Our banner cat for the April 2015 Newsletter is CFA's Thirteenth Best Cat in Premiership, GP, NW Shelbie The Bumble of Nudawnz, a blue-eyed white American Bobtail - Longhair Division.

(Photo by Chanan)

DEADLINES

TODAY is the final day for all proposed Amendments and Resolutions to be submitted to Central Office.

Properly completed Delegate Forms must be received in the Central Office POSTMARKED no later than MAY 1, 2015 for a club to be eligible to vote at the 2015 Annual Meeting.

If you need a delegate form, please let Kristi Wollam know as soon as possible

Ballots for the office of Director at Large must be RECEIVED by CFA Central Office no later than June 1, 2015. A complete list of all declared candidates is available here.

2015 Annual Breed Rosettes Opportunity for Clubs and Breed Councils

Each year, CFA awards rosettes to the top three cats in championship in each breed or division at the annual. Now you have the opportunity to show your support for your breed by sponsoring these rosettes. The sponsor's name will be printed on one of the streamers on all three rosettes for that breed or division. This sponsorship is limited to clubs, breed councils, and regions. Individuals may pay for a sponsorship, but only the name of a CFA club, breed council or region may appear on the rosette streamer. Our hope is that this income will help us improve the breed awards in the future, possibly to create a custom award unique to CFA.

Breeds or divisions that are unsponsored will still receive their rosettes. The deadline for payment is May 10, 2015. Please contact Mary Kolencik, mdsiamese@yahoo.com, before paying for a breed to make sure it is not already sponsored.

http://catalog.cfa.org/rosette-sponsorship.shtml

CFA Annual Meeting in Toronto

Keep up to date with the latest news about the CFA Annual at www.20105cfaannual.org

Cat Shows in the News

If your club receives press from its show, please forward to Jodell Raymond at Jraymond@cfa.org

(photo courtesy Sophia Staples)

Join Our Mailing List

As I'm pulling this edition of the CFA Newsletter together, I'm also watching the trees pushing out their new leaves and the grass reviving from its winter dormancy. The world seems to glow with a cast of new light. It is rather a reminder that the current show season may be drawing to a close, but there's a brand new one just waiting around the corner.

Cherish these final weeks of the old season, the adventures that you've had, and the friends that you've made. Friends and judges alike will miss those familiar furry (or not-so-furry in the case of some breeds) faces, but we anticipate who will enchant us next season.

Teresa

As mentioned in a CFA-News announcement last week, our wonderful registration staff has eliminated the backlog for registering litters and cats as well as most other registration functions. Many thanks to the staff for all their hard work, including lots of overtime, to make this happen. Also, thanks to you, our customers, for bearing with us during this very trying period. We encourage you to use Ecats whenever possible since these registrations are often processed within a day. Why is it faster? Two big reasons: you do the data entry which saves staff from having to do it and we scan all the work that arrives via snail mail and we don't have to do that with Ecats submitted registrations.

Grand and Grand of Distinction certificates have been mailed and any day now Distinguished Merit certificates will be mailed. Yep, we're getting caught up in all sorts of areas.

A reminder that the Show Rules require clubs to get Executive Committee approval if they change a judge or the show's format within 30 days of the show. If one of your judges cancels at the last minute, it's not enough to find a replacement ... you need to obtain approval from the Executive Committee. Contact the CFA Secretary, Rachel Anger.

The new show season starts in a couple weeks. Don't forget the new requirement for shows to include Specialty rings. Having Super Specialty rings does not count towards the requirement for Specialty rings. While it's nice to invite new judges for your Specialty rings, it is not required. You can use Allbreed judges to officiate in your Specialty rings.

April 15^th is the deadline for receipt of proposed Amendments and Resolutions. They will be placed on the CFA website shortly after that.

Good luck to each of you the last two weekends of the show season. I hope you reach your goals and I hope you enjoyed yourself this show season.

Clearly we are quickly approaching the end of the 2014/2015 show season. I hope everyone has had a successful season so far. This will be my first year-end experience. We are already at a brisk pace and I've been warned that I haven't seen anything yet. I'd like to thank C.O. staff along with a number of Board members who have been working daily, assisting with the preparation for handling the numerous upcoming reports, additional tasks and the quick turnaround times necessary for year-end. Dovetailed into year-end are the necessary preparations by C.O. for the upcoming 2015 Annual and Regional banquets. Everyone is doing their best to meet all challenges and deadlines in a timely manner.

I would like to take this opportunity to extend a thank you to Dr. Elsey of Precious Cat for his continued and increased sponsorship to C.F.A. As we continue our partnership, if your show has received a Dr. Elsey sponsorship please make sure you honor the sponsor's request for feedback and see that C.O. receives your information in a timely manner. Please note below what is requested by the sponsor.

Requirements	Post-Show Requirements
Sponsor's logo on flyer and catalog cover Sponsor's supplied ad in catalog Sponsorship money spent advertising the show to the public Table display with sponsor's product	Show Flyer with sponsor's logo Show catalog with sponsor's logo and ad Photo of table displaying sponsor's product Copy of invoices for advertisement(s) to public

Continued partnerships with our sponsors is important to all; if a representative of Dr. Elsey's attends your show please take a minute to personally thank them for continuing the partnership. Not only should we thank and support Dr. Elsey but we should thank and support all of our sponsors and the products they carry. All sponsors are important to C.F.A. having said that our support of them and their products are just as important to the sponsor.

