My Fellow Fanciers,

One of the most enjoyable parts of our fancy is the sport with the thrill of competing for titles, and regional and national wins. The shows are there to help us in our pursuit to advance our standards, but when was the last time you heard someone say, "Yeah I've been out every weekend advancing my standard!" The truth is that the competition is keen and the thrill of winning is very rewarding. However, in the heat of competition we must make sure we always keep our perspective. I am sure that by now you are familiar with sad event which involves a member of our cat family. To be more specific, a terrible accident occurred when a fancier attended a show on Saturday and drove to a different show on Sunday. He had an accident on his way home Sunday night. The fancier and cat survived, but there are serious injuries.  Read more ...

At the March 13, 2012, meeting of the CFA Board of Directors they agreed to submit to the Delegates of the June, 2013, Annual a proposed Show Rule Change to lower the threshhold for awarding Top 15 final awards.  Check it out.

Top of the Morning!

2012 Annual Update

Plans are well underway for our June event, and Sophia Staples, our webmistress extraordinaire, has been busy updating the Annual website with all the details. The website is your source for all things Annual - complete banquet information, details on our special Friday luncheon buffet, hospitality nights, a complete schedule of events, and more. Be sure to sign up for our Annual Blog when you're there and you'll always receive the latest information as soon as it becomes available, like the announcement of our fabulous new Stay in Style raffle.

Win a Luxury Suite for Your Stay at the Annual

That's right - we have arranged for a Wednesday through Sunday stay in a luxury suite at the beautiful Boston Marriott Quincy to be awarded to the lucky winner of our Stay in Style raffle.

Your 800 square feet suite is designed with floor to ceiling windows, a beautifully decorated living area complete with sofa, chair and ottoman, a separate bedroom, sofabed, desk/work area, 2 bathrooms, 3 phones, and 2 TVs. If you choose to share your good luck an additional rollaway bed is permitted - maximum occupancy is 4.

Only 100 Tickets will be sold! Ticket price is just $20, and tickets can only be purchased through the Annual website giving everyone in the Fancy, here and abroad, an opportunity to Stay at the 2012 Annual in Style. To purchase tickets visit the Annual website, http://cfaannual2012.org. You will receive a confirmation email upon completion of your purchase containing your ticket number(s). The winning ticket will be drawn by Sharon Roy, Region 1 Regional Director, at the Sign of the Cat show on April 24th.

Don't be left out - treat yourself and support the Annual - buy your ticket today!

Breed Council Responses

The Balinese Breed Council had the best response rate this year.  77% of their members mailed in their ballots this year.  The Russian Blues were close behind them with a 72% response.  The average was 54% this year.  How did the other Breed Councils fare?  Check it out. 

Lincoln State 2012

by Dayle Marsh

More than 1,400 visitors attended the Lincoln State Cat Club's (LSCC) 52nd Annual AB/HHP Benefit show February 25-26 at Harper College's Building M in Palatine, IL.

Approximately $1,000, the proceeds from this year's benefit raffle, will aid participating feline shelter's and rescues' neuter/spay programs; while a yet undetermined amount of gate proceeds will be distributed to the LSCC "Cure Chronic Kidney Disease" fund through the Morris Animal Foundation (an on-going fundraiser), and SOCK FIP. Any cat lover can still contribute to the MAF Kidney Disease fund, by going to the Lincoln State Cat Club web-site and clicking on the "Cure Kidney Disease" tab on the Home page. From there you can link to the Morris Animal Foundation web-site and make your tax deductable donation. Together we can defeat this monster!  Read more ...

Winn Feline Foundation

Submitted by Betty White

Winn honored Janet Wolf for her years of service as Executive Director at its February meeting. Janet pictured flanked by President Vicki Thayer and Past President Betty White.

Winn Feline Foundation has wanted to streamline its online donation system, and has finally launched a new system as of March 1st. It is designed to increase operational efficiency, communicate more effectively with loyal supporters, and expand Winn's reach to build awareness of the important work that your donations make possible every day. This new system makes it easier to donate and will require less manual support on the back-end, saving time and money. Check out the Winn website, clicking on "Donate Now." We want to know what you think, so please tell us at winn@winnfelinehealth.org. 

And, Winn has endorsed Hank the Cat for Senate Campaign. We need this guy!

Agility 2012

Submitted by Jill Archibald

CFA Feline Agility Coordinator, Scorer

What an incredible season the CFA Feline Agility competition has been so far!!

Amazing cats of all types and sizes exploring the agility ring encouraged by owners, handlers, and row on row of spectators! It takes a special bond, understanding, and trust of each other for a cat and a human to accomplish the feat of completing the agility course together. Stairs, 4 jumps, two tunnels, two hoops and weaving poles arranged in a circle within a huge 20 by 30 foot cage, navigated cautiously at first, until the team can move through the course, at speed. It is quite an accomplishment and nearly impossible, or at least against all odds, that this can be done by the average person with the average cat who have developed this ability to work together to complete this exciting, fun, and challenging activity!  Read more ...

Check out the current standings!

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Financial Assistance Available

That's right, CFA's Feline Agility is sponsored by Dr. Elsey's.  Clubs can get financial help to cover the cost to have Agility including ring setup, Ringmaster, and steward.  Just contact Jill Archibald for the details. If you plan to have Agility at your show, be sure to let Kristi at the CFA Central Office know.

Judging Schools/Breed Awareness

Save The Dates!!! 

CFA JP Announces Three Judging Schools/Breed Awareness and Orientation Schools for 2012!

