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June 2011 CFA's Monthly eNewsletter |
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Upcoming Deadlines | |
June 26 - Ads for August issue of Cat Talk
June 26 - Grand & HHP Photos for Cat Talk
August 1 - Breed Council dues |
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Top 15 | |
Breeds/Divisions with most entries in 2010-2011 Season
1) Persian BiColor -2088
2) Maine Coon Cat - 2037
3) Exotic - 1880
4) Persian Solid - 1180
5) American SH - 1164
6) Persian Himy - 959
7) Siamese - 949
8) Cornish Rex - 872
9) Abyssinian -803
10) Birman - 771
11) Persian Tabby -691
12) Tonkinese - 687
13) Oriental SH -676
14) British SH - 541
15) Sphynx 515
Based on official counts of cats present/competing in the Championship class.
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Ribbon-Cutting for CFA's New Central Office
On Friday, June 10, 2011, CFA, the CFA Foundation along with Alliance City Officials and citizens of Alliance gave well wishes and a warm welcome to CFA's new headquarters and the Feline Historical Museum.
Intermittent rain held off as chairs covered the sidewalk and spectators flowed out into the street which was blocked off during the official grand opening observance. With over 250 in attendance and at least 100 more who came after the ribbon cutting ceremony to tour the building, the sentiment was universal: "Wow!"
As guests toured the lower level which houses the Feline Historical Museam by the CFA Foundation, Inc. and looked at all of the special artifacts carefully displayed in glass cases and on the walls they were able to get a taste of the type of history and art memorabilia the organization has in its archives. Guests could continue up into the third floor and tour CFA's offices with its new furniture and with offices waiting for our new employees; one could just sense the buzz of activity that is soon to come. The short ribbon cutting ceremony included welcome statements from Alliance City Officials, Don Williams, one of the CFA Foundation's founding members, and CFA President Jerry Hamza. Alan Andreani, Councilman-at-Large and Chair of the Downtown Events Committee stood in for Mayor Toni Middleton and welcomed the group. On behalf of the City of Alliance, he extended his, "deepest thanks to the CFA and CFA Foundation members for their dedication, vision, perseverance, passion and the trust they have placed in the Alliance community by making the city their new hometown." Jerry talked about how destiny brought the City of Alliance and CFA together. He said, "I love connections and to see how one thing touches another ... This building on the corner of Arch and Main is a metaphor that connects CFA and the city of Alliance ... It seems that we, the people of Alliance and CFA chose to meet the challenge of a new and brighter future."
In all, it turned out to be a purrfect day to welcome the new CFA headquarters to Alliance , Ohio. Read President Hamza's speech. |
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The CFA Foundation, Inc. . . .
A taste of history, and a look to the future.
 The dream finally has become a reality. The vision of a cadre of men back in 1990 spear-headed by Vaughn Barber, Michael Brim, Don Williams (then CFA president) and the CFA attorney, Sy Howard to establish a repository for the history of CFA, and by extension, the history of the cat.
The concept was presented at the June 1990 annual and was overwhelmingly endorsed by the delegation. Thus was born the CFA Foundation, Inc. Vaughn was president of the CFA Foundation until his death, and always wanted to have an actual museum to house the many artifacts that were now being donated. That museum is now very real, and the overwhelming response to the opening was very heartening.
As has been reported, Don Williams attended the opening ceremony, and his remarks were tinged with emotion and a great deal of pride. He commented that Vaughn, Michael and Sy would be very proud of this day. To see the collections, the artwork, the books and magazines, the myriad of donations of breed related memorabilia, original artwork from cat fanciers, and the generous financial donations - truly a day to be proud. More ...
Fact sheet on the CFA Foundation
Facebook page for the CFA Foundation
Article in Canton OH Newspaper
Article in Ohio.com
YouTube video
2011 Annual Meeting
CHERRY BLOSSOMS IN JUNE? YOU BET!
We have a very special cocktail reception planned before the Annual Awards banquet on Saturday, June 25.
CFA Region 8, Japan, and Kim and Fred Everett-Hirsch have generously helped fund "A Cherry Blossom Festival!" to be held on the first floor in the Conservatory of the Hyatt Regency, adjacent to the lobby. The second floor foyers overlook the Conservatory below, with skylights above to add to the incredible atmosphere. It will be a special treat to share this time with our Japanese friends ... a friendship represented in our Nation's capital where the magnificent Cherry trees gifted to the United States by Japan more than a century ago bloom so reliably each spring. Come join us at 4:30 pm and enjoy the beautiful sights of our own festival featuring lovely Japanese décor and dress, live traditional Japanese Koto music, an appetizer display including sushi, and cash bars - both in the Conservatory and above in the Grand Ballroom Foyer, where the doors to "A Capital Celebration!" will open at 5:50 pm!
It will be an event to remember, and a festive beginning to an evening of revelry in the Grand Ballroom, capped off by "Warm Nights, Cool Jazz!" Come dance the night away to the music of "The Pluckerland Band" and save room for some late-night munching! More...
New Hires
We are pleased to announce the addition of new Central Office staff members in Alliance, Ohio. They have recently come back from NJ for two weeks training.
