ESAA Board of Directors Meeting – Via Teleconference

October 10, 2012

 

 

In attendance:  Jan Carlson, Mary Coldiron, Kathy Cunningham-Roy, Tony Disiena, Janet Gray, Judi Hunter, Jack Johnson, Anna Quigley, Jack Johnson, Susie Kerwin-Bush, John Nielsen, B.J. Parsons, Julie Quirk, Bob Stevens, Harvey Wooding, Sandy Miller

 

Absent:  Lynda Chase, Anna Harlow

 

2011 Annual

Kathy Cunningham-Roy reported that the annual has gone to print.  Cathy Hill will be putting together a summary of the details and it will be provided to the board by the National. 

 

Last year, an ad hoc committee was formed to look at maybe some other options.  Lanore Matter is the chair with Kathy Cunningham-Roy and Mary Cizsek on her committee.   Due to work on this year’s National and other things going on, Lanore and the committee has not had time to do much work on this.  Lanore contacted Janet to request an extension. A motion was made by Kathy to allow the ad hoc committee another year to investigate and bring a recommendation to the board.  Harvey seconded the motion and the motion passed without objection.

 

Without a new recommendation on how we’ll go forward beyond this year, the board tabled further discussion until we get the report from Cathy Hill and we can see how we did financially on the 2011 Annual.

 

Because we don’t want to lose time should we go forward with another annual for 2012, Julie made a motion that we begin to solicit bids for the 2012 Annual.  Kathy seconded the motion and the motion passed without objection.

 

2011 ESAA National

The board reviewed the report and asked Sandy to send a copy to Donna Jordan, National Coordinator, to review their suggestions and look at possibly incorporating into our guidelines.  The board did discuss and agreed that we need to make sure that host clubs understand that this is an ESAA event and therefore the National will be run by ESAA guidelines.  Janet commented that each year we are improving and working toward better relationships & communications with upcoming host club chairs. 

 

2012 ESAA Annual Awards

The board realizes how important the annual awards and donors are to ESAA and that we should have well documented information on these awards as part of our historical records.  The board agreed that Judy Mates has a tremendous amount of knowledge/background/history with many of the annual awards and their donors.  We would like Judy to write up this information on each of the awards to be kept as part of our historical documentation.  It would also be nice to have maybe an abbreviated version about each of them on the papers that are placed at each of the banquet tables for the membership to read. 

 

Jack suggested we add this information somewhere to our website.  Everyone liked that idea and Harvey suggested that we ask Garth to take good photos of these trophies to include with the descriptions on the website.  Another idea was to include the information in the National catalog.  Janet suggested putting the information in a Newsletter initially and then adding to our website.

 

Anna questioned why we don’t mail the runner up certificates to those people that aren’t at the banquet.  If they took the time to apply, they should be given the award.  This is not part of the annual awards process.  The runner up idea was something that Judy Mates took upon herself as a token of recognition.  A motion was made by Anna to have the ESAA Secretary take all unclaimed runner up certificates after the banquet and mail them to those winners.  The motion was seconded by Julie and the motion passed without objection.

 

Bob Stevens made a motion to accept Judy’s report.  It was seconded by Kathy and the motion passed without objection.

2012 Districting Report

John made a comment that any changes to redistricting requires a board approval by November of the preceding year.  After some discussion on the five issues outlined in John’s report, a motion was made by Harvey that the Regional Vice Presidents involved in each of these five situations poll their constituents, talk to the other Regional Vice Presidents involved (and Membership Chair if needed) and then provide a recommendation to the board at our January/February board call.  The motion was seconded by Jack and the motion passed without objection.

 

Bob made a motion to accept John’s report.  It was seconded by Susie and the motion passed without objection.

 

Delegate’s Report

Janet thanked John for his representation and said how grateful we all are for everything he does for ESAA.  His knowledge and connections have been invaluable to us over the years and especially this past year with a few issues he’s helped on.

 

Bob made a motion to accept John’s report.  It was seconded by Anna and the motion passed without objection.

 

AKC Gazette

Tony made a motion to accept Jill’s report.  It was seconded by Jan and the motion passed without objection.