• July 19-21, 2012 - In Somerset, NJ in conjunction with The Garden State Cat Club of New Jersey show. Look for registration information on the CFA website soon!
• September 23-24, 2012 - in Ilsenburg, Germany in conjunction with the German CatWalk show to be held on September 22, 2012. Note: There will be NO HANDLING at this school as the school is set for SUNDAY and MONDAY following the show. Look for registration information mid-summer!
• November 15-17, 2012 - In Columbus, OH in conjunction with the CFA National Show. Look for registration information mid-summer!

The 2012 Yearbook is now available.  It's a must-have for every cat fancier.  If you have not purchased one, you can order one online.

Did you grand a cat this show season?  We've got a great deal for you.  Submit your Grand photo to the Yearbook for the regular fee of $15 and submit your Grand photo to Cat Talk magazine for the regular fee of $15 and your Grand photo will be included in the online Breed Profile for a full year FOR FREE !  It can be done online.

Clerking Program

Submitted by Cherly Coleman, Clerking Program Chair

ATTENTION ALL REGIONS !!!

Do you recognize the outstanding clerks in your region? Well, you should! Many Regional Award banquets give a special award to "Regional Clerk of the Year". This is to thank clerks who have maintained their clerking status, go beyond the 'call of duty' as a clerk, are highly regarded by judges, and many other items that make them special! Last year, the Southern Region gave out their first "Clerk of the Year" award. Regions such as the North Atlantic and Great Lakes have been doing this for years!! I think this is a great way to thank those hard-working clerks!

If you DON'T already award this, and you'd like to start recognizing clerks in YOUR region, please contact me, and I can put you in touch with the Regional contacts as to their criteria for selecting the clerks for this award.

CFA Website

Submitted by Kathy Durdick, Webmistress

The CFA site search function has been changed to use a Google custom search engine, so you should see MUCH improved results when searching for items.

• Search results are now returned with both the page title, and a snippet of the page containing your search terms, so you can more easily see which of the results will actually give you the information for which you were
• PDF documents are now able to be searched, and will be returned in the result list (this includes all the Board Meeting minutes, breed standards, forms, etc)
• Results from all the CFA associated websites will be included in the search as well, such as the agility site, the catalog site, the CFA Foundation site, etc.

The agility site has a brand-new look!  Please stop by for a visit at

http://agility.cfa.org

Youth Feline Education Program

Submitted by Kathy Dunham

Our First Season

 We have a number of young people enrolled and involved in all sort of activities all aimed at gaining scholarship money for their future.  The YFEP is divided into three different elements, Education, Community Service, and Care/Presentation of their beloved feline.  All of the elements are geared toward providing our students a well-rounded education in ownership, care and value of feline ownership.  Our students will study the basics of cat care and grooming and hopefully, successfully enter and show their cats at CFA shows.  Beside this basic showmanship and feline care, our young people are expected to participate in community service activities, such as volunteering at no-kill shelters and working with people looking to learn about basic feline care and ownership.  Our youngsters are encouraged to do reading and they have the opportunity to work with crafts and art projects.  Read more ...

CFA Foundation

 Check out the March issue of the Feline Historical  Museum's great Newsletter. 

iPhone App

Yep, there is an App for CFA cats. It's just $1.99 from Apple's App Store. Check it out.

Here is how it is described on the Apple website: "Introducing CFA Cat Breeds, the official application of the Cat Fanciers' Association. Whether you are a true cat fancier, or you fancy from afar, this application is the best way to enjoy your favourite breeds and learn about new ones, all in the palm of your hand."

Region 2

Mentoring Committee Chair - NWR

Please welcome Diana Nelson to the position of Mentoring Committee Chair for the Northwest Region. While Diana accepted the chair only very recently, she has made her first "match" and is very excited about her new role in the region. If you are willing to mentor or needing a mentor please contact Diana at diananelson47@yahoo.com.  And, please say "thanks" the next time you see Diana! This is a labor intensive job and Diana is ready to do it! Also, a giant thank you to our former Mentoring Committee Chair, Sheryl Fann. She did an excellent job in the position and while we are very happy to see Diana come forward, we are sorry that Sheryl is no longer able to continue in this role. Sheryl did an excellent job in this role and Diana will start her tenture with the excellent work by Sheryl to develop upon.
 

To carry out the long tradition of Annual pins, the NWR Annual Committee has released the design of the 2013 Annual pin for sale in the region. National sales will begin at the 2012 Annual in Quincy, MA. Regional Director Ginger Meeker will have the pins for sale at the upcoming shows. The cost is $20 and all proceeds go to the funding of the 2013 Annual to be hosted by Region 2 in Vancouver, WA. In conjunction with the initial pin sales, R-2 will be holding a contest to "Name the Mascot". Name suggestions are to be sent to Ginger. Final date for submitting a name will be March 31, 2012. Those suggestions will be compiled and sent to the Annual Committee for final choice. 

Each year Call of the Wild Cat Club presents the Marguerite Martin trophy to the highest scoring BSH in show and has been a tradition for many years. This year, the award was presented by club president, Kathleen Lawton (left), to GC,RW Castlkatz Grawp of Mugglecats, owner (right) Lisa Lee Jones-Garner, a new breeder/exhibitor in Region 2.

Region 4

Region 7

A common sight at many shows is Lisa-Maria Padilla with one of her blue Abys on a leash, wandering the showhall greeting spectators, and doing their famous "roll" for a piece of dried chicken.  Check out the short video below (courtesy of MaryK).

Europe

Submitted by Gaby Lueppens