Welcome to Northern Midwest ZNA

 

                                    2011 Koi Show Judge

Name: Kunizo Narita

 

 

Name: Peter Ponzio

 

 ZNA Judge
Chiba, Japan (Northern area of Tokyo)

I joined the Chiba district ZNA club in 1981, and was Chapter President for 11 years from 1992 to 2003. In 1996 I became a ZNA Certified Judge. I have served on the ZNA Board of Directors, and currently serving as my Chapters Advisor.

Koi judging has taken me to many countries including Singapore, Taiwan, Holland, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Africa, and many times in the USA.

Buying potential tosai and watching their development in my muddy pond in Niigata gives me great pleasure. Several of my koi have won the Grand Champion award in the Chiba District show - Kohaku.

I have entered koi many times in the All Japan ZNA show, winning the 70 bu Kokugyo award in 1995 and Best in Variety award for an Asagi in 1997.
 

 

2011 Goldfish Show Judge

Peter has been raising goldfish for over forty years, when fancy goldfish were more difficult to acquire than they are today.  His first “fancy” goldfish was an Oranda, and they are still his favorite variety.  Peter’s experience with koi began over twenty years ago, when he purchased two koi to put in his goldfish pond.  The koi quickly outgrew the pond, which began a lifelong series of new pond additions and improvements.  His favorite koi variety is the Showa.

Peter is a member of the Northern Midwest ZNA club, the Midwest Pond & Koi Society club, and the Mid-Atlantic Koi Club.  Peter is one of the founding members of the American Goldfish Association (AGA), and publishes their bi-monthly newsletter.  Peter has helped write the U.S. goldfish standards in 1996, with a revision in 2009. The AGA site can be visited at www.americangoldfish.org.  He is a certified goldfish judge, and author of Spike’s Goldfish Guide, which was published by the MAKC.  He is also an AKCA certified judge and has written the standard for judging Longfin koi in conjunction with Larry Christensen, Joe Pawlak, Myron Kloubec, and Joel Burkard.  Peter has judged forty-six goldfish and koi shows in the sixteen years that he has been judging.

When not judging goldfish or koi, Peter writes novels, stories and poems, and teaches English at McHenry Community College.  Prior to teaching, Peter was a financial executive at a Fortune 500 firm.