 

Health & Genetics Report

The 2013 grants have not been set yet.  Once they’re available, Michelle will research and provide her recommendation to the board.  Janet commented that Michelle has provided us with great articles for the newsletter.  She encouraged everyone on the board to contact Michelle directly if they have any specific questions.

 

Susie made a motion to accept Michelle’s report.  It was seconded by Anna and the motion passed without objection.

 

Hunting Dog Committee

Mary Coldiron made one change to the report.  She said that for the Central Carolina hunt test, it should read “10 dogs received a Hunting Dog pass and 1 dog received an HDX pass”.  Sandy will notify Elizabeth Buege of the change.

 

Jan made a motion to accept Elizabeth/Karen’s report with Mary’s change.  It was seconded by BJ and the motion passed without objection.

 

Judges’ Education

Tony would like to have one change made to Joan’s report.  He felt that the people who brought their dogs for use during these seminars should be recognized/thanked.  They did this on their own time to help make for a successful and educational event and should be commended for that.  Tony will discuss this with Joan.

 

Janet mentioned that Julie Brimble had sent out the judges’ education CD to board members and regional clubs.  However, while some agreed that they had received this information, there were also others who indicated that they had not received it yet.  Janet will follow up with Julie to make sure this information gets sent to all board members and club secretaries.

 

Tony made a motion to accept Joan’s report with his recommended change.  It was seconded by Bob and the motion passed without objection.

 

Judges’ Selection

Janet stated that the process went very well this year.  It was straight forward and there was no confusion or questions.  The process started earlier this year, and because of that, all of our top vote-getting judges were available and hired.

 

Bob made a motion to accept Judy Graef’s report.  It was seconded by Tony and the motion passed without objection.

 

Jack made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  It was seconded by Anna and the motion was passed without objection.  The board meeting adjourned at 10:08 pm.

ESAA Board of Directors Meeting – Via Teleconference

October 24, 2012

 

 

In attendance:  Jan Carlson, Mary Coldiron, Kathy Cunningham-Roy, Tony Disiena, Janet Gray, Judi Hunter, Jack Johnson, Anna Quigley, Jack Johnson, John Nielsen, B.J. Parsons, Julie Quirk, Bob Stevens, Harvey Wooding, Lynda Chase, Anna Harlow & Sandy Miller

 

Absent:  Susie Kerwin-Bush

 

Update from Meeting of October 10, 2012

-       Janet spoke with Garth Gourlay and he will take the pictures of our annual awards. 

-       Janet also spoke with Judy Mates and she has agreed to provide a little bit of information about each of the trophies, to  be placed at each of the tables at the national banquet.  Judy will also see that Sandy gets any unclaimed runner-up certificates, so that she can mail them to the individuals after the national.

-       Janet followed up with Cathy Hill for a financial update on the 2011 Annual.  She reported that, as of today, even if we don’t sell anymore annuals, we would be very close to breaking even.  But based on previous years’ experience, we always sell annuals at the National and afterward, so there’s every reason to believe that we will make a profit this year.   If we didn’t sell anymore annuals at the national, we would be $200 in the red.  Janet felt that we can afford to do an annual one more year just as we have done in the past while our ad hoc committee that is reviewing the possible options available with this type of publication completes a report to the Board.  A call for bids went out and we have already received two bids and it looks like we might get one more bid.

 

Juniors Report

Judi Hunter will be giving up the chair position for this committee after the national.  Janet would like to recommend Julie Bremser for the position.  She has a child who is a junior handler, so is already actively involved in the juniors program and helping Judi and her committee this year.  Julie will speak to the board briefly at the board meeting in Albuquerque.  She will also be conducting a survey of current and former juniors.  She is planning to line up each interested junior with a mentor at the national.  She could still use a few mentors, if any board members are interested.  Bob Stevens made a motion to accept the nomination of Julie Bremser as the chair of the Juniors’ Committee.  It was seconded by Anna and the motion passed without objection.

 

Further discussion was held on the giving of a savings bond to the best junior handler at the national.  In the past, it was ruled as not acceptable by AKC guidelines so it was not listed in the premium list nor given at ringside.  Rather it was a surprise award and presented at the ESAA banquet.  John Nielsen will check with AKC on the current ruling on this type of prize to see if it is now acceptable by AKC guidelines. 