- Verna Dobbins-Administrative Assistant. Verna is from Canton, OH and will be working with the Clubs.
- Michael Lynn-IT Network Administrator/Engineer. Michael is from Salem, OH.
- Shawn DeLion- Administrative Assistant. Shawn is from Alliance, OH and will be working with Pedigree Registration.
- Kristi Wollam-Administrative Assistant. Kristi is from Alliance, OH and will be working with Protests.
- Jill Mendenhall-Data Entry. Jill is from Massillon, OH and will be working with Registration and Scoring.
We have also hired a bookkeeper and graphics person and will provide more info on our new employees as soon as we can.
Cat Talk Advertising Special - Deadline Extended
We've slashed our advertising prices for the August issue and are extending the deadline to June 26th so that we can take ads at the annual. Take advantage of our great prices to show off your cats and your accomplishments from the season. Be a part of CFA history by recording your cat's photo in print in this special issue. Visit http://www.cfa.org/client/cattalkinfo.aspx to purchase your ad today!
Cat Talk Cover For Sale!
Want to see your cat on the cover of Cat Talk without depending on random chance? Now you can! Cat Talk is finalizing plans to auction the cover of the October issue. Part of the proceeds will go to one of CFA's charities or funds (the groups described in the April issue). The Canine Gazette has raised thousands of dollars from a similar sale, let's see what we can do. This will be your chance to see your cat on the cover AND do something great for both CFA and the charity of your choice. We hope to make this auction a yearly event, and Cat Talk will go back to our regular cover contest for the December issue (we have something very special planned for that cover as well!). We'll announce all the details of the auction at the annual.
White Pages & Back Issues
Even though the Raymond car is jam packed with stuff for the annual, Ed and Jodell have promised to squeeze in copies of the White Pages and back issues. We'll have these available for sale  during the delegate's meeting on Friday.
June Cover Contest Winner
Congratulations to Liz Blanc and GC, RW Mummers Meow Jazzy Dancer for winning the June Cover Contest! Liz is an exhibitor and clerk in the North Atlantic Region where we've seen this stunning British Shorthair during the 2010-2011 season.
LaQuinta
The hotel chain has loaded CFA into their booking system with the 10% off nationwide discount. With the new promo code- CATFAN9 we will have the ability to track all the business. It is imperative that this code and name as stated above is used whenever a group or single reservation is made at any LaQuinta. If the name or code is not given to the hotel it will not be tracked.
With this new code anyone can book online as they did before or they can call 1-800-SLEEPLQ and mention they are with CFA Cat Fanciers Association and they will receive the discount. They can also call the hotel directly and book that way as well by mention name.
The link on the website leads to LaQuinta's website perfectly....all that needs to change is the promo code from BRIGHT to CATFAN9
We also encourage all your clubs and people to feel free to use the code as much as they would like for cat shows or just personal travel whether the furry pals are with them or not. The discount is open for all to use....great purrrrrk!!
Legislation - What's Hot . . .
By Joan Miller, CFA Legislative Information Liaison
If You Breed CATS...... You May Be a "Puppy Mill" !
From Los Angeles to Texas to Minnesota to New York animal activists are pushing legislation to stop "PUPPY MILLS". Lawmakers and the general public readily support proposals promising to end the misery of animals housed in squalid conditions. Most people have no idea that these "puppy mill" laws impact, not only irresponsible dog breeders, but also moderate sized pedigreed cat breeders and can even mean regulation of breeders with one cat. Several local and state laws are examples of this concept.
New York State already has a "pet dealer" licensing law. Now the state wants to regulate "back yard breeders" of dogs and cats. The City of Los Angeles in 2000 passed a "Breeder Permit" law requiring a fee and permission to breed even one litter. You would think nothing more could happen. Because the law is ignored and not enforced and the animal shelter intake numbers have not been reduced, the City Council announced a new "puppy mill crackdown" on June 7th. The Department of Animal Services has been instructed to create an ordinance banning "commercial" breeding of dogs, cats, rabbits and chickens. "Puppy mill" laws are clearly not just for the dogs. More.
CFA History Committee
The CFA Board of Directors has given the green light to kick off the CFA Historical Research Committee on The History of CFA and its Breeds which they have entrusted me to chair. For better than 15 years I have hoped CFA could undertake this project as it was apparent that we have lost so many of our people who had so much knowledge to share and we needed to set in motion a plan to gather as much historical information as we can and incorporate it in one book which is going to be a monumental task. This will entail going through years of Year Books, Almanacs, photographs, books written about cats as well as letters of a historic nature. We want to go back to CFA's beginning in 1906 and move forward to today. CFA's Breed Councils will be involved. As Chair of the CFA Historical Research Committee on The History of CFA and its Breeds, I am reaching out to select teams, i.e. Technical Team, Breed Research Team, Editing Team who will be in charge of going through all the research material to cut it down to size for a book which hopefully can be published. The idea of what kind of book would be something like Cat Talk, only bigger, of course, which would contain photos of the breeds of yesteryear up until today. Facts such as what was the first registered male and female of each breed (note, some were foundation record), actual history of each breed and when they were accepted by CFA and when new colors and coat lengths were accepted. Other historical information such as CFA's oldest clubs, article on the CFA International Shows and the CFA National Show, CFA's presidents from 1906 until today as well as articles on breeders who really impacted our breeds. Photographs with the articles help sell a book of this type and seeing the changes in most of the breeds and the grooming over the years is truly amazing. The hope is it could be published at a cost that would be reasonable enough to where it could be sold at shows to the public as well as to breeders/exhibitors. CFA has a pledge of $10,000.00 which will be available once the research material gets ready to publish and is approved by the CFA Board. It is hoped national sponsorship will get onboard as well. I have already been contacted by several of our fanciers who want to help in any way they can. This project is going to take hours and hours of work researching every bit of information that can be located and it will take many people who are willing to get involved in this project. As soon as I have all the Team Committee people signed on I will send the list in.