So everyone is up-to-date we have implemented a few changes at C.O. With the desire to improve quality, customer service, and registration turnaround time, Carol Ann Bertone volunteered to focus more of her time on customer service. This will allow Judy and Catie additional time processing your registrations. Should you contact C.O. Dena (our Receptionist) will first attempt to assist you. Should she be unable to do so, she may encourage you to contact Carol Ann. You may also find an email you've sent to either Judy or Catie answered by Carol Ann. Carol Ann's direct contact information would be cbertone@cfa.org or 732.681.2797. As with registration, E-mail is the swiftest and promptest way to receive a response to any inquiry. As of April 10^th C.O. was registering snail mail received before April 3rd.

If you have snail mailed a request to C.O. and it ought to have been processed and received prior to this date please contact Carol Ann at cbertone@cfa.org.

Until next month.

Terri

Special Offer to CFA!

Please welcome BreatheFree Litter Box System to the CFA Family! (see their ad in the left column)

You can receive 10% off the price of the system just by using the promo code CFA!

Wesley in CO has been using this litter box and likes the fact that he has no odor in his personal area.

Verna Dobbins

CFA Website Updates

by Kathy Durdick, CFA Webmaster

There's a new Siberian breed article available.

Also, the finalized 2015-16 show rules are now online: http://www.cfa.org/Portals/0/documents/forms/15-16show-rules.pdf

CFA Business Development

by Ginger Meeker, PhD
Chair, Business Management Committee
Director-at-Large

As we all realize, the season is coming to an end and we begin to look to the new season...new rules, new opportunities and new adventures. Sad to say goodbye to some of the incredible cats that have shown this season and we'll now be seeing new beauties to love and support for 2015-16.

For the last couple of months, I've been in the Central Office completing a work-flow study for the BOD and looking into systems and procedures that might help promote greater efficiency. It has been a sincere pleasure to work with the staff, Operations Manager Verna Dobbins and Executive Director Terri Barry. Some exciting milestones have been achieved and I will not steal CO thunder by announcing them here! What I will say is, IF you submitted work to Central Office by snail mail prior to about March 30 and you have not received your documents please email Carol Ann Bertone cbertone@cfa.org to find out where the documents are in process.

The computer system continues to make progress and we work on an on-going basis to identify processes that need to be programmed into the new system.

HEADS UP to folks that have achieved CH/PR status this season and haven't yet confirmed your cat's title. Confirmation continues to be an issue. Some folks at last year awards ceremonies were upset when their awards had the "NC CH" or "NC PR" titles on their certificates and/or trophies. We'd like to avoid that this year but we need your help. A large emailing notification (over 600) went out Tuesday 4/7/15 to owners of cats not yet confirmed to let them know this needed doing. It is hoped that many will respond, get thee issues taken care of and avoid disappointment at the end of the season.

Next season, the rules are tighter and tougher for the confirmation process. Please see revised show rules (2015-16) 27.05 and 28.01 a-f to determine the new rules for this next season. To summarize these rules, a notification 45 days after the date of the cat qualifying for the title will be sent from CO. If confirmation is not done in 45 days of notice, a second notice is sent and at that time the fee ($15) plus a late fee ($10) is in place. Another 45 day window is then in place. At the end of the 90 day window (from the day of qualification for the title) all grand points are forfeited. After that date, an owner may apply for the confirmation and then again begin collecting grand points. Qualifying rings are maintained. Confirming these titles are important to maintain proper records and pedigrees. I'm told that in the "old days" when those winners ribbons were still in use, this situation was not common at all. Perhaps we are just not yet accustomed to the new system.

CH/PR CONFIRMATIONS can be accomplished in 4 ways: (a) use the Confirmation Claim Form in the show catalog and give your money along with the completed form to the Master Clerk. (b) eCats - and this process can also be prepaid on this site and well as confirmation on the site after the show has been scored (c) print the form from the website and snail mail with a check to Central Office (c) print the form and FAX to CO with credit card information. Until this system can be totally programmed, this will require hand tracking by Central Office. By claiming your titles quickly, you will save CO time and energy.

April/May is a busy time of year for everyone- getting ready for regional events, the Annual, choosing your delegate for the Annual, voting for DAL positions...SO, don't forget to record your favorite HHP for CO scoring this next season. The color class competition numbers for HHPs (0892 and 0893) were given to European Burmese in the BCS system....ooops! When this happened, we used this opportunity to update the HHP recording system. New certificates and numbers were needed for CO scoring, so ALL HHPs recorded in the system will get new certificates and numbers. Those new certificates should be close to mailing shortly after this newsletter is being read. Thank you to all involved for your patience and from this system change we have learned how to communicate more quickly. Sorry to all for any inconvenience. Thank you for recording your HHP cats and supporting that important part of the CFA family.