 

The Haring Fund will be discussed in more detail as part of the Treasurer’s report at the board meeting on Nov. 7, 2012.

 

2012 Medallion Report

Judi Hunter made a motion to accept this report.  It was seconded by Jan Carlson and the motion passed without objection.

 

Membership Report

Coleen’s comments regarding redistricting is being handled separately as part of John Nielsen’s report.  The board reviewed the revised applications for both new members and the renewal application and there were no suggested changes or objections.  Jan Carlson made a motion to accept these revised applications and to accept the membership report.  The motion was seconded by Mary and the motion passed without objection..

 

Website

Larry Coldiron has stepped down from his “long term, temporary” position as webmaster.  Janet wanted to publically acknowledge and thank Larry Coldiron for his immeasurable assistance through some pretty tough times.  He stepped up to offer assistance when the previous webmaster left abruptly and he continues to offer assistance to the new folks who are getting acclimated and now working on this project. 

 

Dave Mates continues to be the chair of this committee.  Shawn Bennett will redesign the website, but doesn’t want to handle the daily maintenance of the website.  Once the new prototype is ready, it will be sent to the board to view. 

 

Additionally, Carl Sillman is working to get all our national winners and their photos together and then Shawn will get it all loaded to the website. 

 

Lynda Chase made a motion to accept the report.  It was seconded by Judi and the motion passed without objection.

 

2013 National

Cheryl Heithaus, co-chair of the 2013 National, joined the board call to provide an update on next year’s national.  She stated that advertising and the national specialty page of the ESAA website have really ramped up in the last couple of years.  The Buckeye club is in need of a volunteer(s) to help with these technical aspects.  If anyone would like to volunteer and knows of someone who might be willing to help, have them contact Cheryl, Brenda Fischer or Sandy Miller.

 

Julie mentioned that Lisa Moreau would be willing to assist by doing the color catalog ads for us. 

 

A discussion was held about the choosing of the show superintendent.  Janet reminded Cheryl that the national is an ESAA event and therefore, the national coordinator and the ESAA finance committee must be part of the overall decision making process for these type of expenses.  Cheryl stated that they have proposals from three different superintendents and will provide them to Donna Jordan and Dave Mates to review.

 

Cheryl stated that the National Specialty guidelines are not up-to-date.  This club has hosted the national two other times within the last ten years and are being asked to run things differently this time.  Cheryl stated that the guidelines should be updated so future perspective clubs will know exactly what ESAA’s expectations are and they will have clear guidelines to follow. 

 

Judi Hunter made a motion to accept the report.  It was seconded by Anna and the motion passed without objection.

 

Bob made a motion to adjourn the meeting.  It was seconded by Harvey and the motion was passed without objection.  The board meeting adjourned at 9:48 pm.

 

ESAA Board of Directors Meeting

Albuquerque, NM

November 7, 2012

 

 

In attendance:   Jan Carlson, Mary Coldiron, Kathy Cunningham-Roy, Tony Disiena, Janet Gray, Judi Hunter, Jack Johnson, Anna Quigley, Jack Johnson, John Nielsen, B.J. Parsons, Julie Quirk, Bob Stevens, Harvey Wooding, Lynda Chase, Anna Harlow, Susie Kerwin-Bush & Sandy Miller

 

Guest:  David Mates

 

Meeting called to order at 8:15 am.

 

Treasurer’s Report

The National Field Trial should about breakeven, if Purina provides their $1,000 check as they’ve done in the past.  We need to look toward more detailed guidelines for this committee and the event as we have done for our National Specialty so it will be easier for future show National Field Trail show committees.  ESAA and the board is here to support them to make sure this event continues to be fiscally responsible. To date, everyone involved with this event has done has done a great job.  We would like to make sure this gets easier and more standardized for everyone.

 

We have been using PayPal with more frequency and there have been some issues with it.  Mary spoke of software programs that are available for purchase to help sort/separate the various PayPal charges.  These programs are not cheap, but the website committee is looking into this and will find the best one, at the best price and come back to the board with their recommendation.