Kim Everett-Hirsch
Chair CFA Historical Research
Committee on The History of CFA
and its Breeds
Remember to Tip
Exhibiting cats means we are frequent overnight guests in motels/hotels. According to the current issue of "Real Simple" magazine, the appropriate tip is $2 a night at a budget hotel and $3 to $5 at a higher-end hotel. They tell its readers to bear in mind you should tip daily as the crew can change. We want our shows to be able to continue to use nearby hotels, so let's make sure we are wecome back. Tipping the cleaning folks goes a long way to keeping them happy with us. Also, keep in mind that while many hotels do not welcome pets, we have discounts available at some pet-friendly hotels with links at the bottom of our monthly eNewsletters: Red Roof Inn, Motel 6, Studio 6, and LaQuinta Inn & Suites. |
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2011 Regional Exhibitors of the Year
Congratulations !!
1) Terrie Smith
2) Peggy Schuetz
3) Sylvia Schreiner
4) Rich Mastin
5) Lisa Marie Kuta
6) Sharon McKenzie
7) Karen Thomas
8) Tomohide Oguro
2011 Regional Clerks of the Year
Congratulations !!
1) Stephanie Lamb
2) Not Awarded
3) Not Awarded
4) Linda Bartley
5) Rhonda Avery
6) Not Awarded
7) Sande Willen
8) Not Awarded
Region 2
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Chanan Photo |
At the Region 2 Awards show and banquet, Region 2 donated a Surgi-vet Animal Resuscitation mask set to the Davis County Fire Dept. It was a gesture to thank the first responders for all the work they do wtih our animals on an ongoing basis and help make their job a littel easier. The set consists of 3 varied size masks built specifically for animals and you can see this equipment at yuckos.com
In talking with the firemen, they have no animal specific equipment for animlas are are forced to "adapt" human oxygen masks for animal use. They were VERY happy with the donoation.
Region 6
The Midwest Region is very pleased to announce our yearly award winners, along with some very special news. First, we chose to award our Humanitarian prize this year to Anne Edwards (SoestHill Havana Browns), one of the founding members of MoFed, and a tireless opponent of unnecessary laws that restrict hobby breeding. Anne has served for years to aid breeders of all kinds and is the current Vice President of MoFed, which was instrumental in setting a unique precedent that overturned a voter proposition that would have ended hobby dog breeding in Missouri, replacing it with a more sensible law that also contained methods to raise funds for animal cruelty enforcement. Anne has truly devoted her life to this effort and we in the Midwest are thankful for her ongoing efforts.
Our Exhibitor of the Year award has been given out to any member of the region who, in the show year preceeding the awards banquet, regardless of official position or length of service, shows outstanding sportsmanship, promotion of the Region and CFA and is overall the best representative of the Midwest in show halls. This year, in honor of one person who could always be counted on to tirelessly promote the Region and who showed the utmost grace whether winning or losing, the award has been renamed the Earl Rothman Memorial Exhibitor of the Year, or the Rothman Award. For her manner of showing all year long and support of Midwest shows, her mentoring new exhibitors and breeders, and her composure and sportsmanship whether winning or losing, and her support in general of everyone in the region and in her breed, the first Rothman Award winner is Nancy Hitzeman (Acadiacoons Maine Coons).
Finally, our Spotlight Award winner, the CFA sanctioned award for long term service, went to an individual who does it all without ever seeking recognition. Whether she is giving services as an entry clerk, benching shows, setting up or tearing down, filling in for hospitality, or even clerking, and always with grace and a positive attitude, she is someone who can always be counted on to support Regional shows and clubs and do it with a smile. We are proud to announce our Spotlight Award winner, Sharon McKenzie (Inrxs Cornish Rex).
On another note - whether you've entered the upcoming Abysinnian Midwest show in St. Louis or not, we invite you on Saturday evening to join us to celebrate the life and memory of Beth Newkirk. Our Region has truly benefitted so much from Beth's input and of course her National winning Abyssinians; this Saturday we are setting aside an hour at the end of the show to share our memories, photos and laughter as we celebrate the joy of having the chance to know Beth, even if it was for too short of a time. All are welcome, exhibiting or not. We hope to see you there!
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Discounts Available to You at these Motels! |
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