Again, some tips for better service from Central Office: (a) please include a telephone number and/or email so you can be contacted if there is a problem (b) please include a full address for the owner/new owner on all forms (c) review your forms before sending - many are missing date of sale and kitten name. For the amount of mail that goes through the office on a daily basis, I'm truly amazed that all parts of the transaction are kept together - particularly the 2x2 sticky note with 4 instructions to staff stuck to a blue slip <g>. If I could invoke the "Ginger's Rule" it would be that all information sent to CO would come on a standard sized piece of paper!! Our staff really does do an excellent job of keeping forms, checks, instructions, directions etc. together in an order transaction.

The Business Management Committee, at the request of Terri Barry, Executive Director, will start a dedicated process to collect, organize and write policies and procedures for our Central Office. In the next fiscal year we also hope to start the archival scanning project so our old and historic records can be preserved and safely stored.

Congratulations to all Fanciers for this last show season! Enjoy your results for the next period of time and then prepare to tackle 2015-16. What new goals do you wish to achieve, what new problem do you wish to tackle, what within the association is important to you? Every club/show needs your entry and support. By focusing in a positive way on the solutions of problems we can get things headed in a positive direction. Those "out of the box" thinkers are more important than ever. Some policies and procedures continue to work and some don't. Our association needs to receive every bit of input and needs each and every one of us to be successful! In whatever role you function, YOU are CFA, YOU are important and vital to our success! One question I'd like to pose as Business Management Chair is - what can CFA do to better support our BREEDERS? Please reply privately to me and give me your ideas/concerns/suggestions. As a breeder myself, I see this as an area of CFA that can be bolstered to everyone's benefit.

The CFA Mentor and NewBee Programs

Alive and Well!

by Carol Krznowski and Teresa Keiger

co-chairs

Both the Mentor Program and the NewBee Program are going strong. We continue working hard to welcome newcomers and help them learn the ins and outs of the cat fancy.

The Mentor Program has an energetic network of regional/divisional mentor coordinators who, together with their teams, are consistently helping new breeders get a good start in CFA. Mentor requests from all regions and the International Division have increased, which is great news! That means word is getting out that the Mentor Program is here to provide guidance and advice, but it also means we need more experienced and knowledgeable breeders to join our mentor teams.

Are you interested in helping new breeders and/or exhibitors? Do you readily offer advice about grooming techniques? Are you always available to help guide a newcomer? If so, then the Mentor Program wants YOU!

Consider making your mentor activities official by signing on as a mentor to help newcomers learn and succeed. If you are up to the challenge, please email the Mentor Program at mentoring@cfa.org or complete the Mentor Application on the CFA web site.

CFA's NewBee Program is THE place for new exhibitors, and April marks our seven-year anniversary. We are a team of veteran exhibitors answering questions and giving support to new exhibitors. We do this both online via our Yahoo Group and in the show hall.We're happy to say that have grown steadily, and, in fact, some of our first NewBees are now some of our veteran exhibitors!

What is the biggest challenge that both programs face? Letting brand-new exhibitors know about us. Are you currently mentoring someone or know someone who is brand new to CFA? Send them to us!

While we can provide a nurturing, friendly environment within the NewBee and the Mentor groups, unfortunately we can't do the same thing for these new folks in the show hall. What we CAN do, though, is ask all members of the CFA community to go a little slower and be a little kinder to our new exhibitors and breeders. And please DO let them know about these programs.

Entry clerks: a lot of you send new exhibitors who have entered your show to us before they come to the show. That's a GREAT way to get a NewBee off to a good start.

Exhibitors: if you encounter a new breeder or exhibitor in the show hall, welcome them to CFA and refer them to both the NewBee Program and Mentor Program websites.

Clubs: don't forget to put our Mentor/NewBee ad in your catalog so that new exhibitors and breeders find out about us. There should be one with the electronic show information you receive. And you can always download one from the CFA Forms page on the CFA website. Just scroll to the bottom of that page for a link to our ad.

Teresa Keiger

Editor

Advertising and Grand Photos

It's never too early to think about advertising your cattery and/or your cats' achievements for the show season. Cat Talk's August issue focuses on CFA's award winning cats and we have a special advertising opportunity for our readers. See: http://catalog.cfa.org/cattalk-ads.shtml Deadline for the August issue is June 1, so get your photos together now!

Speaking of photos - remember that you can ALWAYS spotlight your Grands in Cat Talk's Grandstand section. Information on that section is at http://catalog.cfa.org/photos.shtml

Subscriptions

We've had readers asking about how to give a gift subscription (to another exhibitor, to their veterinarian, or other animal lover or professional). It's easy! Go to

http://catalog.cfa.org/cattalk-almanac.shtml , order a new subscription, and specify the address that you want it sent to.

Articles

Cat Talk is always looking for both articles and contributing writers. Do you have an area of expertise that you'd like to share with Cat Talk's readers? Please contact me at tkeiger@cfa.org to discuss an article. And readers, please let me know if there's any topics that you would like Cat Talk to cover.

