Tag: President’s message

Summary of August 27th board meeting

Posted on by uarct in Association Info

The BLU board met by teleconference meeting on August 27th at 7PM EDT. 5 board members were in attendance, as well the as Sect/Treas. Unable to attend due to prior commitments were Paul Genge and Kat Bierkens.

The minutes of the previous meeting in April will be approved by a poll. The current balance in the treasury is $8,756.35, with an additional $29.80 in the Paypal account. There are currently 77 members, of which 5 are Canadian. A note from the Bloomsburg PA fair was read, thanking the association for its contribution to the BFL show classes.

The bylaws & standards committee has been contacted by one of our members, requesting that the so called “silver” BFLs that are currently registered as “black patterned” be given their own code on the pedigree so that interested breeders can track this color pattern. The committee is hard at work on a draft of this proposal, including photographs so that members can identify and differentiate this color from black pattern will be drawn up and presented to the board for its approval.

The media committee announced that the web designer had just completed work on the new website. The commiittee will be working on tweaking the site, and when complete, will present the site to the board for its comments.

The genetics taskforce has been in contact with some traditional type BFL breeders in the UK who are willing to have rams collected for export to the US in the fall of 2020. This is good news for the continued progress of our breed.

The national show committee intends to attend the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival in September to get a better idea of the show venue for the 2020 National BFL show.

There was a brief discussion on how to continue promoting BFLs as viable commercial sheep. This will be continued at subsequent meetings. It was pointed out the the breed is thriving in a wide variety of climates here in the states, from coastal Florida to the Rocky mountains.

The upcoming board election was discussed, with suggestions for members to approach to run. Positions up for election are Vice-President and 2 directors. All current paid adult members are eligible, with bios due by October 25th. Only adult members whose dues are paid by October 1st are eligible to vote.

Summary of the January 17th BLU board meeting

Posted on by uarct in Association Info

The BLU board met by teleconference meeting on January 17th at 7PM EST. All board members were in attendance, as well the as Sect/Treas. Incoming President Katie Sullivan (VT) welcomed new board member Paul Genge (WA). During the meeting, the board voted to appoint Margie Smith (PA) to the board seat vacated when Katie took office.

The minutes of the previous meeting in April had been approved by a poll. The current balance in the treasury is $10,484.22, confirmed by a copy of the bank statement. Each board member was also provided with a copy of the income and expense detail for YTD 2018. 14 new member packets were sent out during 2018. There are 98 members, of which 7 are Canadian.

There were 332 new registrations, and 161 transfers processed by the breed registry, administered by Associated Sheep Registries in Wamego, KS. The free classified ads offered on the BLU website have been used quite a bit this year, with 19 ads placed.

The committee chairs have been busy working on new projects for the association. The bylaws & standards committee has been contacted by one of our members, requesting that the so called “silver” BFLs that are currently registered as “black patterned” be given their own code on the pedigree so that interested breeders can track this color pattern. A draft of this proposal, including photographs so that members can identify and differentiate this color from black pattern will be drawn up and presented to the board for its approval.

The media committee announced that the redesigned logo project is completed, with 3 different versions as well as an embroidery file created. The next major project will be to have the website updated and the outdated plug-ins and work-arounds fixed. The committee will work on getting estimates for the cost of the overhaul.

The youth committee has suggested a scholarship program for our youth members, and will be working on a proposal for the next meeting. Another proposal is for an award to help offset the cost of youth members purchasing breeding stock. It was suggested that a youth sit on this committee.

The genetics taskforce suggested that it work on a list of different bloodlines available in the US to make it easier for members to find unrelated breeding stock.

The national show committee will be sending out a call for show venues, with the show proposal deadline of April 1st. The next show will be in 2020.

The next meeting will be held in the second half of April.

Summary of April 26th, 2018 meeting

Posted on by uarct in Association Info

The BLU board met by teleconference meeting on April 26th at 6PM EDT. All board members were in attendance, as well the as Sect/Treas.
The minutes of the January 17th meeting were read and approved. The current balance in the treasury is $10,378.63. There are several ads to be placed in magazines and festival catalogs which will be paid soon.