 

With the death of Ed Sledzik, who was our accountant and attorney, we are now using the same firm (his daughter) to handle our financial issues, but we no longer have the attorney side of this.  Janet will talk to some other dog clubs to see who they are using.  Someone who is already familiar with dog club issues would be the most ideal person for ESAA to use.   David Mates asked that he be kept informed of how we choose to proceed with this. 

 

Mary spoke about the National Specialty guidelines and how it says that the show chair must send reconciliation to the ESAA treasurer within 30 days after the National.  Mary reported that this does not happen and thought that maybe we need to change the guidelines.  Harvey mentioned that maybe we consider assigning a National Specialty Treasurer.  Dave has concerns about this suggestion.  He feels that it would be a double bounce of funds/receipts – erodes the position of the treasurer, delays the paper processing.  Dave thought we could draft general committee guidelines – encourage committee chairs to forward funds within 30 days.

 

Harvey Wooding made a motion to accept Mary’s report.  It was seconded by Julie and the motion passed without objection.

 

President’s Message

Janet wanted to encourage the regional vice presidents and at-large presidents to attend shows and join English Setter specialty club meetings.  If you get inquiries or see enthusiasm from people who are interested in becoming more active, please encourage them and get their names to Janet immediately.  We really like and need new blood and want to encourage new people to step up and help ESAA.  As an example, we have a talented person, JoLyn Athorp who volunteered and created wooden dog signs that are being used at this year’s national.  Julie Brimble will keep these signs,  and any regional club can request them and use at their specialties.  Just contact Julie and she will ship them to you.

 

The Canine Health Foundation has acknowledged and thanks us for really stepping up our donations.  We are now doing much better than we’ve done in the past.  We might want to consider funding our own Health & Genetics project.  Janet may come back to us with some possibilities. Harvey also offered to contact some colleges who might have a small project and need money to do a study on deafness.

 

Janet mentioned that the Purina rescue funds can be used for any type of canine rescue.  ESAA can stipulate how they want to use their funds, while donations by club members would be for English Setter rescue.

 

Janet reminded everyone of Purina’s generosity to our club.  By cutting out and sending in the weight circle points to Purina, we earn money - $2,000-$3,000 a year.  While we can’t tell people what dog food to use, we should try to ask that breeders at least consider and/or add Purina to their preferred list of dog foods, when providing recommendations to their puppy buyers or others who might be asking for recommendation.

 

 

Regional VP Reports

Mid-Atlantic – Julie Quirk reported that her region is doing well.  The Brandywine club met and had a good discussion on the Futurity/Maturity issue and the ESAA Constitution.  These topics generated a lot of good discussion.  People were engaged and involved.  Jack Johnson commented that there has been an increase in sharing of information and feedback within the region.  He feels that all of this communication is strengthening the club/organization.  He would also like to give a “shout out” to Coleen Raber, the ESAA Membership Chair who is doing a fabulous job.  Everyone agreed that the membership chair is doing a fantastic job.

 

East Central – Tony Disiena reported that his region is also doing well, for the most part.  He did report that one club – the Ohio ES Club is struggling with a very small membership.  There is only one person in the club who is actively breeding English Setters while the rest are pet owners.  They are holding just one specialty this year, in December.  They really want to move next year’s specialty to the summer, but their preferred location/show conflicts with two other club specialty weekends. 

 

North Pacific – Anna Harlow reported everything is going well in her region.  She has created a group email and communicates with her region regularly.  All clubs held specialties this year.  Pugent Sound ESC tried a new location this year, but is considering moving back to the previous location next year.  Monterey Bay ESC is considering adding a second specialty, although a final determination has not yet been made.

 

South Eastern – BJ Parsons reported that the Central Carolina ESC was the most active club in her region.   In addition to their specialties, they put on a hunting dog test and a clinic.  Mary Coldiron developed a very good disaster preparedness plan for their club.  If anyone would like to see it, they’d be glad to share with other clubs.  The Florida club has moved away from the Brookville cluster and is moving their specialty to June.  Sandy commented that the club better check with her to make sure it doesn’t conflict with two other clubs who hold their specialties in June.  The Atlanta club continues to struggle for active membership.  The Smoky Mountain club is on hold due to AKC’s requirement that they change the name of their club.