CFA Ambassador Cats

by Karen Lane, CFA ACats Chair

Kathi's ACat Cinnamon Sticks

Meet Kathi Hoos; One of the Originals......

Kathi Hoos is from Chambersburg, Pennsylvania has been one of our Ambassador Cats since the beginning, October 2010.. Her Ambassador Cats have changed from Siamese to Havana Browns. Although her Ambassador Cats have changed, her dedication to the CFA Ambassador Cat Program has not.
Kathi has a very rewarding life outside of CFA and truly understands reaching out to people and making their lives better. Our program is successful because of Kathi, and others like her, who were willing to put themselves out there and educate both spectators and clubs about our
program's mission.

Karen Lane

from Kathi

My husband and I began showing cats in 1998, with a premiership Lilac point Siamsese.

That first ribbon and grand-premier hooked us on showing and eventually breeding. We were very fortunate to start with some good lines, and able to achieve RW s early in our breeding program.

I am a Registered nurse, with a Masters degree in Psychology, and have worked in positions from Staff nurse in Pediatrics, and then ICU, to being the Administrator of a Nursing School.

My husband, Bill, is a retired optician. Together we travel on "eye missions" in Central America, helping people in distant places.

It was a big thrill to be selected into the first Group of Ambassador Cats, and to debut at Meet the Breeds in New York City. The gate was spectacular and I was amazed at the questions people asked, and their excitement at being able to pet the cats in that venue.

Every show where Ambassador cats are featured, demonstrates the interest people have in cats, and their need for information. Since the advent of the Ambassador Cats, I see more and more exhibitors allowing spectators to pet their cats, which is a wonderful promotion of CFA.

The Ambassador Cat owners are willing to answer questions, help people locate the breed they are seeking, and to be good spokespersons for CFA and cats in general.

Our group is expanding and our outreach will even bigger this coming show season. It is my goal to have the people that visit our area, leave with a positive impression of cat shows, exhibitors and cat ownership in general.

Kathi Hoos

WINN FELINE FOUNDATION

by Vicki Thayer DVM , Winn Executive Director

April Monthly Donor List, $100 or more

More survey results!
Results from the final two questions in Winn's 2015 online survey about cat health follow.

The third question asked respondents to describe their background. "Cat Fancier" was the number one answer with 246 (36.1%) votes. Second most popular was "Cat-loving public" with 174 (25.1%) votes and Veterinary professional or staff receiving 82 (12.0%) responses.

Question four asked participants to select their top three areas of interest or health concerns for cats. Sixteen areas were provided as possible selections and the top four areas were "FIP/Coronavirus", "Kidney Disease", "Cancer", and "Heart Disease".

If you have questions or comments about the survey please don't hesitate to email info@winnfelinefoundation.org.

The 2015 Winn Grant Review was held on March 15. Eleven research projects were approved for funding in the amount of $190,649. An announcement with the descriptions and award funding for the eleven feline health studies will be published in the next few weeks.

Ceremony for Dr. Susan Little - Dr. Susan Little, former Winn President and current board member will be retiring from her position on the board as of the July 1, 2015 board meeting. She was recognized for her longtime, valuable service to Winn during the Winn Grant Review on March 15. In appreciation, she received a silver platter inscribed: Presented to Susan Little, DVM, DABVP in Recognition of Your Outstanding Leadership and Considerable Lasting Contributions to Winn Feline Foundation (2001-2015)

Planned giving tip for March - With the stock market at near record highs, now is a great time to donate publicly traded securities like stocks or mutual funds to the Winn Feline Foundation. If you have held the security for *at least* one year you may deduct the securities' current fair market value without recognizing any gain on the appreciation. You may avoid not only federal capital gains taxes but state taxes too. For any questions, please contact info@winnfelinefoundation.org.

Please make note of our new contact information:

Mailing address: 637 Wyckoff Ave., Suite 336, Wyckoff, NJ 07481

Email address: info@winnfelinefoundation.org

Website address: www.winnfelinefoundation.org

By Kelly Crouch, CFA Legislative Information Liaison

Not In My Lifetime

... Did I believe I would really see a community consider banning dogs and cats. True, irresponsible pet ownership causes problems. However, I did not think things had progressed so far that a city would actually believe the solution would be to ban dog and cat ownership. It was one of those futuristic things I had hoped never to witness. Yet a small Illinois town called Prophetstown, with a population a little over 2000, voted earlier this year on an ordinance that could result in a complete ban on the ownership of dogs and cats in certain retail/residential areas of town.

How has this unfathomable event come to pass? According to a news story by KWQC TV, Prophetstown city leaders explained that some people were not cleaning up after their pets causing some businesses to threaten to move away. Add that to a fire that destroyed several businesses a couple of years ago and the city is having difficulty revitalizing the downtown area. It cannot afford to lose anymore businesses. Current tenants would be grandfathered in but no new dogs or cats would be allowed to reside in certain areas of town. (http://kwqc.com/2015/03/23/prophetstown-looks-to-ban-pets-from-living-downtown/).

