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Volume 1 Number 1
November 1998
IN THIS ISSUE:
* October 1998 Board Meeting Report
* Clerking in the Great Lakes Region
* GLR Emergency Guidelines
* Regional Show Proposal
* In the Spirit of Cooperation
* Rationale for Expanding of the CFA Annual Meeting
* Regional Suggestion Box
* Qualifier Rosette News
by Liz Watson
I returned from the October Board
meeting encouraged by the work that was
accomplished. It was my impression as a new
board member that we plan to work toward a
spirit of cooperation. That it will no longer be
us vs. them. This was especially evident in the
WIAB vote. The Board was faced with
Resolutions 35, 36, & 37 which carried at the
1998 Annual. It was clear from this vote that
the delegation felt the Board had acted hastily
in passing WIAB & thus, were attempting to
further their input with these resolutions. At
the meeting, Diana Doernberg spoke eloquently
of the cooperation that should exist between
the Breed Councils & the Board of Directors,
especially in the area of outcross guidelines.
Yet with the passing of resolution 35,
cooperation would be over -- the BC would be
telling the BOD this is what we want & as it
passed by 60% you comply. Needless to say,
that only puts the factions in opposing corners.
This Board voted to hold in abeyance parts 1-5
of WIAB & articles 35, 36, & 37 until a consensus
between the BC & the BOD can be
accomplished. I felt this was clearly a
message of respect for the delegations'
desires & the importance of our BC.
Another hotly debated item was resolution 44,
which addressed the CPSH/OSH issue. There was
much discussion that we should wait until the BC
ballots are in yet, concern that if no resolution
passed by 60% the OSH-AOV colors would lose
their championship status as of May, 1999.
Sharon Roy voiced what I'm sure many of us were
thinking. The Board could table this discussion
until February 1999. However, if the affected BCs
did not reach 60% agreement, the BOD would find
a solution so that these colors could continue to
enjoy the same status they have had for 15 years.
To me, this mandates the BC to find a solution.
Everyone is interested in his or her own breed.
Yet, it is vital that the growth of the organization
be considered also. We must look at the big picture
& find ways to grow while preserving the integrity
of our pedigrees & the stature CFA has enjoyed as
the premier cat association.
INTERNATIONAL SHOW FOR 1999 --YOUR
VOTE DOES COUNT!
The ballots are counted & the following judges
have been invited for the 1999 International show:
Larry Adkison, Kitty Angell, Stanley Barnaby, Jo
Ann Cummings, Pam DelaBar, Patty Jacobberger,
Gary Powell, Wayne Trevathan, Gary Veach,
Elizabeth Watson, Donald J. Wilhams, & Robert
Zenda. All accepted except Jo Ann Cummings who
declined but wanted everyone to know what an
honor she felt it was. Bob Bradshaw was the first
alternate & he accepted. Congratulations to all.
This was the first year that 3 long-term judges of
the International show were pulled. Linda Berg
was disappointed that only a few more clubs
balloted. Next year 4 long-term judges will be
pulled. It is her sincere hope that more clubs will
respond, There has developed an alarming level of
apathy regarding this selection. We are to
encourage our clubs to vote because the vote DOES
count. It was decided that the regional directors
would publish the list of region clubs that voted in
this last balloting. Those clubs were:
Anthony Wayne Cat Fanciers, Appalachian Area
Cat Fancy, Bluegrass Cat Club, Buffalo Cat
Fanciers, Butler Cat Fanciers, Canton Hall of
Fame Cat Club, Champagne Cat Club, Cleveland
Persian Society, Constitution City LH Club,
Dayton Cat Fanciers, Devon Rex Breed Club,
Exotic Breeders, Golden Triangle Cat Fanciers,
International Bombay Society, Jiminy Christmas
Cat Club, Just Cat-In Around, Kittyhawk Felines,
Last Chance International, Lilac Point Fanciers,
Mid-Michigan Cat Fanciers, Midwest Persian
Tabby Fanciers, North Coast Cat Fanciers, Ocicat
Society, Ohio State Persian Club, Ohio Valley
Longhair Fanciers, Roses for Felines, Sacred Cat of
Burma Fanciers, Southeastern Michigan CF, Syndi-
Cat, Thumbs Up Cat Fanciers, & Valley View Cat
Fanciers-31 Clubs. We have 77 clubs in the GLR.
Less than half voted. I urge you to vote when the
2000 ballot comes out.
NEW SCORING METHOD -- ALTERNATE
PROPOSAL
Tom Dent made the following proposal at the
Board table. Decision on it was tabled until more
information could be gathered. What is your
reaction to it? I would like to hear from you. I
tried to scan the entire proposal in but could not.
Thus am giving you the bare bones. The
full proposal & rationale is available on the CFA web site.
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by Martha Auspitz
What would be covered in our GLR Guidelines?
