Fragtoberfest 2018

[Dburr1014]

My wife won the seahorses. No tank for them, no idea how to care for them.... We are in trouble. Drove around for a couple hours getting things together to put them in a tank. They are about to go in now then I can relax before bed.
Great show though.

They are settling in nicely.

I do understand the money from raffles and how it's good for the club. It's just tough to swallow how many times they take home that prize you were hoping to get. I guess you would have to go to there store to buy it from them instead of winning it at the show. Raffles are all a gamble either way.
I know we dropped almost $100 on raffles to win food and seahorses (which we were totally not ready for).

 

[Vaiodude]

Yea raffles are always a gamble, but can be fun and support the club. I spent $100 and won nothing, but I know it’s going back into the cause. Good luck with the seahorses they are beautiful!

 

[fastest302]

Great shows guys.. spent a good amount on corals lol

 

[captc07]

As Jason said Vendors have always been allowed to join the raffle and that is how it is at pretty much any show you attend. One thing people seem to forget is that the Vendors are still hobbyists at heart. I know it is rough when you don't win that one prize you were hoping for...but that isnt always the case. I believe the grand prize was won off a single ticket...sometimes that is all it takes. Either way I hope everyone enjoyed themselves. These shows are a lot of work to plan and execute, it is the culmination of months of prep, with the sole purpose of supplying our members with a great event. Thank you everyone that came out and made the 3rd annual Fragtoberfest a success.

 

[Raege]

Nice show and CTARS members were very friendly and helpful. My wife and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

 

[sassAwrasse]

Hey Everyone. Now that I've had the day to recoup, I wanted to say a few things about this weekend and Fragtoberfest.

First of all...what a show! The vendors really brought the fire this year! We had a lot of vendors attend that have been with us all 3 years as well as many new vendors to this year's event. Our vendors drove from all over the country to be here...CT, RI, MA, PA, NH, NY, NJ, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Michigan (did I leave any state out?) We really appreciate everything that the vendors contributed to the event...after all,without them there is no event. And we hope the vendors enjoyed their steins and had some fun with the awards... We wanted to make them unique so you'd always remember CTARS Fragtoberfest 2018. Thank you to all of our vendors for bringing your A-game, and making this another successful year for CTARS Fragtoberfest!!!

We ended our day with 682 in attendance!!! Thank you to all of our CTARS members and attendees for coming out to support our 3rd Annual Fragtoberfest!! We tried to bring a few special touches to the show (custom door prizes, tattoo artist, kids corner with balloon animals, Kimmie's Bake Shop, Reefshine Guys, and Reef News Network). We put this show on for our members and for lovers of the hobby, and we hope to continue to do so for years to come!! We really hope that this year was a lot of fun for you!!!

We want to also thank everyone for bearing with us on the hiccups with electricity during setup, opening a few minutes late, and the layout of the 3 room event. We did our best to do loops and keep traffic moving to all areas, and overall it seemed to be a success once the hiccups were worked out!

I wanted to give a special shout out to a few people:

Peter Cherrick- Thanks for being our MC for the day! You were rocking all day long, and we enjoyed having you at the show!!!

Jacob Blankenship, Timothy Arthur, and Seth Robson - Thank you for making the looong journey to be a part of our show! I'm sorry the cornhole didn't take off during the day, but the show was better having you guys there! Wouldn't have been the same without you so thanks for coming! *Hugs* **TEAM BACON**

Jeremy St.Louis - You ROCK dude! Seriously!! Thank you for all your help the past 3 years contacting vendors for raffle donations...especially this year, we appreciate everything you do! Thanks again!!!

Chuck and Earl - Thank you so much for offering to volunteer months back, following through on your commitment, and being there Friday and Saturday to help out as needed. You guys are awesome and so appreciated, I can't even put into words!!!

Amy - Thank you for stepping in these past months as needed to help out at meetings. And thank you for all your help with the event! I know you don't HAVE to do this anymore, but love you for helping all the same! You rock girl!!

Jason - We made it through another Fragtoberfest!! Thanks for being an awesome team mate despite the adversity we've overcome this year!! You worked your butt off the past 2 days and should be proud of what we've accomplished! Thank you for all your support, dedication and hard work throughout this past year!!!