In January 2015, the city council signed Ordinance 783 after a unanimous vote. The ordinance directs that the Plan Commission to consider amending the city's zoning laws that would prohibit any person residing within the specified retail district from keeping cats or dogs other than service animals. If approved by the Zoning Board on April 14, an ordinance will go to the council for a vote.

Hopefully, my belief will remain intact when all is said and done - an outright ban will be deemed a non-solution for a while longer.

Meanwhile, state legislatures continue onward. If you live in Arkansas, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina or Tennessee, breeder bills have popped up this session. Some have involved dogs only but we know how quickly and easily that can change. We need to support our fellow fanciers when they need us. Some are inactive but may be carried over into next year and some are still active. See the Legislative Quick Look table for information on these bills and additional legislation that may affect you.

Remember, you are our eyes, ears and feet on the ground. Help us to help you.

Please report legislation happening in your area to the Legislative Group - legislation@cfa.org

Please report legislation happening in your area to
the Legislative Group - legislation@cfa.org

CFA Ambassador Program

by Candilee Jackson, Chair

Ambassador Update

Good news! The data collection tool is out to Ambassador Coordinators and to ambassadors at large. Hopefully this tool will give us a good picture of what is going on in show halls in all 9 regions. Additionally, the new handbook only has 3 sections left to create! Hallelujah! The training webinar has taken a back seat to the handbook, and chair Candilee Jackson, hopes to hit it hard as soon as the new handbook goes through final editing.

Region 1: Meghan Noeker, Jane Ramey- no report

Region 2: Mary Siestma no report

Region 3: Harold Bourgeois, Janis Walkingstick- no report

Region 4: Mariane Toth-

Mariane attended the Mid-Ohio Cat Show in Mansfield, Ohio, held April 4. Even though the gate was small, they were enthusiastic about learning about the cats.

Region 5: Ken Cribbs (Hawai'i)

Region 6: Candilee Jackson

Region 7: Lyn Knight, Jane Wood- no report

Region 8: Takako Koijima, Masanari Koijima

With apologies to Takako and Massanari Koijima, this report was left out in March.

Sunflower Cat Club, Tokyo Boeki

February 14-15 saw the Sunflower Cat Club hosting a lovely Valentine's weekend show at the Tokyo Boeki Center Hamamatsucho, in Tokyo, Japan. There was a large show count, 161 cats including 12 veterans and 21 household pets: wonderful numbers! The ambassadors prepared 100 ASK ME pamphlets and had only 30 left over.

As usual, club had a cat costume contest. The club also prepared special BOB beautiful rosettes, gorgeous presents for the cats, and a special award for new grand champions at this show. In the lottery raffle, five very lucky exhibitors got Sturdi Show Shelters !!!!! All exhibitors got various cat goods.

There was special service shop," Massage Shop" for exhibitors. I tried a 20 minute shoulder massage, and it was very comfortable in the very relaxing space. Chanan Photography from USA was so busy with many cats!

The Sunflower Cat Club show is a popular cat festival and exhibitors enjoyed the show so much. There were many first time spectators, and over 20 people told the ambassadors they had come to a cat show for the very first time. Several were looking to see the Singapura, Maine Coon, Chartreux and American Shorthair.

Some were looking for cats as new family and bride or groom. One young lady said she would like to start breeding and she could find nice "bride" for her Russian Blue male. I recommended a veteran breeder to her, and by the end of the show, she was happy to learn that she could have a female.

Two spectators asked what kind of shampoo exhibitors use. As an exhibitor, Takako usually prepares two types of shampoo: one is for just washing for normal days. The other is for cat show. Shampoo for showing cats needs skill with experience and advice from veteran breeders. He also added that if her cat was a longhair, she needed to visit a longhair breeder so that she could groom cats nicely.

Several spectators made reservations with breeders. They had been checked each breeds on the CFA website and then came to show hall to see real cats. They knew which cats were active in the CFA show.
Masanari and Takako felt campaign cats are good advertising (Ambassador ) cats of CFA and CFA cat show.

Japan Shaded Fanciers Show on March 8 at Tokyo
Nishinihon Cat Club show on March 21-22 at Osaka

Although we did not have Ambassadors available for the Japan Shaded Fanciers Show, Ambassadors were present on March 21-22 featuring a 6 all breed/2 specialty ring show hosted by the Nishinihon Cat Club and the Osaka Act III Hall. Although the entry count was not large, the warm springs days helped make the show very successful. Because Takako was serving as a ring clerk, ambassador Yukimi Hozumi, a veteran Persian and Exotic breeder, assisted both new exhibitors and spectators. Fifty ASK ME pamphlets were prepared for the show and very few were left by the show's end.

Takako suggested several important things to a new exhibitor who attended this show with her lovely Exotic shorthair for the first time. The club prepared her benching just beside of Ambassador booth so she was able to ask us very easily. First, she was told to check her cat's information on the catalogue, and if she found misprint, she should correct it with the master clerk. Secondly, she should note her cat number in the catalogue and check the show schedule. She was also told if she missed number call, her cat will be absented and will not be able to be judged at that ring. And lastly, she learned how to mark her catalogue to follow her cat's judging throughout the show experience. Fortunately, her cat got 2^nd all breed champion in show !! She was so excited!

