GCC NAVHDA Annual Meeting Minutes 2014
Date- Feb 15, 2014
Location- Alan and Kristin Manas’ Residence
1423 W. Leisure Ct
Phoenix, Az
Meeting was called to order by President Ryan Johnson at 1:30 PM. In attendance were-
Jim Carpenter
Alan & Kristin Manas
Ryan & Jo Johnson
Greg Svancara
Brent Mullen
Dan Wittman
Cary Faber
John & Mary Schaffer
David Malson
Scott McClung
Don Rice
Jim Cassara
Larry Fredricks
Ryan started the meeting by telling the group that Howard Hughes (a pigeon supplier) had been in a serious automobile accident. He then asked the officers present to say a little about themselves-
Brent Mullen-Secretary
David Malson- Vice President
Ryan Johnson- President
Greg Svancara-Director of Testing & training
Ryan expressed his goal of focusing efforts to attract younger members being 18 to 25 years old and to increase the engagement of the membership. He also will be working to revamp the website (with Dave Malson) to make it much more user friendly to the average member.
There was discussion on updating the membership list and dropping non paid members from the email list if they have not submitted dues by April 1st, 2014
Ryan will be working to ensure we have an updated contact list for all members.
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In David Schafnit’s (treasurer) absence Ryan reviewed the treasures report stating that the club was in a healthy financial position at the end of 2013 with $ 8,559.65 in the US Bank Account, he mentioned that the club had successfully changed banks in 2013 to limit the fees charged to the account. John Schaffer brought up the point that US Bank does not charge any service fees.
Ryan went on to say that the clubs membership is growing. In 2012 we had 51 paid members. In 2013 we had 57. And 3 or 4 members may breed their dogs in 2014, and these pups new owners will most likely become members.
There was discussion on keeping a minimum balance in the account. But nothing was determined as a minimum. It was also stated that lunches at test events should make a little money for the club when possible, a focus on getting an accurate count of lunch participants and purchasing only enough food should help with this.
Check and credit card authorized signers for 2014 will be-
Ryan Johnson
David Schafnit
Greg Svancara
Ted Hamilton
Dan Whitman
Dave S. and Ryan will work to ensure that only authorized signers remain on the account, others will be removed.
Dan brought up the point that in the past the bank was sending out text messages to the Treasurer when money was withdrawn and other board members upon any credit card purchase over $150. He suggested that this be kept in place and to ensure the contact people were the current signers on the account.
Ryan gave a National meeting report from his recent attendance-
Other clubs have many of the same concerns and issues that we face at our chapter.
Training water is tough to find no matter where you are in the country.
Ryan stated that the national organization is in a healthy financial position and had a copy of the treasurer’s report that he offered for the groups review.
A summary of the National Meeting will be included with the club minutes.
Cabela’s outreach day was discussed. Alan Manas stated that he thought the effort was not worth the trouble. It was stated that last year we got one member from the day. Dan Whitman said it helps in how the information is presented. If we can make it fun and friendly then we may be more successful. Having quail call for kids to blow may help. Having some puppies will help to attract people. Cabela’s offers a 10% discount to volunteers for that days event.
Spring test discussion
Volunteers are needed for a variety of positions
Add Cary Faber as a gunner. Alan says he is a good shot, also mentioned Don Rice as a possible gunner.
We need to check the trailer for any bottled water or soda’s before purchasing supplies to ensure we are not overstocking. Mary Schaffer mentioned that drinks might be better kept out of the heat of the trailer as they can reduce in quality if stored at high temperatures.
The use of cold cuts or hot dogs and hamburgers from Costco was mentioned by John and Mary Schaffer as a cost effective way of preparing a good lunch. It was suggested that $5.00 a day x 2 days for $10 a person should cover expenses and make the club a little money.
Dan Whitman brought up the idea of closing the test grounds to club members the week before due to concerns of dogs in heat. It was discussed stating dogs in heat should be run the last day of the test. No motion was passed.
Fall test date was set for December 12,13 and 14th. The use of the Colorado River pond was discussed. It is apparently on private property. And the club does not have official written permission. We cannot clean up weeds without written permission. Alan says it would be impossible to get written permission from the absentee land owner that lives somewhere in California. David Malson will look up the property owner’s address and work with Anita to try and approach him with a written request.
At the same time we should always be on the lookout for other water sources. Dan stated the ponds near Buckeye were a good training area until the pumps were recently vandalized, they are frequently used by other dog organizations.
Jim Carpenter will handle setting up the fall judges.
Motion was passed to make Ted Hamilton our official bird supplier.
There was a discussion on whether to pay for the bird feed to have Ted hold birds over the winter, or whether Ted could figure out the additional cost of holding the birds over and increase the final cost of the birds. This would need to be discussed with Ted.
Dave S. volunteered to inventory the trailer during the Handlers seminar.
Motion was passed to put the club logo on both sides of the trailer. John Schaffer will look into the logo
Larry Fredricks will look into acquiring a single shot club shotgun to replace the one that disappeared. Motion was passed to reimburse Larry up to $150 to replace the shotgun if he can find one in Tucson within that budget.
Motion was passed to acquire a dog/human first aid kit not to exceed $200
Alan offered to give a presentation on dog emergency care to the club.
Ryan would like to see at least two work days a year to ensure we can stay ahead and keep our training areas in good condition, and maintain our relationships. The first being April 26 and 27th to clean the Orme pond. Jim Carpenter said the weed cutter is in good shape. He went on to state that cutting the weeds below the water line helps to prevent future growth. The use of a herbicide such as Roundup was discussed. $300 is Jim Carpenters estimate of chemical cost. Notification of the work weekend will be sent to the membership to try and gather volunteers.
