MINUTES OF REGION 12 ANNUAL MEETING, 21 JUNE 08

Convened for informal lunch at noon at the Elephant Butte Inn, Elephant Butte New Mexico

Called to Order at 1:00 PM. Location was organized by Rio Grande BDC. A quorum was established based on the attendance.

Following in Attendance:

  • Member Clubs and their (delegates): Rio Grande BDC (Dr. English), High Country BDC (Jim Schultz), Copper State FTC (Paul Grogger), Arizona Pointing Dog Club (Eddie Rucker), Southern AZ GSP Club (Dave Higgins), Cochise BDC (Dave Higgins), Hondo Valley FTC (Eddie Junker)
  • New Club being formed by Mr. George Musser
  • Associate members and visitors: Ms. Mindy Childers-Brown, Ms. Janna Musser, Mr. Lance Gerdes, Mr. Todd Fielitz, Mrs. Eddie Junker
  • Guests: Sue and Mike D’Arcy, Las Cruces NM

Absent Member Clubs and At-Large Delegates:

  • Arizona Bird Dog Club
  • East Valley FTC
  • Sal Satallante
  • Mike Jones
  • Dr. Steve North

Introductions were called for by Dr. English and attendees introduced themselves to include guests. Attendance was noted as substantial and the expanded participation was welcomed.

With no Old Business pending the reading of the last minutes of the Winter meeting in Kingman, Feb 09. 2008 was completed by the Secretary. No comments or additions were made by the group and the minutes were approved as read.

Treasurer’s report was given with a balance of $1710.55. The Annual incorporation filing was reported on by the Secretary to include recent changes filed with the Arizona Corporation Commission concerning the address of the Association as well as the listed agent, David L. Higgins, 8553 E. Double H Lane, Sierra Vista, AZ, 85650. These changes were necessary due to the demise of the previous secretary.

Mr. Higgins gave an update on the R12 Hall of Fame and stated that although some inputs have been received by the GSP group, additional nominations were slow in being presented to the Association. Additional continental breed as well as Pointer and Setter nominations are reuired prior to going forward with a formal election process. He emphasized that although the process seems slow that we should continue to take our time in determining the initial inductees and insure that the proper and most deserving individuals and dogs are nominated and inducted into the R12 Hall of Fame. This approach was concurred to by the attending directors.

IRS exemption. Mr. John Beauchamp has taken on this task on his own initiative. John was unable to attend the meeting due to work requirements that involved long distance travel.A continuing status will be provided by John as this action is deemed essential to an IRS decision concerning our tax exemption status. A short form reporting requirement has been started by the IRS to simplify reporting for Non-Profit organizations that do not gross more than 10K annually. The region’s secretary will follow up on this requirement.

New business was called for by the presiding officer, Dr. English. There being none the Nomination and election of Officers was held. Dr. English, serving as the interim President, willingly accepted the nomination to continue as President for the coming year. Dr. English acknowledged that there should be others that are willing to take on the role of President and that we needed to get the younger element involved to insure continuity of the association in the coming years. Mr. Eddie Rucker, willingly volunteered to serve as the association Vice President due to Mr. John Beauchamp’s desire not to serve in that capacity for another year. The results of the election were as follows with all officers being appointed by acclimation:

  • Dr. Micheal English, President
  • Mr. Eddie Rucker, Vice President
  • Mr. Dave Higgins, Secretary/Treasurer

Member Club Input. Member Clubs were called upon for their input prior to reviewing the details of the trial schedule for 2008/2009