The committee chairs have been busy working on new projects for the association. The genetics taskforce has been working on a video promoting the data collection system, NSIP, which is an industry wide program to collect data which will allow breeders to improve the commercially important genetics in their flocks and compare to other flocks using EBVs. BLU will make this video available on the website, and encourages its members to consider using this data system to make breeding decisions in their own flocks. With enough interest from members, there is a possibility of offering financial incentives to breeders to help offset the costs incurred, as all BFL breeders will benefit from the improved productivity and ability to select breeding stock based on desired traits.

The bylaws and standards committee has developed an addendum to the breed standard in which BLU recommends following veterinarian and industry standards on tail docking length. This will be on the website, sent out to new breeders, and made available to judges at shows, along with the judging scorecard.

The youth committee has suggested a scholarship program for our youth members, and will be working on a proposal for the next meeting. An online questionnaire, geared toward getting to know our youth and their needs, is being prepared.

The media committee is also hard at work. There will be an issue in the Shepherd Magazine this fall featuring BFLs. Several breeders have volunteered to write articles on different uses of the BFL. Also, the logo that we currently use will be updated so that we have a larger file for printing. The board decided to keep the style similar, but will need a new BFL head for it. For that, the media committee will be holding a photo contest. It is hoped that the 7 life members, all of whom were founding members of BLU, will agree to judge the contest.
Other projects being worked on include a video on how to grow and prepare a BFL fleece for competition, and another video on how to fit a BFL for showing.

The national show committee reported that final plans are being made for the show in June.

Board meeting notes from 1-17-18 meeting

Posted on by uarct in Association Info

The BLU board met for its organizational teleconference meeting on January 17th at 6PM EST. All board members were in attendance, including newly elected VP Meredith Myers-Null of MD as well as board members Katie Sullivan of VT and Shellie Ross of FL. President Margaret VanCamp welcomed them to the board, and also recognized outgoing members Joan Chapin, Carol Densmore, and Heather Landin for their time and service to BLU.

Sect/Treas Lisa Rodenfels gave the treasurer’s report. The current balance is $10,117.43, with a net gain of $716.27 for the year 2017.
In the secretary’s report, Lisa told the board that she she is working on a postcard to remind members to pay their 2018 dues. There are currently 106 members, up from 98 in 2016. There were 383 registrations and 235 transfers made in 2017.

Next were the committee reports. President Margaret VanCamp appointed Kat Bierkens to the Youth Committee Chair. She will begin working on an online survey for our youth to answer, since the mailed survey did not net results.
Shellie Ross is the new Bylaws/Standards chair. She will work on a draft to improve the current breed standards to include line drawings showing examples of good and poor conformation, as well as showing desirable breed specific characteristics. This draft will be presented to the board at a later time.
Katie Sullivan is the new Media chairperson. She will work on providing articles and photos to media to better promote our breed.
Margaret will take over as the Genetics Taskforce chairperson.

The National Show Committee chair, Karen Szewc, began a discussion on plans and ideas for the show during the Black Sheep Gathering on June 29th. There are 2 hotels on the fair grounds, but they do not accept blocked rooms, so it is first come, first served. The festival committee will allow us to have whatever classes we’d like. They provide ribbons, and Karen is arranging for small trophies for all class winners. Would like to get a list of the entries to the show in order to have a program printed. There will be gift bags for all exhibitors, and a banquet is planned. There will be an auction at the banquet, and it will be open to all people interested in BFLs, not just BLU members. There has been an ad running in the Black Sheep Newsletter for the past 4 quarters, and a full page ad is planned for the spring edition. She would like to donate a basket to the BSG with BFL fiber in it. There will be classes in the wool contest for BFL fleeces. Lisa will keep the website and FB page up to date with information as it becomes available. A sponsorship level was set at $50.