Later, when Takako talked with her, she said she would like to try to grand her Exotic. "I am so glad she had good experience and impression in this show!"

On Sunday, young two boys came to visit Raptor. They wanted to know how to handle American shorthair cats, and Masanari assisted them in holding Raptor, showing which ways were more comfortable for cats. They were so happy to touch Raptor by themselves since Raptor was too heavy for them.

Thank you so much, Yukimi Hozumi, for all your help during the weekend

Region 9: Natalya Gnatyuk, Ulrike Kneupple
- no report
Asia/International: Phebe Low - no activities this month

Youth Feline Education Program (YFEP)

Youth Feline Education Program Year Coming to a Close

by Cathy Dunham, Program Chair

As the show season come to an end in a few very short weeks so does the competitive season for all the youth in our program. The kids have been working hard all season showing their cats, helping with show production, promoting CFA in the their community, and making craft projects for shows and their own cats. They have had a great time and I know their family in the cat fancy has had a great time watching them grow and change.

To the youth in the program, the season is about over, it has been a pleasure to watch you think outside the box and succeed in all you have

done during the year. Please make final preparations for your final projects and shows and end the season on a high note. Your points and photos will be due to your regional representative by May 10, 2015 so totals can be tabulated and awards prepared for your regional banquets and the annual.

Updated Logos for Youth Feline Education Program

While the youth have been working hard this season, the program committee has been working to update our logos. Royal Canin chose not to sponsor the YFEP program so our logo needed an update to remove the Royal Canin logo. We would like to thank Royal Canin for their past support and seeing the value in a program for our youth. Please see our updated logos (above and right)

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Region 1

by Geri Fellerman, Regional Director

April and the beginning of spring have finally arrived. NAR's first show of the month brought with it sunny skies and some beautiful warm weather. However, we cat fanciers spent the weekend inside a skating rink with no windows. Did we care? Not a bit. We all had so much fun! Hammonton Roller Rink was the venue and Saturday's show was hosted by Delaware River CC. It was so nice to relax and have fun with friends. Sunday was our Regional Fund Raiser show - and raise funds we did. There was a great raffle with generous donations from exhibitors and a huge bake sale with cakes, cupcakes, brownies and tons of cookies. Way too much for one day, I thought - not to worry, every crumb was sold. Gotta love our exhibitors - they're always up for a little sugar. The club (Warwick Valley) also held a very successful 50/50 - make even more successful when the very generous winner (our own Dave Peet) turned his winnings back to the Region.

All of us are looking forward to our traditional end of season show to have even more fun and maybe shed a tear or two over the end of a show career for a cat that has been traveling with us over the past year. Oh, and did I mention the food? Always a groaning table filled with celebratory goodies - guess my kitchen will be getting another workout next week. Hope to see many of you there.

That brings us to May and the first show of the new season (hey, we never miss a beat) being hosted by Seacoast Cat Club in New Hampshire. And they guarantee no snow!

Region 2

by Terri Zittel, Regional Secretary

On April 11th, the CFA Northwest Region held a fundraiser to benefit Region 2 Clubs.
The purpose was to generate funds for clubs that needed a financial boost to put on a
show.

Donations and sponsorships were received from many Northwest CFA Clubs and
individuals, plus a few generous exhibitors from Region 5. Even though the entry was
under expectations the show did generate funds for this purpose.

One of the highlights of the show was the rosettes! Each ring's judge's picture was in
the center button. We all really enjoyed these unique rosettes.

Chanan was there to take those last minute pictures for the regional banquet to be held in
August in conjunction with the Poppy State Cat Show. The date is August 8th in
Sacramento, California. More details to come.

We will also be having a Northwest Region Fundraiser in Sacramento, California on June
6th. This will be held at the William Land Region Park.

Region 3

by Steve McCullough, Regional Director

Marsha setting up WAY early

Great weather was enjoyed by everyone that attended Ozark Cat Fanciers show in Cleburne, TX. Marsha Ammons never lets us down with her ease of putting on a great show. Although setup was a tad early, we all had a great time and will be back for more next year. Following Ozark we attended a WONDERFUL show in Gonzales, LA. Again, another early morning show setup, and we were off to a fun filled day. Congratulations to Larry Johnson and crew for such an outstanding show.

Walkingstick sisters celebraing a combined 50 years in CFA

Then up the road again to Oklahoma City Cat Clubs hotel show in Oklahoma City, OK. Everyone commented on how nice it was to have a hotel show. Cheers could be heard from all of the new Grands!! Kudos to the Voersters and Janice Walkingstick for being so accommodating.

LH Trainee Wendy Heidt

Then up the road again to Denver, CO for Foot of the Rockies Cat Club with Abyssinian Midwest Breeders show. Needless to say, there were some rocky spots, as well as great fun and cheers. Cheryl and Steve Theiler, Dennis and Trudie Allen, along with Darrel Newkirk kept the show rolling along. Lots of great weather and happy exhibitors always makes for a great show. We are all wishing Wain Harding a speedy and uneventful recovery, and are looking forward to seeing Wain behind the table soon.