 

South Pacific – Susie Kerwin-Bush reported that things are going well within her region so far.  She has reached out to the members within her region and she stated that she received a lot of passionate responses to her inquiry regarding the Futurity/Maturity issue.  There were no major hitches within the region for their specialties this past year.  She said that by late Feb/early March, their specialties will be ramping up. 

 

West Central – Anna Quigley reported that Western has gotten some new members and has lots of puppies within the region right now.  The Western club has held a Meet the Breed, two matches and a field demonstration.  Due to a conflict with their local all breed club, Western will hold back-to-back specialties on June 15th next year.  The club is also very active in community outreach and has made donations to a local veterans group.

 

North Central – Judi Hunter stated that Kettle Moraine will hold their specialties on a Friday/Saturday in 2013, rather than Saturday/Sunday, as in the past. The Minnesota club will hold their shows on Aug. 22 & 23.  They also held their first hunt day, in preparation for their first hunt test.

 

South Central – Jan Carlson reported that their membership is growing and things are going well within the region.

 

New England – Bob Stevens stated that due to the timing of next year’s National, the New England club has decided to hold a one-day specialty in the fall and to hold their other specialty in February – the Friday of the Meadowlands Specialty Association weekend (right before Westminster).  Their February judge is Dr. Daniel Dowling and the sweeps judge is Nancy Connor, an Irish Setter breeder.

 

Lynda Chase spoke about Michigamme ESC hosting a regional ESAA specialty.  She would like ESAA to consider allowing the club to host the specialty at the Ann Arbor KC show.  Janet asked that Lynda write up a proposal for the board to consider.

 

Mary Coldiron reminded everyone that if any clubs are hosting a Meet the Breed and have expenses involved, they should submit their bills to her.  ESAA has money set aside for these type of educational programs and will reimburse the club.  Harvey & John discussed that AKC is looking at taking the “Meet the Breeds” on the road.  If this happens, all regional clubs will be called upon to help support this activity if/when it’s in their area.  To be impactful, it needs to be an AKC event – not an arm of an all-breed kennel club show. We will need and want to take advantage of publicity/marketing of our breed at these events.

 

 

 

 

Finance Committee

Dave Mates reported that we’re in better financial shape that it’s ever been in our memory.  Janet reminded everyone that as board members and committee chairs, we all need to remember that we do have money available and if anyone would like to request money for some item or project, now’s the time to bring forward a recommendation. 

 

Dave stated that in order for us to maintain our not for profit status and steer clear of a potential IRS audit, we need to keep our financial balance under $200,000.  Dave would like us to make some substantial donation(s).  He suggested that each Regional VP go back to their regions and discuss possible donations.  Janet asked that this proposal be deferred to the next board meeting in late January or February 2013.

 

Dave wanted to know what he and his committee could do to support the board further.  Harvey suggested the finance committee concentrate on any foreseeable issues & opportunities for the club – where are revenue drains and where are revenue opportunities?

 

Mary commented that she always appreciates the committee’s advance review of contracts, budgets, etc.  She finds it to be very helpful.  She thought it would also be helpful for the committee to look at reconciliations as well.

 

Janet stated that the membership is not aware of our current positive finances.  We need to keep reminding them that we’re actually doing quite well.  Mary stated that we had made a donation after Hurricane Katrina and she would like to recommend that we do something similar again for dogs from Hurricane Sandy.

 

Harvey Wooding made a motion to accept Dave’s report.  It was seconded by Tony and the motion passed without objection.

 

Education Committee

Julie Brimble attended the board meeting to report on her committee’s activity over the past year.  She stated that the Judges’ Education PowerPoint should now have been received by each regional club. 

 

The committee has established guidelines for judges’ education opportunities.  One example is for those people who have volunteered their dogs to participate in judges’ education.  ESAA will now pay $.30 per mile to those people for driving their dogs to the training event.  An expense form has been created and can be obtained by the Education Committee. 

 

We need to have another meeting of breed mentors and be sure that clear expectations are relayed to these mentors.  We are having a problem where the same few mentors are doing most of the work, while other mentors are not available.  We need to get all of those mentors involved and/or get them removed from the list.  Janet will speak with Joan Savage about this.