New business included the upcoming Maryland Sheep & Wool festival. A yearling ewe is needed for the Youth Conservation Program to be donated during the festival. Meredith Myers-Null will provide a ewe for the breed display. The board voted to add a $50 cash award to the top placing BFL fleece there.
It was also decided to have a contest for the most new memberships sponsored by existing members. BLU has always recommended buying a membership for youth members and breeding stock buyers, and would like to encourage BLU members to do this for their customers.

Summary of January 19th 2017 board meeting

Posted on by uarct in Association Info

The BLU board met for its organizational meeting on January 19th at 7PM EST. Board members in attendance included newly elected member Kat Bierkens of Oregon. In the absence of President Margaret VanCamp, due to illness, VP Joan Chapin welcomed Kat to the board, and also recognized outgoing board member Bill O’Donnell for his time and service to BLU.

Set/Treas Lisa Rodenfels gave the treasurer’s report. The current balance is $9,401.16, with a net gain of $1332.46 for the year 2016. She provided the board with a detailed printout showing each entry for income and expense throughout the year.
In the secretary’s report, Lisa told the board that she is working on a postcard to remind members to pay their 2017 dues. It will also mention the site of the 2018 National Show, the new credit card payment option for registrations, and that we now have a new BFL chat group on Facebook. There are currently 98 paid members, up from 82 at the end of 2015.

Next were the committee reports
The chair for the 2018 National Show, Karen Szewc, told the board that she has confirmed that the Black Sheep Gathering will be thrilled to host our show. They have stated that we can have whatever classes we would like. Besides the usual, the board suggested adding best headed ram and ewe, and also having aged ram and aged ewe classes. A special class to feature our youth exhibitors was also discussed. Karen will work on that plan, and will be looking for BLU members who would like to sponsor special awards for some of the classes.

The Genetics Taskforce chair, Heather Landin reported on the likelihood of importing semen from the UK now due to the long quarantine requirements and repeated bloodtesting. A possible answer to this problem is the convince USDA to accept PRC testing semen for viruses, bacteria, etc., which is already an accepted practice in cattle. She asks that interested members continue to call to push USDA to consider this option.

Youth chair Joan Chapin provided the board with a draft copy of the questionnaire she would like to send out to our current youth members. The board felt it was a good idea, and the list of questions were comprehensive. Joan would like to use the project to showcase our youth, and get to know them better, while still protecting their privacy.

A life membership was awarded founding member Becky Utecht of MN.

A follow-up meeting has been scheduled for February 1st at 7PM EST.

Summary of July 11th board meeting

Posted on by uarct in Association Info

The BLU board met by a telephone conference on July 11th. The 2016 national show was discussed, and a site selected for the 2018 show, pending verification from the show committee that the site is willing to host the show. More information will follow once plans are firmed up.
The secretary report showed 74 memberships. The 2016 board elections are coming up in the fall, with a deadline of October 25th to provide a bio to the secretary. Only paid memberships as of October 1st are eligible to vote and to run for the board.
Youth committee chair Joan Chapin would like ideas on how to reach our junior members, and to get more youth involved in the breed. She says that they get lots of questions from youth at shows, indicating that our charismatic and unusual breed is of interest.
The show committee chair, Margaret VanCamp, is working on a written guideline for new members on how to fit BFL for show. She also plans to make a video on the process.

Posted on by uarct in Shows

Hello from President Margaret VanCamp

Many of us have a day or two of free time coming up for Easter or Spring Break. Please use some of this time to do three things:
1. Enter your BFLs in the 2016 National Show at Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, May 7-8. You can enter them online in a fairly straight-forward process at http://sheepandwool.org/online-registration-instructions/ You have to do this by April 1st, so don’t delay!!!
2. Get a room booked at the host hotel, Columbia Courtyard, an easy 15 min from the Fairgrounds. We got a great rate of $89 per night, (reg price $120) so don’t put off making your reservation if you want to get one of the seven rooms remaining in our block. These room will be released on April 15.
3. Register your 2016 lambs. If they are not registered before you enter the show, don’t worry—they just need to be registered by the date of the show.