  • Copper State Field Trial Club. Paul Grogger presented his plans on expansion of walking trials in the Region to include possible use of US Complete Shooting Dog and National Bird Hunting events. He noted that a Regional championship from those organizations may be in the future provided increased activity is noted. This would be in conjunction with the Region 12 Amateur Walking Shooting Dog Championship that we are sanctioned with from AFTCA.
  • Arizona Pointing Dog Club. Mr. Eddie Rucker. Mr. Rucker acknowledged that they had rejoined the AFTCA and Region 12. The Arizona Pointing Dog club was absent from the Region 12 Association and Region 12 for 4 years. Their immediate goal is to increase walking field trials in the American Field and AFTCA format. They have scheduled a walking trial for September with a focus on getting club members win certificates that will qualify them for the Region 12 Amateur Walking Shooting Dog championship which will be held in the spring of 2009. The directors offered any assistance to the club for this trial to include judges. A question was raised regarding whether or not a dog with an ILP registration from AKC could be registered with the FDSB in order to compete in AF trials. The Region secretary took that issue for follow up.
  • Hondo Valley Field Trial Club. Mr. Eddie Junker of Bernalillo NM updated the association on his plans to conduct a horseback trial in January in an area North of Albuquerque on Tribal lands. He has made an initial approach to them and they are open to his follow on presentation to gain permission to conduct the trial on their grounds.Mr Junker will continue to keep the association apprized of this project and the association pledged any support required to his initiative.
  • High Country Bird Dog Club. Mr. Jim Schultz announced plans to proceed with his 3rd trial at Winona with the typical horseback stakes. There was also discussion about adding at least a walking stake at not only his trial but at others as well to attract the walkers who do not have horses. General consensus was reached that the walking stakes should not be overlooked.
  • George Musser. Mr Musser announced that he would probably be forming his own club in order to sponsor the Arizona Open Championship, companion derby and the Region 12 Shooting Dog championship at Kingman in Feb. George solicited comments on dates to start the trial and potential judges. It was offered that it might be possible to start the trial on Thursday as long as the Amateur Championship still began on Saturday but that entries could drive the day of starting. He also offered his strategy on selecting judges especially for the Amateur and the directors endorsed his idea of selecting some local judges from other breed groups to do the judging.
  • Cochise Bird Dog Club. Mr. Dave Higgins, representing CBDC announced his plans for a trial in Tombstone on the Bennett Ranch where it was held last year. He also announced their annual shotgun raffle. During his time Mr. Higgins also mentioned the need for the directors to all serve as mentors, to welcome newcomers to the game and to provide assistance in whatever manner was required. This important objective was supported by the directors.
  • Southern Arizona GSP club. Dave Higgins, who was also representing this club announced their plans to have an AKC type trial in advance of the Vizsla National that is being held on the Empire Ranch the week of Nov 3. The earlier trial will be held on the weekend of 1 November and will conflict with High Country’s scheduled trial at Winona. It was emphasized that we need to attain a higher level of cooperation during our scheduling to eliminate as many conflicts as possible as many of the region trialers desire to participate in both the AKC and AF type venues.
  • Rio Grande Bird Dog Club. Indicated plans to proceed with sponsoring an Amateur All Age Championship having discussed this possibility with Linda Hunt, AFTCA secretary during the National Amateur Chukar Shooting Dog Championship, held at Reno in April. The directors encouraged the pursuit of the Championship and it was noted that the Region Secretary would request sanctioning for all three of our Championships, Walking Shooting Dog, Shooting Dog and All Age.

Finalization of 2008/2009 Trial Schedule. The draft schedule with dates of club trials and the championship events was reviewed by the directors. The Arizona Pointing Dog Club offered a change in their dates for their first AF/AFTCA walking trial. The change was made for the last weekend in September at the Butcher Knife area. The Copper State Field Trial Club suggested that the Region 12 Amateur Walking SD Championship could be sponsored by their club. Consequently this Championship trial was added to the draft schedule. The Amateur All Age Championship was also added to the schedule with adequate grounds being pursued by Dr. English and Dr. Steve North, possibly in Eastern New Mexico. Prospects of using grounds in West Texas that are available was discussed but not set in motion. The finalized schedule is attached and will be published on our web site and the American Field magazine.

Scheduling of Annual Meeting. It was mentioned that it is difficult for some of the directors to attend the annual meeting and it would be better to conduct the meeting on a regular and permanent date. The Region’s by laws had been modified some two years ago to accommodate this change. Consequently, it was announced that the future annual summer meeting would be held during the first weekend in June in compliance with the approved by-laws. There are also several approaches to conducting the meeting, which are: rotating the meeting among the member club, selecting a central location and having the meeting at that permanent location and reviewing what business could be conducted electronically to conserve time and the need to have a face to face meeting. No motion was forthcoming on this discussion.

Trustee Update. Mr. Ric Peterson was unable to attend and sent his regrets. Ric was required for essential business meeting in Seattle at the last minute but had planned to attend. No comments were provided by Ric other than offering his lease in West Texas, The Parnell Ranch, for the Amateur All Age Championship in the event that grounds would be needed.

Open Brittany Championship in New Mexico. Sue and Mike D’ARcy of Las Cruces New Mexico were guests appearing at the request of the region’s President, Dr. English. Sue gave a summary of her actions in regards to receiving authority to conduct an Open Brittany Championship on the Armendariz Ranch. Sue highlighted the process for the directors, entertained questions and provided an informative laydown of what was entailed, who she coordinated with and what had to be done to receive the authority from the American Field for the Open Championship. Additional discussion was also held in regards to the possibility of her Brittany club joining the Region Association and the AFTCA. Deepest appreciation to Mr and Mrs. D’Arcy for providing this presentation was expressed by the entire board as well as quests.

Annual Awards Ceremony. Drawing to a conclusion the recipients of the dog and handler of the year awards were presented with their Bruce Fox plaques by the President, Dr. English. Awards were presented for Shooting Dog of the Year, Derby of the Year and Handler of the year. 1st Runner Up in Shooting Dog was also presented. Pictures are enclosed of the ceremony.

Adjournment. Upon conclusion the meeting was adjourned by acclimation.

Armendariz Ranch Tour. Directors that were able to attend participated in an interesting and informative tour of the Ted Turner, Armendariz Ranch on Sunday morning the 22nd of June. Mr. George Richards of near Hatch NM and the Wildlife Supervisor for Turner Enterprises provided the guided tour. His efforts were greatly appreciated. Photos and a recap of the tour are provided as an enclosure.