 

AKC is revising the AKC Complete Dog Book.  Carlotta Cooper is doing the writing for the English Setter portion.  A draft has been received by the committee.  Once they approve, it will be sent to the board.  One round of comments will be taken from the board and then it will be submitted to AKC.  This write-up of the English Setter breed is due to AKC the first weekend in December so a very quick turnaround will be needed.

 

The committee is also working on updating what the commentator says about our breed during the Westminster Kennel Club.

 

As stated in an earlier report, JoLyn Athorp has created some very nice wooden cutouts of English Setters.  Julie will store these and they will be available for regional clubs to use as needed at any upcoming events.  Just contact Julie and she can ship them to you.

 

The ESAA booklet has been delayed, awaiting the final, approved revisions to the ESAA constitution and by-laws.  Shawn Bennett was contacted and he has agreed to work with Denise Gilley on the design/layout and project cost proposal.  They plan to update the historical section to include more recent information and may update some photos as well.  Denise will work with Carl Sillman on this portion.  Julie will also let Denise know that Carlotta Cooper can help her with the possible wording changes to the booklet.  Once a draft is prepared, it will be sent to the board for their review and comments.

 

Kathy spoke with Julie regarding Meet the Breeds at the Javits Center.  They have a 10x20 section that needs to be decorated.  Part of her problem is that she has a limited number of people to help and it’s hard to get things into the city (New York).  She desperately needs a backdrop, but needs something that is condensable for transporting and spacing issues.  She also needs smaller table covers with the ESAA logo on it.  Julie is working on this.

 

 

 

National Field Trial

As stated earlier in the treasurer’s report, this year’s event went pretty well and we hope to break even.  Janet passed around a copy of the catalog.  It was very nicely prepared.  Mary stated that we have quite a bit of leftover NFT logo wear and suggested that it be sent to the ESAA store for possible future sales.

 

We don’t know what will be happening next year.  Melissa Newman will work on this to determine who will be hosting next year.  Mary would like to strongly encourage the committee to get this event back to the spring – away from the National specialty. 

 

National Specialty Reviews

Donna reported on this year’s National.  Things are going well, with a few problems along the way.  A mistake was made in the ordering of show catalogs and we have run out of catalogs already (by Tuesday afternoon).  Donna said that for those people who still want a catalog, they will pay the $25 and will receive a black & white photo copy of the catalog showing the entries & classes.  Then, sometime after the National, they will receive their color catalog, fully marked with the winners, at no shipping cost to the individuals.  ESAA will have to cover the cost of the shipping.

 

Donna passed out the latest version of the guidelines, based on the changes agreed to by the board at the 2011 board meeting.

 

Donna offered some “points to ponder”:

-               Determining comp rooms & upgrades: Janet will send out for everyone to review

-               Beginning next year, Reserve Winners will now get a 3-point major – we’ll need a trophy for these two

-               Reasonable free grooming space will need to be provided, but note “free” does not need to provide electricity

-               We currently offer a Best Bred By & Best Puppy – be aware that we can also do “best” in all the different classes. Just an FYI (AKC rules)

-               Jan Carlson created hunt test guidelines

-               Sid Marxx suggested Donna contact Karolynne McAteer, who’s family owns hotels.  She could provide insight on how to negotiate hotel contracts – where you can push and where you can’t negotiate

-               When National advertising should show up in the Newsletter – Kathy has guidelines and will provide the list to Donna

-               Dave, Donna & Mary will rewrite the finance portion to reflect reality

-               Futurity has not been paying towards the superintendent fees

-               No bid for 2014 National.  Kathy will be discussing with the Hudson ESC at their meeting in December

 

Susie Kerwin-Bush made a motion to accept Donna’s report.  It was seconded by Anna Harlow and the motion passed without objection.

 

Meadowlands Specialties Association (MSA)

Kathy reported that Gary Andersen will be judging and Lourdes Fernandez will be doing sweeps next year.  We need to continue to hold some type of raffle to help support the costs associated with this specialty.  Rather than the “super raffle” that was done the last two years, Kathy decided to do next year’s different.  This year, we will offer a $1,000 American Express gift card to the winner of the raffle.  Kathy handed out tickets to board members and asked that everyone help sell tickets.  The cost will be $5 per ticket or 10 tickets for $25.  She needs the tickets and/or money returned to her by February 1, 2013.

