We got a great start to the new season at the Annual Meeting last weekend. More than 30 people attended to get the ball rolling for The Montana Sharptail Chapter of NAVHDA for 2012. It’s a pleasure to welcome Ty Hoffman, Justin Gude, Paul Andersen, Joseph Gustafson, DJ Berg, Calvin and Nancy Clark, Tommie Dahl, and Michael Wignot to the Chapter.
Thanks to all who attended and helped plow through the tedium of hammering out the schedule for the coming year. The following items were accomplished:
Dues were set at the same as last year:
Youth: No Charge as long as they have an Active Member Sponsor
Individual: 30.00
Family: 50.00
Sponsor: 100.00
Lifetime Individual: 350.00
Several people have already renewed for the coming year.
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Test Dates were set for 2012 and are pending approval from NAVHDA. As soon as those dates are approved, Montana Sharptail Chapter members are welcome to register for a test. Chapter Member priority is given for registration up until 90 days from the test, at which time registration opens to all NAVHDA members. Annetta Bowman will again serve as the Test Secretary for the Chapter in 2012.
(EDIT - AS OF 3/6/2012 - TEST DATES HAVE BEEN APPROVED BY NAVHDA INT'L - NO LONGER PENDING)
Test Dates are as follows:
Test Dates are as follows:
June 23 & 24 Natural Ability (NA) – Great Falls, MT
August 10, 11 & 12 Natural Ability (NA), Utility Prep (UPT) and Utility (UT) – Jackson, MT
Test Fees were overlooked on the agenda – The board has since agreed to the following fee structure for 2012:
Youth Handlers (No matter who owns the dog) qualify for 50% off of all test fees.
Natural Ability: $120.00
Utility and Utility Prep: $150.00
Test fees are fully refundable up until 30 days prior to a test, after which point they are only refunded if we fill the test.
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Training Camps: We have several on the schedule again and will also be hosting “Mock Tests” for those interested. We’ve formalized several dates for Three Forks, Great Falls and Jackson….with Billings and Whitefish dates in the works. Other venues are possible as well. You must have a current 2012 Sharptail Membership in order to participate in training events. Camping will be allowed on the sites weather permitting (No gumbo mud). We will have an outhouse at each site.
Three Forks – March 31 and April 1
Great Falls – April 21 and 22
Jackson – Dates Pending, although will be during the week prior to the August 10, 11 and 12 Test
We will also schedule “Mock Tests” at both venues prior to the tests.
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Lisa Durand served as a founding board member and as Secretary / Treasurer for the Sharptail Chapter during our first year. Both of the Durands, Lisa and Allan, gave a vital lift in helping get the chapter off the ground. Although the Durands will continue to be active members, other obligations have forced Lisa to step down from the board. Thanks Lisa all your work and for your dedication to NAVHDA and the Sharptail Chapter!
The board would like to welcome Keith McCormick to the Secretary / Treasurer position. Keith brings strong business experience, a phenomenal volunteer ethic and great enthusiasm for NAVHDA to the postion (Not to mention a pretty fair Pudelpointer named “Brambo” – I’m fairly certain Keith will be having Brambo do the books.) Welcome Keith.
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MEMBERSHIP
I have been unsuccessful in uploading the 2012 member application on to the website (GoogleDocs does not support my antiquated browser) The 2012 membership form will be attached to a mass email. Please feel free to forward the form to appropriate folks. We’d like to have memberships renewed before March 31 – our first Training Camp…..
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THE WEBLOG
The same browser issues are messing with me on the weblog administration....Hopefully we'll have it fixed within the week.....Expect an invitation to be an "author" soon via email
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YOUTH PROGRAMS
Jane Melby will now be serving as "Co-Youth Director" with Ryan Young. Jane, Ryan and Tom have had on-going conversations about adding a Youth Day to the August Training Camp at the Big Hole.....Stay tuned as there are a lot of great ideas in the mix.
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BIRDS, BIRDS, BIRDS
John Arkins and Tom Healy have been visiting quite a bit about chukars....with the goal of growing our own for the coming season. We will have young chukars brooding soon for training and testing. If anyone else has the time and facilities to raise birds, feel free to call Tom at 406-212-0602. We also will be using our same "Pigeon Resoruces" as last year......Expensive and relatively reliable....Please let us know if you've got a resource for pigeons..........
If anyone has the desire to start a "Homer Loft" Please let Tom know and we can help get you set up with either breeders or squeekers.......More lofts, especially close to our training sites can help bring expenses down.
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THE WEBLOG
The same browser issues are messing with me on the weblog administration....Hopefully we'll have it fixed within the week.....Expect an invitation to be an "author" soon via email
________________________________________________________________________
YOUTH PROGRAMS
Jane Melby will now be serving as "Co-Youth Director" with Ryan Young. Jane, Ryan and Tom have had on-going conversations about adding a Youth Day to the August Training Camp at the Big Hole.....Stay tuned as there are a lot of great ideas in the mix.
________________________________________________________________________
BIRDS, BIRDS, BIRDS
John Arkins and Tom Healy have been visiting quite a bit about chukars....with the goal of growing our own for the coming season. We will have young chukars brooding soon for training and testing. If anyone else has the time and facilities to raise birds, feel free to call Tom at 406-212-0602. We also will be using our same "Pigeon Resoruces" as last year......Expensive and relatively reliable....Please let us know if you've got a resource for pigeons..........
If anyone has the desire to start a "Homer Loft" Please let Tom know and we can help get you set up with either breeders or squeekers.......More lofts, especially close to our training sites can help bring expenses down.