Youth membership outreach was discussed Ryan will be leading the committee and Scott McClung will help in this endeavor.
John Schaffer brought up that Gene Wulkotte of Blankenburg Kennels in Chino may be willing to put on a seminar. Ryan had made contact with Blaine Carter and Tim Clark as well at the national meeting. Ideally we will try to hold 2-3 seminars in 2014 with the first scheduled around May/June.
Dan Wittman suggested that the club should investigate and consider proposing to host the National meeting again in the future in Las Vegas.
2014 Training and Testing Days
Orm/Dugas
Mar 8-9
Mar 22-23
April 5-6
April 12-13 Test (2 days long)
April 26-27 (Orm pond cleaning)
Flagstaff
May 17-18
June 21-22 (Possible Clinic or Event due to ossible forest closure due to fire risk in June & July)
July 19-20 (Possible Clinic or Event due to ossible forest closure due to fire risk in June & July)
Aug 16-17
Sept 20-21
Mohave Valley
Oct 18-19
Nov 15-16
Dec 6-7
Dec 12-14 Test (3 days long)
Meeting was adjourned at 4:10 P:M
2014 NAVHDA International Annual Meeting Summary
Chapter Motions:
Motion to require that chapter motions have delegate or assigned representative present to discuss, explain and accept amendments to any filed motion. Lack of a representative would result in the motion being dismissed without discussion. This motion was filed effectively twice with slightly different language by two different chapters.
Impetus for this motion: In the past motions have been filed where the intent or problem addressed are not entirely clear. This can result in fruitless discussion, or the acceptance of a motion that will not necessarily have the desired effect. Having a representative there to explain, discuss and amend could result in better motions being sent to the board.
Result of vote: Both motions were accepted unchanged to be recommended to the board.
Board Decision: The board was concerned that such a ruling could limit the speech of chapters that are unable to have a delegate or assigned representative attend the National Meeting. The purpose of the motions were understood, but the concerns about limiting speech resulted in the board rejecting implementation of the motions
Chapter Discussion Items:
Adding provisions to define and require gallery space at chapter tests
Discussion of a new proposed requirement that would mandate all Invitational Judges must run a dog in the invitational every 12 years. The dog does not need to pass.
Results of discussion:
It was generally expressed that most chapters make provisions were possible to allow for easy viewing of tests in progress. Adding a specific requirement could make it difficult for some chapters to hold tests as the limited grounds available might not be able to support a specific gallery area. Another generally expressed idea was that the tests are about the dog and the handler, not the gallery. Priority should lie there and provisions could be made for a gallery when possible. The board was in agreement that the focus of the tests needs to remain on the dog and that most chapters were probably already trying to make all possible accommodations for the gallery.
Discussion revealed that there was not currently a lack of talent or expertise at the Invitational Judges level, this would just be a way to codify a requirement that could help going forward. The invitational presents unique challenges to the handler and having judges who were experienced in both the judging off and running in the invitational increases the validity of the test. If this requirement were put into place and made immediately effective it would affect a small number of the qualified invitational judges. And if this was ever put in place it would be slowly phased in to allow judges time to become compliant. General discussion expressed that most delegates were not necessarily opposed as long as this would not compromise the ability to have enough judges to properly run an invitational. The board advised that the testing directors and committees would be considering and evaluating this item throughout the year.
Other occurrences:
There is now a Director of the Invitational and it will be run and managed outside of the direct purview of the Test Director. This was added as the board felt the invitational had its own unique requirements and required a large amount of effort and resources to organize.
NAVHDA international purchased services to design and build a new website. It is currently nearing the end of development and is expected to be launched in the next 1-2 months. The purpose was to improve upon the current site but not limit or remove any valuable resources.
ELECTION RESULTS:
President David Trahan davidt@onpointkennel.com
Past President Marilyn Vetter Marilyn_vetter@yahoo.com
Vice President Joe Raia joe.raia@toro.com
Treasurer Joe Dolejsi dolcotool@aol.com
Secretary Steve Greger 4thedogs@comcast.net
Director of Testing Tim Clark vctref@comcast.net
Director of Judge Development Chip Bonde chipnavhda@aol.com
Director of Publications Laura Picard lauradpicard@aol.com
Director of Information Resources Jim Applegate japplegate@navhda.org
Registrar Tracey Nelson quickpup25@gmail.com
Insurance Information:
NAVHDA moved to a new insurance provider in the past few years. Recently an inquiry was made to the determine exactly which type of events were covered under the policy. Confirmation was received that any chapter sponsored event that pertained to Dog and/or Hunting would be covered under the policy. This will provide protection for a great number of club related activities as long as they are documented on the Club Calendar.
There were two seminars held during the meeting, a Pro-Trainer open question period featuring Blaine Carter, Tim Cook, and Clyde Vetter, and a seminar with Scott Linden from Wingshooting USA.
The training seminar allowed the audience to pose questions to the trainers and receive direct feedback from whoever felt the need to answer. Training matters discuss included Trained Retrieve, Duck Search, Backing/Honoring, and Marking and Advanced retrieving training. When asked both Tim Clark and Blaine Carter expressed an interest in coming out to Arizona to run a training Seminar.
Scott Linden provided a light hearted overview of his book “What the Dogs Taught Me.” This was followed by a short question period where people asked about his Television show Wingshooting USA and his experiences traveling and bird hunting around the country.