Meet the team - the "Gang of Five"
and the person that dreamt up this idea.
Toen is the reason this site is here, he is also the man responsible for bringing us all together. Toen, is from The Netherlands and has been a koi keeper since 1997. Over the years Toen has taken many roles in the administration of the Nishikigoi Vereniging Nederland (NVN) - the National Koi Society of Holland, including Magazine Editor,Vice Chairman, Show Chairman, and is currently the Voorzitter (President). Toen is also a ZNA trainee judge. Toen has been a pin addict since 1998.
Bern is from the UK and bought his first koi in 1969, but only considers himself a koikeeper after 1985 when he joined the BKKS (the British Koi Keepers Society) Bern has been a member of the South East Section since 1988 where he was vice chairman for six years and is now their current PRO. Bern also held some National positions working on the BKKS National show committee 1994-97 as Show Secretary and the editor of the Show Programme. Bern is a trainee BKKS judge. Bern is waiting for another 8 pins to bring his collection up to 500 (circa Oct 2003)
& designer of the IKPC pin.
Norm, an American (we had to have one) is another long term koi keeper (since the early 1970's).Norm an AKCA certified judge, is a founder member of the Oregon Koi & Watergarden Society, their first president and currently their magazine editor. Norm is the IKPC's leading light, being the owner of the largest collection of Koi Pins in the world having passed the +500 mark in 2002. Norm is the leading authority on American pins, many of which he designed.
Mike began his koi keeping in 1990 and was a committee member for the SAKKS from 1994-2000 during which time he served as chairman from 1995-98. Mike is currently the Chairman of the KwaZulu Natal Chapter of the SAKKS and both a SAKKS and a ZNA Local Certified Judge. Mike is now the authority on South African pins (see Articles page) and currently (Oct2003) has a collection of 330.
Jeroen, our second member from the Netherlands has been involved in the koi hobby since 2000. As our youngest member it is only natural that he has the smallest collection but it is growing fast. Jeroen is also on the board of the Nishikigoi Vereniging Nederland (NVN) as the region-co-ordinator responsible for their Public relations. Jeroen started collecting pins through Ebay and it is through his expertise and advice that we were able to develop the Pin Shop. .
Vincent, from Taiwan was one of the founder members of the IKPC. A koikeeper since 1979 and a pin collector since 1998 in which time he amassed over 468 pins (Oct 2003). Vincent professed to speaking Japanese better than his own mother tongue Chinese and offered his services as interpreter to fellow koi keepers. During his lifetime he was the Chairman of the ZNA Taiwan District, and also laid claim to being a founder member of all 6 of the ZNA chapters in Taiwan. Vincent was also a qualified ZNA Local Certified Judge. Sadly missed but not forgotten.