 

The board needs to decide on the sweeps judge for 2014.  Everyone should send Sandy three nominees by December 15, 2012.

 

Tony Disiena made a motion to accept Kathy’s report.  It was seconded by Anna Quigley and the motion passed without objection.

 

Futurity/Maturity

Janet stated that rather than the board make a decision on this today, a committee will be formed to further review.  Julie Quirk will chair this committee and will be in touch with regional VPs to get their input from their regions.  The committee will make a recommendation to the board on how best to proceed on this.

 

Constitutional Review

Preston Gray presented the proposed changes and updates that the Constitutional Review Committee is recommending to the Board.  They had incorporated much of the input from former and current Officers and Board members as well as input from the Local clubs.

 

 

Principal changes and the rationale recommended by that committee include:

 

 

Tony Disiena made a motion that, after the Honorary Membership is removed, we send these changes to AKC for comment and agreement. It was seconded by Jack Johnson and the motion passed without objection. The revised Constitution will then be sent to the ESAA membership for approval, and then sent to the AKC Board for approval.

 

Dick Fox Memorial Fund

Julie passed out a report from the Ad Hoc Committee formed to look into creating a Dick Fox tribute.  She stated that Dick was passionate about pedigrees – the dog behind the dog.  An anonymous donor has offered to fund a Dick Fox  Memorial Award, which would provide a $500 cash award to the breeder of the Futurity winner, as long as the winning dog’s parents both have CHIC numbers.  We do not want to embarrass anyone, so this award would not be done at ringside.  Rather it would be announced by the President and awarded at the annual meeting, held at the banquet.  This would emphasize ESAA’s encouragement of the CHIC program, Dick’s passion for the health of our breed and hopefully encourage breeders to get on board with testing and health clearances.  The anonymous donor has already put a mechanism in place to cover this fund for the next ten years and will go beyond that timeframe with the board’s approval.  Reminder to all that a CHIC number doesn’t mean the dog has all its health clearances.  It jut means that all the testing has been done.

 

Jan Carlson made a motion that we establish a Dick Fox Memorial whereby the breeder of the Futurity winner will be awarded a $500 cash award if both of the dog’s parents have CHIC numbers.  The motion was seconded by Judi Hunter and the motion passed without objection.

 

This award will be announced in the Newsletter and not in the catalog.  Since it is a special award, and again, we don’t want to embarrass anyone, it will be awarded at the banquet – not ringside.

 

Julie also mentioned that OFA is going to continue to fund their Richard Fox Memorial Fund on an annual basis.  As such, OFA will sponsor research fellowships using these funds, typically in the range of $2,000 to $2,500.  OFA would like to have ESAA collaborate with them as a lasting tribute to Dick and, in the long run, to improve the health of our English Setters. 

 

Harvey Wooding made a motion that ESAA set up a recurring $1,000 annual donation to OFA, with concurrence from the ESAA Treasurer that the ESAA balance sheet is sound and funds are available.  Lynda Chase seconded the motion and the motion passed without objection.

 

Rescue

Janet reported that we continue to hold rescue money.  We have two rescue resources in place, ACES & Above & Beyond and we are looking for synergy between the organizations. Janet has requested the protocol/criteria that both of these organizations use, so the board can consider using them and/or funding them.  Once she receives this information, she will ask the board to review and then determine how much money we should allocate to one or both of them.   

 

Janet will get the paperwork for us to look at to determine if we would want to donate to these two organizations.

 

Travel Limits for Regional Specialty

The standing rule currently states that there must be a minimum of 1,000 miles between two competing specialties.  This rule went into effect in 2008.  After much discussion about whether to adjust the number of miles, the board agreed with its current ruling and will leave it at 1,000 miles.

 

Top 20 Competition

The committee looking into this competition is not quite ready to present to the board at this time.  They have asked that we table this discussion until the next board meeting in late January or early February 2013.

 

Meet the Breeds

Janet stated that we need to have a presence at Eukanuba’s Meet the Breed.  Florida can’t do it alone and needs our help.  John Nielsen offered to work two hours on Saturday and Harvey also agreed to give a couple of hours when he’s there that weekend.  Janet Gray will also volunteer some time to help. 

