Monthly Meetings
The OCA meets on the first Friday of every month, except July, at 8pm. The address of our meeting location is:
Middleburg Heights Community Center
16000 East Bagley Rd.
Middleburg Heights, OH 44130
Map & directions »
You don’t have to be a member to attend – guests are always welcome.
Program
Meetings usually begin with a talk about cichlids or a related subject. The OCA is proud to bring world class speakers to Ohio, not only for our yearly convention, the OCA Extravaganza, but also for our monthly meetings. With Northeast Ohio being the hotbed for cichlid breeders that it is, we have discovered that there seems to be no shortage of world-class speakers locally, a number of which have used the opportunity to talk at OCA meetings to later tour the country with their fantastic presentations.
Download the Social Meeting schedule with tentative times »
In December we have no speaker, but celebrate our Christmas party that typically boasts turkey, ham, and a spread of side dishes that needs to be seen to be believed!
BAP, Bowl Show, Raffle & Socializing
After the talk we usually take a break for refreshments and some socializing among “cichlidiots”. This also gives people a chance to look at bowl show entries, and after the break the bowl show winners are announced. Next, Breeder Award Program (BAP) awards are handed out. We have a Breeder Award Program for cichlids and one for catfish, turning our program into probably the largest one of its kind in the country. The entries are subsequently auctioned off, making some of the newest and rarest cichlids in the hobby available to our members at low auction prices! The OCA has had a number of first spawns in the United States and members have donated some very nice stuff to be auctioned off for the benefit of our Jim Smith Fund. Meetings end with a raffle, where we give away prizes that are set up on a huge table, which typically bends to the point of breaking under their load!