Tour has pond lovers going crazy

People with a common interest band together, and pond lovers are no exception.

"We're nuts about them," Mona Coleman of the Northern Nevada Pond Club said with a laugh.

The club is hosting Pondemania 2000, its third annual tour of private ponds from Douglas County to Reno this weekend. The tour is self-guided and features homeowners' ponds and landscaping.

"There are some beautiful ponds out there and this tour is a way to show them off," said Coleman. Several waterfalls and a gazebo are highlights of this year's tour.

The idea behind ponds is the same as with any garden: to create a mood, a feeling of serenity, said Coleman, who has both a goldfish and a koi pond. The latter measures about 13 by 14 feet and holds 5,000 gallons.

"Ours is right off our bedroom so we can hear the waterfall at night," she said. "It's so relaxing."

Other ponds are built around plant life such as floating lilies. Fish, exotic or not, are a big part of ponds, and the club recently enticed a fish health specialist from Georgia to put on a seminar in Reno.

More than 60 people attended the combined lecture and wet lab, some from as far away as the Pacific Northwest and Arizona.

"It makes you feel good, when you're a young club just getting started, to see that kind of success," said Coleman. " We learn things, like how to salt the pondwater to keep diseases down, or how to replant floating lilies. It's a learning club and a social club."

Proceeds from the tour will go toward future educational seminars.

For information about the club or the tour, call Coleman at 267-3458.

WHAT: Pondemania 2000

WHEN: Saturday and Sunday, Aug 26 & 27

WHERE: On Saturday, Douglas County ponds, 9 a.m. -1 p.m. and Carson City ponds, noon to 4 p.m.; Reno ponds 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday only.

COST: $10 per day or $15 for both days. Tickets available in Reno at Moana Nursery, Oasis Water Garden, and The Garden Shop; in Carson at the Greenhouse Garden Center.

FOR INFORMATION: Call 267-3458