The BLU board met by teleconference meeting on February 5th at 8PM EST. All board members were in attendance but Karen Szewc, who was moving her farm. The new youth board advisor, Kieran Van Horsen, was absent due to a midterm test.
The minutes of the previous meeting in August were approved. The current balance in the treasury is $8768.13, and $78.05 in the Paypal account. Each board member was also provided with a copy of the income and expense detail for yearend 2019. 11 new member packets were sent out during 2019. There are 75 members, of which 7 are Canadian. There were 417 new registrations(up from 332 in 2018) and 155 transfers processed by the breed registry, administered by Associated Sheep Registries in Wamego, KS. A postcard reminder for 2020 dues is ready to be mailed. It includes information about the national show and the new youth programs.
The committee chairs have been busy working on new projects for the association. The bylaws & standards committee had finalized the proposal for describing and adding “silver” BFLs that are currently registered as “black patterned” , giving them their own code on the pedigree so that interested breeders can track this color pattern. After some modification, the board voted to accept Bsi as the new color designation. The committee will work on an educational sheet with photos that will be provided to members so that they understand this new color designation and how to identify it. New registration forms will need to be made and distributed by the registry. Lisa will contact them to make those changes to the forms and also the rules for registration form.
The media committee announced that the redesigned website is completed. They will continue to make improvements as time permits. The next project is to update the woefully outdated promotional brochures. These need to be ready for the national show, and if possible for 2 summer Canadian sales events. The board approved a budget of $100 to pay a designer to rework the brochures.
The youth committee reported that they had contacted all our current youth with information about the new Youth Purchase Voucher program, and has distributed that information to some 4-H advisors. They asked the board’s help in spreading the word. There will be a listing in the Banner Magazine with contact info.
The genetics taskforce reported that there is a group of BFL breeders working together to collect semen from several rams in the UK. It is hoped that the rams will go into collection this year. 2 of the breeders are going to the UK in June to look at rams and talk with breeders there who are willing to provide rams for collection.
The national show committee provided an outline of show plans and went over it with the board. As information is received, it will be posted to the website. There will be both white and natural colored sheep classes, a fleece show, and skein class. A dinner is being planned for Saturday evening, with a speaker and a silent auction to benefit the youth programs.
In old business, the YCP program is looking for a yearling ewe to be awarded at the MS&W festival in May. Nancy Starkey has expressed an interest. Margie Smith is a backup for her. This will be the first year that BLU has provided a particl reimbursement for the ewe of $250.
The next meeting will be set at a later date.