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This is a 'feel good' article about Koi that I just had to put on the site.

Ever wonder WHY you keep Koi? Read on...

Why we keep Koi

Reproduced from an article located on this website

Owners to reveal ‘secret’ ponds

Kershaw County residents to put koi, goldfish on display

By CAROLINE SMITH
Staff Writer

Three years ago, Doreen and Haney Hancock decided to build a koi fish pond when they got rid of their swimming pool.

“Our oldest son had graduated (high school), and we had a big hole” in the ground, Doreen Hancock said. “We had family coming, and we had to do something.”

Her husband got the idea for the pond at the doctor’s office.

“I saw a koi pond in a magazine,” he said. “We had just taken out our pool, so I came home and said, ‘I want to build one of these.’”

This Saturday, the Hancocks, along with 16 other Kershaw County residents, will host the second annual tour of koi and goldfish ponds. Proceeds will benefit the Humane Society of Kershaw County.

After taking a similar tour in Charleston, the Hancocks decided to start one back home. “People have ponds that you don’t know about,” she said.

Cheri Miles has one of those secret ponds. She opened hers up for the tour for the first time last year.

“Our pond is unique because we have a screened porch,” she said. “We can sit and enjoy it no matter what the weather is.”

She is hoping to add on next year. Her pond holds 2,400 gallons of water. Some on the tour are as little as 150 gallons.

Miles keeps mostly goldfish.

Goldfish or koi, Doreen Hancock said visiting one of the 17 ponds on the tour is an experience you won’t forget.

“Once you get to a pond, you’re mesmerized,” she said.

And it is easy to be mesmerized.

The murmur of water flowing down the man-made waterfall in the Butterfly Koi fish pond harmonized with the water rippling in the brook. Flowers in vibrant orange, red and yellow softened the edges of the pond, competing with the colors of the fish. Wind chimes sang in the light breeze.

And the Hancocks are dedicated to collecting their fish. The longest distance they have traveled for one is Bulls Gap, Tenn.

Of course, they have named all 40.

“You just pet Copper,” Doreen Hancock said of her Chagoi, a type of fish known for being friendly.

“People want those for their pond because they’ll make all the other fish friendly,” Haney Hancock said.

Other names: Bertha, Joe, Tiger and Houdini, “because we can’t ever catch him,” Doreen Hancock said.

But maybe you can see Houdini, beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday.

“Just be sure to pace yourselves,” she said. “The last pond on the tour is so worth the trip. It’s a 10,000-gallon pond with fish three feet long.”

And you might not have known about it but for the Hancocks and their tour.

“This is the greatest secret in the world,” Haney Hancock said.

Reach Smith at (803) 771-8597 or cesmith@thestate.com

Koi. Gotta Love 'em.

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