A little known fact: you can enter more than two sheep in a class, and even show more than two in the class…you just have to accept the fact that you will not get a premium for that placing (if it places in the money.) However, as a show entry it can be in your pens and someone might want to buy it. If you don’t want to show more than two, you just scratch it when you check in. There are always lots of buyers at MSWF.

We have a great local restaurant picked out for the BFL dinner – Contact me at mavaca@usol.com if you want to join us. We want to see you whether you bring sheep or not, so please plan on it!

Summary of board meeting held January 6, 2016

Posted on by uarct in Association Info

The BLU board met for its organizational meeting on January 6th at 7PM EST. All board members were in attendance, including newly elected VP Joan Chapin of IN and board member Carol Densmore of MI. President Margaret VanCamp welcomed them to the board, and also recognized outgoing members Jared Lloyd and Cindy Cieciwa for their time and service to BLU.

Set/Treas Lisa Rodenfels gave the treasurer’s report. The current balance is $8068.70, with a net loss of $409.54 for the year 2015. Lisa went over some of the major reasons for this, which were some larger one time expenses such as computer financial programs and an ad in Spinoff Magazine.
In the secretary’s report, Lisa told the board that she has updated the membership list on the website with an alphabetic and by state list. It is also available to print out to use as a handout at events. She is working on a postcard to remind members to pay their 2016 dues. There are currently 82 members, of which 15 have paid their 2016 dues so far

Next were the committee reports. President Margaret VanCamp appointed Joan Chapin to the Youth Committee Chair. Still to be filled are the Bylaws/Standards, and Media chairs.
The Genetics Taskforce chair, Heather Landinr reported that although the border between the UK and the US has been opened, the new protocols that have been agreed upon between USDA and the EU make it difficult and expensive for UK BFL breeders to collect semen that passes these new rules. Now the entire flock must be bloodtested and all test negative on 2 separate occasions before a ram can be sent in for semen collection. A possible answer to this problem is the convince USDA to accept PRC testing semen for viruses, bacteria, etc., which is already an accepted practice in cattle.

The National Show Committee chair, Margaret VanCamp began a discussion on plans and ideas for the show at Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival on May 7 & 8. Joan Chapin volunteered to serve on the committee along with Margaret and Hilary Chapin. Carol Densmore and Sharon O’Donnell with organize the fiber show events. Heather Landin will help with calling hotels and restaurants for a room block and reservations for the banquet. Margaret and Hilary will concentrate on hospitality and trophies. Lisa will work on getting sponsors for awards, and keep the website and FB page up to date with information as it becomes available. A sponsorship was set at $50. Karen Szewc has some items for a display, which she will ship to Margaret. She will also make T-shirts for the event.
Lisa reported that she had designed and placed an ad in the MS&W festival catalog to showcase the national show.
Margaret reported that she has promised 40-60 BFLs in the show. There will be classes for both white and natural colored sheep.

A life membership was awarded founding member Judith Colvin of MT. Congratulations, Judy!

The next scheduled meeting of the board is set for April. A national show committee meeting will be February 6th at 12 EST.

President’s notes on 10-31-15 board meeting

Posted on by uarct in Association Info

The BLU board met by teleconference on the afternoon of Saturday, October 31st .

The treasurers report gave the current balance of $8304.15 with a net loss of $315.69 for the year to date, which is likely attributed to lower than normal registrations, transfers and dues.

The secretary’s report stated that BLU has a membership of 78 members current as of October 1st . A list has been compiled of new members during 2014-2015 in order to send a membership welcome packet to each of the 22 new members. At the end of the year, these and all other members who dropped out in 2014 and 2015 will be sent letters inviting them to consider re-joining BLU .

