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Volume 52, No. 16
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CHESTERLAND NEWS Wednesday, December 23, 2020
Your Community Newspaper Since 1967
Passion for Goldfish Runs Deep for Chester Man By Ann Wishart ann@geaugamapleleaf.com
Dave Mandley was given his first bowl of goldfish when he was 4 years old and bored with being sick in bed. Today, he produces hundreds of thousands of designer goldfish and koi on 23 1-acre ponds in Northeast Ohio and sells them all over the world. His “hobby” may be the longest fish story of the century. Mandley, 72, remembers his father presenting him with a big bowl of goldfish to keep him occupied and, inadvertently, starting the “goldfish crave.” He also recalls locking up the gutters on the roof of his family home, flooding them and turning his goldfish loose to get some exercise. “I was into it, really,” he said during a phone interview. As Mandley got older, he studied fish in local lakes and ponds, learning their habits and admiring
COURTESY OF SKIP NIEBERDING
Celestial goldfish were imported from China years ago by Chester Township goldfish and koi breeder Dave Mandley. The photographer said getting good pictures of goldfish is difficult because they are seldom unmoving in the water.
the variety and adaptability of the wild fish. When he netted an odd-looking goldfish while splashing around Shaker Lakes, his natural curiosity took a big leap. Young Mandley contacted an expert in Great Britain to discover
the fish was an import from Japan and had probably been dumped in the lake by someone who lost interest. “I was going full tilt by the time I was 20,” he said. Mandley, now a Chester Township resident, spent hours as a teen
at the Cleveland Aquarium and SeaWorld, developing relationships that would last for years. When he learned SeaWorld was closing and selling off its 380 koi and its goldfish pond, he took the job of re-homing them. It was a golden opportunity and he acquired a plethora of breeding stock and a new perspective on responsibility. “It really made me go farther,” he said. “I really, really got into the real world of goldfish.” He began importing goldfish and koi from Thailand. Then, the broker who arranged the imports for him went to lunch with Vincent Price and another world opened for Mandley. As directed, Mandley got in touch with Price. “He got me into China so I could bring in new breeds,” he recalled. That includes celestial goldfish, so called because their protruding eyes look up to heaven. See Fish • Page 9
Schools Hold Successful Food Drive Students and staff at Westwood and Lindsey elementary schools donated over 1,500 food items during their holiday food drive. Representatives from University Hospitals came to the elementary schools in an ambulance to pick up the food items. Staff members at Lindsey Ele-
mentary School assisted with the loading of many cans and boxes of food. Students from the Westwood Student Council helped to load the ambulance with numerous boxes of food for those in need this year. West Geauga Local Schools are grateful for the partnership with University Hospitals.
JIM KISH – WGLSD
LEFT: Westwood Elementary School Student Council helps load the ambulance with food items. RIGHT: Teachers at Lindsey Elementary School help load the ambulance with food donations.
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