 

Juniors Scholarship

Julie Bremser joined the meeting to discuss juniors activities and possible scholarships.  She reported that after consulting with many other dog clubs, she found the following:

-               80% of all clubs offer scholarships and/or stipends

-               Juniors are required to do some type of community service – mentoring of other students, work with local shelters, dog clubs, give back to local community

-               Most clubs offer free entry for their juniors class at their National, as well as free entry for all of the junior’s dog’s entries

-               Encourage social & fun activities – get ‘em out, get ‘em seen, get ‘em active

-               Set up academic scholarships and stipends to attend Westminster & Eukanuba

-               Our process is on par with other breed clubs who have about the same size juniors.

 

Julie would like to propose a specific juniors scholarship for ESAA to fund whereby the scholarship money would go directly to the school - $1,000 recommendation for the student.  There would be an application process and the judges would not know who the students are – it would remain anonymous on the paperwork they see. 

 

She would like to see ESAA provide some type of stipend to juniors who show an English Setter at Eukanuba/Westminster.  The junior would have to provide a receipt(s) afterwards for reimbursement in the $250-500 range.  It could be set up as an application process – the junior must show our breed, must have wins with our breed, must be a member of ESAA, must maintain an academic standard, etc.

 

Julie would like to see us publicize in the ESAA Newsletter that the Best Junior at the National would receive a savings bond.

 

Julie will work on a proposal and should have it to the board in time for their next meeting.

 

Haring Fund

Mr. Haring’s will states that his money must be used towards some type of “cup” for the Best of Breed winner at the National specialty.  The board decided that a challenge trophy needs to be created – maybe buy a very nice trophy and then use the remaining funds for the engraving.  An ad hoc committee will be formed to investigate and Julie nominated Carl Sillman to head this committee.

 

CHIC Requirement - Thyroid

Several years ago, the ESAA Board voted that we would recommend that thyroid testing be done for CHIC, but that it was not required to obtain a CHIC number.  At this time, we should reconsider adding thyroid testing to the CHIC requirements. Janet asked the regional VPs to go back to their membership to get input/feedback on this possibility.  The board will then revisit this possibility at a future board meeting.

 

AKC DNA Testing for Futurity

Harvey and John reported that AKC is moving in the direction that DNA testing will be required for futurity.  It may take a long time but it does appear that AKC will want futurity to require DNA identification.  Harvey thought that now is the time for us to get a jump on this, so we’re ready when the time comes.  He thought we should start by encouraging folks at this time.  He recommended that we set up a DNA testing clinic at the National Specialties for the next couple of years.  We could use health & genetics funds to help subsidize the cost to individuals.

 

Judi Hunter made a motion that we establish a health clinic at the 2013 National Specialty for DNA and thyroid testing.  Money from the health & genetics fund will be used to subsidize this event.  Harvey and Jane Wooding will be in charge of this event and handle the coordination with the National Specialty Chairs from the Buckeye ES Club.  The motion was seconded by Jack Johnson and the motion passed without objection. 

 

2012 Annual

Kathy received two bids for the 2012 Annual:  Evergraphics and Shawn Bennett (same bid as last year).  Because the bids were within $400 of each other and ESAA’s history with Cathy Hill, a recommendation was made to stay with Evergraphics again for the 2012 Annual.

 

Harvey Wooding made a motion that we accept the bid proposal from Evergraphics and hire them for our 2012 Annual.  It was seconded by Tony Disiena and the motion passed without objection.

 

John Nielsen Comments

John just wanted everyone to know that Harvey Wooding is running for a seat on the Board of Directors of AKC.  John asked everyone to talk with your AKC representative and encourage them to support Harvey.

 

Purina Funding

Mary stated that we received a check for over $3,000 from Purina and it is sitting in the general fund, awaiting allocation.  Harvey Wooding made a motion that we put one half of this money into the education fund and the other half into the health & genetics fund.  It was seconded by Julie Quirk and the motion passed without objection.

 

The board meeting ended and went into executive session at 4:12 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Sandy Miller

ESAA Secretary