Mike - You are my rock!! Thank you for doing this with me, and thank you for all your support! Without you, I would not be sane. I love you!

My sister Meghan - for rocking it in the Kids' Corner. Those balloon twists were Amazing!!

My brother Matthew and his 2 friends - Thanks for spending your Friday night and Saturday helping our reef club.

@revhtree Thank you for your continued support of our club, and helping us advertise our great event!

Thank you to all the vendors that donated to our event!! I will be following up with everyone throughout the week. The donations made helped make this a great event for our members and hobbyists. WE truly appreciate your continued support of our local reef club!

With everything going on, we didn't get many pictures like we have in years past. If anyone has pictures they took of the day, please post them below or email them to [email protected] with subject line "Fragtoberfest Pics." Please and thank you!!!

Last but not least, please share pics of your Fragtoberfest grabs. We would love to see the goodies you scored at the show!

Stay Reefy!

 

[pjb9166]

Didn't intend to step on a hornets nest. From what I was gathering it has been an on going / longtime concern. I have to admit I did feel that it was an unfair advantage. But, The only reason I had brought it up was because the number of patrons and even other vendors that had a major issue with it.
I personally thought it was an amazing time. You could definitely see how much hard work and time that was invested in it's organization and execution.
I guess I'll take my $350 next year and just dump it into the raffles instead of spending it at the vendors booths LOL.....

*Note to vendors: We were at a Frag swap. What was the #1 thing that was not available for purchase? From anyone.
Coral Dip... Just saying..

 

[Blitzie]

I had Coral dip in my gift bag.
I personally use Bayer.

 

[captc07]

I had Coral dip in my gift bag

Yes the first 200 bags had a coral rx one shot dip.

 

[Katepete722]

Hi CTARS!
I made it out to the show yesterday, and I gotta say that I had an awesome time and got some really killer deals! Thanks so much for putting the show on!

 

[Blitzie]

There were some really nice deals
I picked up a real nice mini colony from Sick Twister Corals and real nice Wolverine along with another nice piece from Paulywalnuts

 

[sassAwrasse]

Didn't intend to step on a hornets nest. From what I was gathering it has been an on going / longtime concern. I have to admit I did feel that it was an unfair advantage. But, The only reason I had brought it up was because the number of patrons and even other vendors that had a major issue with it.
I personally thought it was an amazing time. You could definitely see how much hard work and time that was invested in it's organization and execution.
I guess I'll take my $350 next year and just dump it into the raffles instead of spending it at the vendors booths LOL.....

*Note to vendors: We were at a Frag swap. What was the #1 thing that was not available for purchase? From anyone.
Coral Dip... Just saying..

No hornets nest. No worries. Just an open discussion.

It's definitely a let down when you buy tickets and don't win, but it is a gamble. The grand prize winner won with one ticket.

I do think tank breakers had some dip in the beginning of the show, but maybe they sold out.

Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed yourself. And thank you for recognizing the effort that went into the show.

 

[sassAwrasse]

Some reviews of the show..

 

[JerSaint]

Here are a couple of the gems I picked up!

 

[JerSaint]

Here are a couple of the gems I picked up!

 

[Stanzo13]

Dude I asked if anyone sold dip and everyone thought tobacco... It went on for several minutes before I gave up and said CORAL DIP no one had it, no one even thought about it.... And then you see someone trying to cut prices and double up... Kinda sounds shadey..... Like super dip needs.... Lol

 

[JMetaxas]

My Frag score. They never look as good at home as they do in the dealers frag tanks, but also, the iPhone pic don't do the colors justice.

 

[Blitzie]

Nice Pieces
Good Luck with them

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

Check your charge card statements. I was charged on October 8 at the show, and again on October 9, a day after the show. I just emailed the vendor. Hopefully, I'll get a credit back. They seemed like honest vendors so I'm hoping it was just a mistake.

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

My message posted 4 times! Can someone get rid of the extra 3?

They are all #99, and I was only able to edit once. Sorry.

 

[pecan2phat]

Which Vendor?

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

Which Vendor?

I wasn't going to name them unless I don't get a credit. If you really want to know, I can message you.

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

It's all good. Great guys to deal with.