only a few clubs will be allowed to represent the Wisconsin area. Whether the club chooses to join or not is yet to be seen. But for anyone interested in more information about the local club or the National Club, we have information available at our office.

Even though the ice hasn’t begun to thaw, we’ve already found ourselves dreaming of lilies, dragonflies, and frogs. Before we know it, our ponds and fish will be waking up from their long winters nap looking towards the new season. Spring cleanouts begin as soon as the ice melts and doesn’t look like its coming back (usually late March, early April). We group cleanouts geographically and do as many as possible in a day. You will be sent a confirmation of your request explaining the progress in which we will be completing each group. (Confused? We’ll do our best to get to you as soon as possible!) We typically clean out around 100 ponds each spring and are done by the last week of April. In order to continue providing this cleanout service at last year’s costs, we request that you include your credit card number so we can efficiently process all jobs as soon as the services are completed. An itemized receipt will be mailed after we have processed everything. (We know this is new, but it has become a necessary change for our company. If you are uncomfortable with mailing or faxing in your information, please feel free to call us directly. Attached with this newsletter you will find the form for signing up to be on our spring cleanout schedule. Sign up now as spots do fill quickly. All products ordered will be personally delivered to your home when we arrive for the cleanout. All customers who sign up prior to March 15th, receive a FREE 4 oz. Bacteria.

As many of our customer know, we started a new branch of Pond Professors, called Northern Lights and Displays. This branch was formed to offer winter work for the crew and a way to continue to offer a service that gives beauty to customers' homes. As with Pond Professors, we continue to want to offer services that make people feel good in their homes and makes their home stand out to the public. Northern Lights installed over 200,000 lights in our customers trees, bushes and on their homes this past holiday season. Many of you may have seen our work at Traxler park, Bank One downtown tree and the local Culver restaurants, along with many private homes. Our service includes rental/ownership of the lights, installation and take-down, along with storage until needed for another event. Lights are installed for weddings, company parties, holidays and any special gathering both indoors and outdoors. Northern Lights recently install lights for the Milton Winterfest Dance. Due to the volume of interest from the public, we will be adding a light crew to our company to better handle the demand for services. This will be a slow growing part of our company to ensure that quality is not lessened in any way to our pond customers and new lighting customers. Customer Service is still our main product!