A request has been received via the website from Kyle Brisendine, asking for the board to distribute a survey on coyote predation to our membership. Ms. Brisendine’s family are members of the association, and the survey is part of a college project. The Secretary/Treasurer has been instructed to send a current membership list to her so that she can send the survey.

The membership app on the BLU website is very cumbersome and so the board gave permission to disable it, and to post two .pdf files of the current membership; one in alphabetic order, and the other arranged by state. These .pdf files will be updated each month with new members . Members are urged to go to the website and check the list to be certain they are on it, and all information given is correct.

President Margaret VanCamp appointed herself to be chair of the national show committee, and Lisa Rodenfels to be the membership committee chair. Still to be filled after the election are Bylaws/Standards, Media, and Youth chairs. The Genetics Taskforce chair, Heather Landin, was not at the meeting, but Margaret was able to fill the board in on the most recent developments in semen importation. The border between the UK and the US has been opened. However, the new protocols that have been agreed upon between USDA and the EU make it difficult and expensive for UK BFL breeders to collect semen that passes these new rules. Now the entire flock must be bloodtested and all test negative on 2 separate occasions before a ram can be sent in for semen collection. Some of the UK breeders are working on possible workarounds to these rules, such as maintaining a small flock just for testing and collection purposes.

The board made the decision to bestow lifetime memberships on LeeAnne Richert, Kristen Barndt, and Robina Koenig.

The site for the 2016 National Show was discussed. The sheep show chairman of the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, has stated they are very interested in hosting the event. Because the show catalog has to be printed, the deadline to have the show plans complete is January 1 st For this reason, the board decided to go ahead with plans to have the 2016 National BFL show at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival on May 7 & 8 th . More information will be posted on the website and Facebook page and Twitter as plans are made.

The next scheduled meeting of the board is set for 7PM EST on Wednesday, January 6 th . Newly elected board members will be invited to attend this meeting.

President’s Notes from BLU Board meeting dated June 9, 2015

Posted on by uarct in Association Info

The BLU board met by teleconference on the evening of Tuesday, June 9th.

Outgoing treasurer Cindy Cieciwa gave her report, stating that she has recently sent newly appointed secretary /treasurer Lisa Rodenfels all the records, files, checkbooks, and the most recent Quickbook financial recordsThe association is down on memberships, transfers, and registrations compared to last year at this time. The treasury is down $362 in income year to date. This could change as members often wait and do their paperwork in one batch later in the year.

Since the former secretary has not yet submitted the August 6th minutes to the board, approval of these minutes was tabled until the next meeting. The board was provided with the notes that former president Lisa Rodenfels took during that meeting, and used them to help inform themselves of old business.

Because Margaret VanCamp ran for and was elected to the President’s position while a sitting Vice-president, that position is empty. In accordance with bylaw provisions Cindy Cieciwa was appointed by the board to fill this term, which ends in 2015.

Newly appointed Genetics Committee Chair Heather Landin gave an update on the status of ovine semen imports from the UK to the USA. USDA has reopened the border to semen importations, but there are still roadblocks. Heather says it may be the date that semen was collected, and that the blood testing may not have been done correctly by Inovis. Because of this, each ram is being looked at by USDA on a case by case basis to be sure that the testing protocol was correctly followed. Heather is staying on top of it with USDA, the UK owners, and Inovis and feels positive that her 4 rams will eventually be approved by USDA and the semen allowed to enter the US.

There are some housekeeping duties on the website which the board is addressing. The membership list on the website has not been updated for two years, and is seriously out of date. The board feels it is imperative that this is corrected promptly, as one of the major benefits of membership is that potential breeding stock and fiber customers use this list to source purchases.

There are also some outdated downloadable forms in the registration section, and these will be updated and posted.

There will be a breed display at the Black Sheep Gathering this year thanks to new board member, Karen Szewc. Karen has banners from Robina Koenig, and will print off some judging cards, flyers, etc from the BLU website.

The board welcomes comments and concerns from members. Please contact any board member to have your issue addressed during quarterly meetings.