Basically it would be the guidelines to keep this
region running in the event of an emergency. It
would be in the best interest of the GLR to spell
out just exactly what needs to be done to keep our
region functioning. For instance, if CFA choose
not
to fill the position of the Regional Director, what
would the GLR do? Who would run the region?
What do certain jobs entail, i.e. treasurer, etc.
What needs to be done for the GLR Regional
Awards show and banquet?
Maybe come up with a rotating list of who is to
judge our GLR Show, and how to rotate the show
between cities and areas.
It would be beneficial if the clubs could talk about
this at their meetings and give some feed back.
Perhaps set up a committee. Please get together
and get involved it is for your benefit as well as
the regions.
by Lin Sartori
To all clerks in the GLR and those wanting to
qualify as clerks. Hopefully, we can make our region a better place
in which to work. Our goal is to have the best clerks in
CFA.
I thought we would try to work on our skills and
try to improve one facet of them each month. This
month's spectacular job is staying in the ring. I know that
we all show cats and this is not an easy job. It is very easy
to PLAN our ring to run smoothly while we are gone.
There is also the possibility of having someone sit in the
ring for the few minutes we will be away. This is the #1
complaint from judges so let's see if we can make their
jobs easier by solving this problem now.
A clerking school will be coming up shortly.
John Hiemstra and I are trying to put one together, Please
let either one of us know if you are interested in attending.
It may be done rather quickly as we are trying to find a free
weekend for the both of us. We already have candidates
signed up and space will be limited.
Thank you for the work that you do and keep on
improving. If you have any clerking questions, concerns ,
or problems, please contact me by sending an email to info@CFAgreatlakes.org
by Martha Auspitz
It has been suggested that the GLR could use a suggestion
box. Often clubs come up with ideas to expedite or stream
line their shows and before long it catches on and become
the norm. So at the suggestion of Martha Auspitz, we will
attempt to be even more efficient by placing this column in
our newsletter. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions
please send them to Liz Watson. Preferably but not
necessarily by e-mail as an attachment.
Martha has submitted the first idea, herself.
** GLR Clubs would set up a table at their show just for flyers.
Clubs could have the announcer announce the show and then
place their flyers on the table instead of going from cage to
cage handing them out.
Everyone could just go and take the flyers of interest to
them. This should save clubs money on printing fees, as
well as saving exhibitors from tossing out the ones they
don't need.
What do you think? Email your suggestions to info@CFAgreatlakes.org
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by Eve Russell
Thanks go out to the following clubs for their financial
support for the new rosettes.
- Buffalo Cat Fanciers -- Allbreed
- Northcoast Cat Fanciers -- Specialty
- Dayton Cat Fanciers -- Specialty
- Kittyhawk Feline Fanciers -- Specialty
We needed 198 additional recycled rosettes to complete
the show needs. An appeal for the Red/White/Blue
rosettes or any combination thereof resulted in support
from two exhibitors and myself. Thanks to both of them.
175 rosettes have been donated back after this past
qualifier, which will start us on our way for the June show.
A letter will soon reach our Regional Clubs requesting
sponsorship for the June Regional Awards show. Do help
us out, this is your show too. It really helps to keep down
costs.
Thanks to all
In recent years, CFA has grown and diversified dramatically. We have many more breeds and thus more breed councils. We have more active committees than ever before (e.g. Winn Foundation, Animal Welfare, Animal Health, Legislative, Disaster Relief, etc.) and hence more committee reports. We have more interest in special seminars and training classes, such as CFA Online, Disaster Rescue Training, etc. and more are being planned each year. What we seem to lack is sufficient time for people to attend all of the CFA activities, seminars, breed council meetings, etc. they would like.
We seem to have more trouble completing the CFA business during the plenary session of the meeting. Judges feel rushed to attend the breed workshops & the Judges' Association meeting and often must miss other activities to do this. People who have more than one breed often have to make difficult decisions as to which breed council meeting(s) to attend. Spreading out events may also help attendance at the various special functions.
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For the past few years, the Regional Awards
Banquet and show has been held in Columbus, or
Dayton, Ohio, and has been run by basically the
same show committee. The Regional Qualifier has
been in Cleveland-Akron area, and done by the
Cleveland club people. The shows are down to a
science under this format. But, the exhibitors
would really like to have the shows travel to other
areas.
Having the shows in other areas would mean
new show managers and entry clerks, new
publicity people and vendor people. As most of us
know, moving a show around means a large loss of
gate, needing at least two years in the same place
to draw really good response from the gate crowd.
Shows in Louisville would probably be too far for
the Canadian regional members. And shows in
New York and upper Michigan would be more than
many southern Ohio or Kentucky exhibitors would
want to consider.
There must be a happy medium for this.