See ya'll in the show hall

Region 4

by John Colilla, Regional Director

The 2015 Toronto Annual will be at The Westin Harbour Castle. You can find all of the information that you need at http://2015cfaannual.org/.

There is an express train called "Union Pearson Express " (UP Express). It is a new dedicated airport express service between Toronto Pearson International Airport and downtown Toronto. The journey will be 25 minutes, with departures every 15 minutes. Once at Union Station, downtown Toronto, an enclosed glass walkway can be taken to within steps of the Westin Harbourfront. The cost of the train is around $20.00.

We have a Facebook page and are a member of Pinterest, both which provide information about our region. The links are https://www.facebook.com/cfagreatlakes and https://www.pinterest.com/carmencitamarie/great-lakes-region-cfa/

With the 2015-2016 show season, our region will be starting a contest to see who can being in the most new or from the past exhibitors. The winner will be getting a $50 gift certificate of their choice.

Be sure to mark your calendar with our upcoming shows:

April 18 Cincinnati Cat Club 4AB and 2 SP at Cleve, OH
April 25-25 Cat Nation Fanciers 7AB and 1 SP at Erie, PA
May 9 Anthony Wayne Cat Fanciers 5 AB 1 SP

Region 5

by Lisa Marie Kuta, Regional Director

As the season finishes up we are looking forward to two great shows.
First up, is Superstition Cat Fanciers on Saturday, May 23 in Phoenix.
Next is our awards show and banquet will be in Palm Springs on June 13.

The Southwest Region recently lost one of its most beloved cats, Padraic,
owned by sisters Julie and Margaret Benzer. Padraic was the SW Region's
2012-2013 Best Household Pet. He was a very special being both in and out
of the show ring. Whatever name you knew him by--Snowball, Pork Chop,
Killer, et al.--his je ne sais quoi drew you in and you had to pay
attention. Sweet boy you will be much missed.

Region 6

by Candilee Jackson, Midwest Region Secretary

MWR Planning Committee Updates:

The region's planning committee is busy preparing for the big awards show and banquet slated for June 20-21 at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Illinois. Menu selections have been chosen based on dietary needs and "yumminess" to match our fancy's palate, and "benching" of the banquet and reservations will be accepted shortly. Bobbie Weihrauch, sponsorship chair, is working with Lucy Drury, our webmistress, to open a link for clubs and individuals to sponsor awards. Mary Auth has created a slick, professional new MWR logo, and the region is responding with praise and good ideas. As usual, lots going on in the MWR.

Show Reports

Cat 'n on the Fox/North Shores: March 28-29, Wheaton, Illinois

Mary Auth with her Best HHP

Long time shelter adoption advocate Cindy Willoughby and her friend Jill Gehrmann, took 8 pound purries to the Cat 'n on the Fox/North Shores Show in hopes of adopting them to forever homes.

Gate was pretty slow that day ... there were some lookers at the kitties but no serious contenders. Before the last HHP ring, a few people had been looking at the kittens. When the ring was called they followed us up to the ring to watch. Tyler had a ball the whole show...was just a purring machine and played. Tyson wasn't shown since he was a back up selection due to a adoption on the Friday before. Tyson loved the attention he was getting at the cage though. During that final HHP ring, a crowd formed to watch and after the class was judged, Cindy had 5-6 people come over to pet and hold Tyler. One was a lady who had her adult daughter with her. She spent quite a bit of time with Tyler, saying he was the perfect kitten. Back at the benching area, she continued to hold him, talk to us. Her concern was she had a 19 yr old cat at home who lost her buddy last year. She was worried about bringing a new one in, especially a kitten. I told her how to acclimate Tyler to a new home and to her resident cat. She was semi-retired so would have plenty of time to spend with him. After quite awhile she said she was going to think on it.

On Sunday Cindy got a text message saying SHE WANTED HIM--DID WE STILL HAVE HIM? She sent me another text later saying her best friend was going to adoption Tyson and then they could have play dates. So the brothers were technically still going to be together.

Tyson, Tyler, and their new moms

Monday Cindy got another text stating that she called the shelter and her application was approved as was her friends app. They were going to be there Tuesday morning to get their kittens. These sweet ladies drove about 4 hours one way to get their new fur kids.

I have been getting frequent updates...they both LOVE their boys. Tyler is now Skyler and Tyson is Mikey. At Skyler's vet checkup the vet and the staff all loved him and wanted to take him home. They couldn't believe how cuddly and sweet he was. Mikey's mom is over the moon happy with her little man too.

Catnap From The Heart shelter in LaGrange Park IL took all of our adults we brought up but one after the show was over. They took Diego, Corbin, Blaze,Jinx plus one we brought up for them and dropped off on Friday night that wasn't entered in the show. That left Dolly and the kittens to come home with us. It was meant to be that way I truly believe since I got the text on Sunday morning about Tyler and Tyson. I heard this week from Catnap that Corbin has already been adopted and gone home. :-)

Thank you Cat'n On The Fox for being fundamental in these wonderful matches.

