| National English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association
Minutes of the Annual Meeting in Ogden, Utah
November 3, 2005
Determination of Quorum Delegates were identified and there was a roll call of the delegates. Thirty-six delegates were present which constituted a quorum for the meeting. Acceptance of the Minutes of the 2004 Annual Meeting It was moved and seconded that the minutes of the 2003 Annual meeting held in McPherson, Kansas as posted on the ESSFT.com website be approved. Motion carried President’s Message Bob Child welcomed the delegates and thanked everyone for coming. He noted that it is a lot of hard work to put on a National Championship and that his committee has been very dedicated and has done the best job that it could do. The grounds had been selected and visited several times to ensure that they were using the best grounds possible. He asked that those who might be critical of the trial keep in mind all of the hard work that has been done. Treasurer’s Report It was moved and seconded that the Treasurer’s report as posted on the ESSFT.com website be approved as posted. