Minutes from the January 5, 2003 meeting held at Canine Mastery, Seekonk, MA.

Members present: Jean Janotta, Dottie Duclos, Susan Winters, Cindy King, Billy Pecha-King, Sue Schroeder, Joe Adamczyk, Deb Adamczyk, Kathie Chouinard, Matt Mason, Emmy Adasiewicz, Robin Gardell, Karen Miller, Sheila Dolan, Val Jakubowski, Brenda Dean, Sharon Ruppel, Pete Dolan, Dianne McCormick, Debbie Keach, Paula Andrus, Donna Gray, Gull Reidy, Linda Gray, Kathleen Walsh, George Griffin, JoAnn Griffin, Lyn Schribner, Tina Spivey, John Spivey, Joanne Karohl, Diane Johnson.

Guests present: New member applicants Jacqualine Ownes and Lee Rush,

Meeting called to order 12:10pm by President Jean Janotta

1. Introductions of people in attendance.

2. Secretary’s report: Minutes from the November 2002 meeting were accepted as read.

3. Treasurer's report: Dottie Duclos reported we have $19,911.40 in the regular checking account. The rescue account stands at $5,595.94. Due to the late arrival of some expenses, the following have been updated: HMM: Income $25,081.00, expenses $21,827.19, profit $3253.81; and October Tracking Test: Income $250.00, expenses $507.63 for a loss of $257.63. The numbers for the Cranberry Classic November trial: Income $2,092, expenses $1905.03, profit of $187.97. The report was accepted as read.

4. ASCA Affiliate report: Sharon Ruppel reported she has not had any communications from ASCA and apologized for missing the November/December Aussie Times submission deadline for ASCNE’s 2002 activities. Sharon also indicated that she would resign if ASCNE members were dissatisfied with her actions. We all assured her this was not necessary. Reminders have been put in place and suggestions were made by Linda Gray to ease the report writing, so next year’s report will be a work of art.

5. Library Report: Cindy King reported a book on tracking has been added to the library and the library would be at any meeting that Billy is also attending, as he is the main "library lugger".

6. Sunshine report: Jean Janotta read cards of thanks from Jerry Robinson and the Dave Andreozzi family. Sue Winters’ husband John and John’s sister are doing very well after John’s kidney transplant in November. A congratulations card was sent to Diane and Jay Niland on the birth of their daughter.

7. Event updates

2. Insurance: Jean reported that the proposed insurance would cover ASCNE members, judges and volunteers; ASCA and other ASCNE insurance covers non- members. Jean will draft a proposal for the next meeting.

3. Cattle Update: Linc sent along an update via e-mail. The individual who had agreed to furnish the cows and let Tenley and Linc dog break them spoke with his insurance agent and decided to not go thru with the deal. Matt Mason said Tenley and Linc would own seven of the seventeen head of cattle that are needed, and these would be rented back to ASCNE. Someone still needs to be found to own the other 10 head of cattle. Sheep needed for trials should not be a problem. Cindy King spoke about the quality of the cattle in California, and how those cattle had also been used for cutting events. Cindy wondered about placing an ad in two magazines to see if there was any interest from New England cutters to supply cattle for our events. Cindy will find out the costs of the ads. Anyone with any other information on possible leads please contact Matt Mason (603) 648-2973 or <masonpr@tds.net>

4. Membership Renewal Progress: Kathie Chouinard was very pleased with the response to the new renewal process using the cards. If you haven’t already paid your dues, please do so soon.

5. Volunteers for Breed/Obedience ROM for 2003: MaryAnn Stoddart has volunteered to be the 2003 Breed & Obedience ROM coordinator. She and Sue Winters will work together.

6. Replacement of ASCNE Secretary: Joanne Karohl had submitted her resignation as Secretary due to other pressing time commitments. Jean had requested interested volunteers email her and one e-mail was received from Diane Johnson. The question of additional volunteers was put out to the floor and none were received. Prior to the meeting, the ASCNE BOD had agreed to accept Diane’s application for the position if there was no other interest, therefore Diane Johnson will serve as Secretary for the remainder of this term. She was heartily thanked by the members present. Sue Winters was commended for her excellent fill-in secretarial skills.

7. By Law Changes: According to feedback from Jo Kimes (thru Linda Gray) the by-law changes are with the ASCA Affiliate By-law Committee.

8. ASHGI Website: The Australian Shepherd Health and Genetics Institute website is now up <www.ashgi.com>. The site contains information about ASHGI and it’s goals, recommended reading, useful informative links and the most comprehensive body of articles on Aussie health and genetic issues available anywhere. Dottie brought the copy of the newsletter ASCNE will be receiving for the next year. It will be in the library for anyone interested.

9. Breeder Referrals: Sue Winters will be publishing the breeder referral in the next newsletter.

2. ROM Title Bowls: Karen Miller is handling the ROM bowls and reminded everyone that she needs correct, complete, and read-able information (dog’s name and all ASCA titles) by the end of January.. Sue Winters will be ordering the ROM ribbons and asked for color suggestions; blue and gold seemed the more favorable.

3. Co-sanctioning: OTRAG of Wrentham, MA will be hosting an agility trial on April 12 & 13, 2003, in Wrentham, MA, and has requested ASCA co-sanctioning by ASCNE. Motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved.

4. Request for Waiver: NYASA requested a waiver allowing them to co-sanction the SoBAD agility trial (May 31 – June 1) at Canine Sports Center in Goshen, CT. Motion was made, seconded, and unanimously approved.

5. Herding Buckles: Tenley Dexter and Linc Keiser will be looking for sponsors for the 2003 HMM buckles.

6. Request from Columbia Agility Team: Jean Janotta read a letter from CAT. They are investigating interest in the creation of a foundation to fund veterinary research into the causes and prevention of agility-related injuries to our dogs. It was decided that this would best be handled by agility specific clubs.

7. Kathy Warren Stockdog Clinic – September 2004: Linda Gray, Cindy King and Chris Davenport worked on Kathy Warren at the nationals to come to New England and give a clinic. Joe Adamczyk contacted Kathy for more detailed information. The details of the camp are attached (Windsong Working Dogs). It is estimated that it would cost around $4,000 in expenses to get Ms. Warren to do a three day herding clinic ($3,000 for Kathy’s fee plus expenses, and $1000 for stock). Cindy and Billy King have been to a Kathy Warren clinic in the past and said it was excellent quality. Joe asked ASCNE to consider paying for the stock in order to keep the price of the clinic down for participants (maximum of 10 dogs) and observers. There was much discussion on how the per person price should be determined for the clinic. Some felt that the minimum per person fee should be set at a break even point, others felt ASCNE should pay for the stock rental and participant/observer entry fees would cover Kathy’s expenses and ASCNE could pay for the stock. Pete Dolan made a motion to have Joe Adamczyk proceed with the planning and get a more solid cost figure. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved. Pete Dolan then made a motion for the club to provide a budget line item, not to exceed $1,000, to help pay for supplying stock for the clinic. The motion was seconded and passed with three members opposed. There was also much discussion over the problem of having good dog broke stock for such an event.

8. Junior Committee: Cindy King is looking for input on whether or not a parent or adult should be allowed in the ring with the junior during the stock dog class. The committee is also looking for ideas for junior activities at the Nationals in Wisconsin in September (e.g., pizza party, speakers, …).

9. Expense Receipts: Dottie Duclos again requested that ALL expense slips need to be turned in to her in a timely manner, within thirty days of the end of the event. It may become harder to get long over due receipts reimbursed.
 

Next Meeting: March 2, 2003 – Annual Membership Meeting and ROM Banquet, Log Cabin Restaurant, Holyoke, MA

Respectfully submitted, Diane Johnson