Cats of Wisconsin: April 4, Waukesha, Wisconsin

Sharon Powell at the COWS Show

Brian Tripp, show entry clerk, stated, "We had one of the nicest looking raffles this side of the Mississippi! I only regret that no one took a photo of it. I think we made close to $1000 too! GO COWS!"

MWR Brags

Heather Minnemann is so excited to announce their FIRST "home-grown" Grand Champion, GC Marclay Lil' Kings Cream Ale, a cream lynx point Himalayan, at the Tennessee Valley Cat Club Show in Knoxville, Tennessee, on March 28^th. Breeder: Heather Minnemann and L Kerr; owner Heather Minnemann.

Nichole Byers is thrilled to announce GP Fagervoll Cosmo JR of Moscato granded at COWS in just FOUR shows! Cosmo is a Sepia Agouti Singapura bred by Mette Mjanger and parented by Nichole Byers.

Upcoming Shows:

April 25-26 America's Heartland Show Illinois Bldg, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield IL

June 20-21 MWR Awards Show Illinois Bldg, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield IL

Region 7

by Jean Dugger, Regional Director

The CFA Show Season comes to an end here in the Southern Region this upcoming weekend with the Southeastern Persian Society / National Birman Fanciers' show this upcoming weekend (and their famous potluck lunch!).

But we kick off the 2015-16 right off the bat come May 2-3rd with Rebel Rousers' show in Lawrenceville, GA.

Next, we celebrate our "Southern Stars" with our Regional Awards show June 13-14 in Duluth, GA.

Region 8

by Edward Maeda, Regional Director

I'm proud to announce about the Annual club meeting and Regional Award Banquet for 2014-2015 show season.

We have decided to hold these events on June 21, 2015 in Kyoto city. We will have Annual Club Meeting at Hotel Keihan meeting room from 1:00pm to 2:30pm before the Regional Award Banquet, Also we will hold the Regional Award Banquet at Hotel Granvia Kyoto. Banquet will open at 5:00pm and close at 8:00pm.

As you know, Kyoto is very famous and is the oldest capital city in Japan. It also has very nice sight-seeing spots such as the Golden temple and the Kiyomizu temple. We had Regional Award Banquet at there ten years ago or more. Thereafter, it was held in the Tokyo area. So long time ago.....Many exhibitors are very interested in this Award Banquet in Kyoto. Please join us for this banquet.

Congratulations to all winners !! Come to Kyoto and join us !!

Region 9

submitted by Michael Schleissner

From Moscow, Russia to Cospicua, Malta - 2 show reports from Region 9

Moscow city, Russia 15th February 2015 - Edelweiss cat club - total 140 entries
For the 2nd time Edelweiss cat club hosted the Valentine's CFA show in the centre of Moscow.

The location is really special - the building has a triangle ground floor and all 3 walls are triangles too - a perfect tetrahedron shape. The lower floors hosts various shops while the top floor is an universal exhibition area with a nice restaurant in the centre.
Edelweiss Cat Club has developed a colour schema - each show ring has an unique colour for the background as well the table skirts. The real rosettes (made in Germany), presented on the rosette tree, reflects the colour schema and each ring is like an unique stage. The only surprise is: Does the chosen costume & suit of the judges fits into this perfect set-up?
Please have a look yourself here

Even it was a 1 day show the judges, members of show committee and a few exhibitors met on the common dinner table to celebrate the results of this Valentine's day 2015. The common dinner after the show is a well spread tradition in region 9 where exhibitors became friends and new exhibitors realize there is much more in the CFA community than the competition between the cats in the ring

Cottonera, Cospicua, Malta 28th February & 1st March 2015 - Malta Cat Society - total 53 entries

After some break Malta Cat Society, under new leadership, made the very first 2 day - 8 ring CFA show on this beautiful island in the middle of the Mediterranean sea. The foreign exhibitors discuss flying hours (not driving hours) and their adventures with cats on-board the aircrafts.

The CFA show took place in the biggest sport hall in Cospicua, near the centre of the island. Malta Cat Society express gratitude to all judges to accept super-speciality ring format in Championship class. 80 additional awards provided by Royal Canin Malta could be offered exclusive to LH cats - 80 additional awards sponsored by Royal Canin were given exclusive to SH cats.

Malta Cat Society together with the 8 judges successfully managed a CFA show with 40 finals and a total of 400 awards! Have you seen this anywhere before? Malta might be a small island but Malta Cat Society demonstrated it's passion, commitment & open heart in full favour of CFA and CFA community. I heard Malta Cat Society wants to take more responsibility and Malta Cat Society is ready for more CFA shows and other CFA events. To my surprise I recognized some faces on the Saturday club dinner in Malta as I met them just 2 weeks before in Moscow. Even a 7 to 8 hours flight could not break the CFA exhibitor community in region 9 apart - what a strong commitment from CFA Region 9 exhibitors towards Malta Cat Society and towards CFA! Watch out - look for more CFA events in region 9 - young & big - strong & committed - simple CFA Region 9.

International Division

Dick Kallemyer is on an extended overseas trip and unable to send a report this month.

Have a question or a comment about the CFA Newsletter?

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Teresa Keiger

CFA Newsletter Editor