Hopefully my proposal and suggestions would help
in making the Great Lakes regional shows easier
to produce and better travel for all of us.
- First of all, there should be a window of
location for these shows that would be
closer for everyone. The shows should be
held in the Toledo-Cleveland-Columbus
area whenever possible, possibly staying in
each location at least two years in a row for
gate purposes. There are a number of
show halls large enough to handle 350-450
entries in each of these greater-city areas.
Each city or surrounding area is centrally
located for the majority of the exhibitors in
the region. came, each city would be a trip
from Louisville or Toronto, but still close
enough to make in 4-6 hours and that is
the standard travel time for many shows in
the Great Lakes Region.
- There should be a "Mentor" staff of
Regional people who could be the final
factor in any and all decisions made on the
show and its budget. Inspection of the
show hall, okaying the amounts spent on
all parts of the show, choosing show hotels
and banquet facilities, etc., should all be
finalized by this Regional Mentor group,
with the help and input from regional and
local club members. This should include:
a. Overall Show Manager. Someone who
has experience in being a show
manager at least 4-5 times in the past
8 years. Someone who is available on a
fairly regular basis for phone calls or
E-mail on advice on particular issues.
Someone who can travel to the site at
least once prior to the show weekend
and meet with the personnel at the
hall, take measurements, etc.
b. Treasurer. This should be the
Regional Treasurer whenever possible,
with possibly one assistant Treasurer
to concentrate specifically on shows
expenses and income. All show
expenses should be budgeted by the
Mentor group ahead of time and this
budget should be followed as closely as
possible.
c. Vendor Advisor. This person should
have experience in handling vendors in
at least two shows within the past 5
years. He or she should study the
show hall plans made up by the
committee and decide how many
vendor tables are to be sold and should
make a ruling of how many of each
type of vendor will be allowed to
purchase space.
d. Entry Clerk. This should always be a
person chosen by the Regional Mentor
staff and though not necessarily the
same person from year to year, it
should be someone who is capable of
handling a large show entry and
accessible to exhibitors on a regular
basis.
I would recommend that this proposal
above would start in the Toledo area for two years,
as this area has not had this opportunity recently
to host a Regional. Possibly the June show should
be in Toledo and the October qualifier could be
held in Columbus or its surrounding area for those
same two years. Then in two years, the June show,
would move to Cleveland, and the Qualifier to
Toledo. Then two years later, another move to
Cleveland and Columbus. There are possible halls
in Medina, Mansfield, and Findlay that are
possible, too. Yes, they are all in Ohio, but Ohio I
the central location for this region.
Anyone who has a possible show hall of
ample size and in an area of fairly good gate
potential could contact the Mentor group at any
time with written information regarding these
halls.
Any show would be planned at least two
years in advance to allow time for the proper
planning and work-up.
None of the above procedures would be too
far from the current program, with the exception
allowing the clubs to participate in the financial
gains made from the show. But if we do the job
right, and the Regional bills are paid, there should
be no problem in allowing this to happen, and it
will give the club additional incentive to work
harder towards their goals.
Of course, bringing on the above needs the
approval of the Regional Director and a yes vote
from the Great Lakes Region clubs. I would
suggest each club read the above proposal and
make its feelings known to the Director through email or at a future regional meeting.
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In August the Monroe Shorthair Club and Hallmark Himalayan combined forces to produce an Allbreed Cat Show. Both clubs have a long history in the Rochester, NY area and used to produce shows during the 70's and before. The clubs had become quiet until the 90's when Monroe Shorthair resumed producing an annual one day summer show. It seemed that the majority of exhibitors preferred the two-day format and in 1997 Monroe Shorthair teamed up with National Siamese Cat Club and produced a two-day show.
This year, the two Rochester based clubs worked together to produce a two day show. With finance being limited, we sought a new venue and Joe Lentner located the Lakeshore Ice Arena. When we visited the hall in spring we had concerns that it may be too cold, but we were impressed with the ample space, lighting and free parking. As it happened our weekend turned out to be one of the hottest of the season and despite the ice in the other hall, it was in fact too hot! Despite that fact, everyone managed and actually seemed to enjoy the hall. The management proved to be wonderful to work with, cooperative in every respect. Pat Garrighan enjoyed it so much that she even squeezed in some skating during her clerking breaks.
The exhibitors and judges seemed to enjoy the free donuts and coffee provided by the clubs on Sunday morning. I am not really sure how many people enjoyed the bar that was available all weekend, but after working hard at set-up I certainly enjoyed my hard-earned beer!
Both clubs are small with limited treasuries but by working together, doing our own set-up and having wonderful volunteers for paid positions of Master Clerk and Entry Clerk along with all of the other many jobs, we were able to produce an enjoyable show at a profit.
This proves that with the spirit of cooperation, clubs can come together and make it work. Please look for us next year!
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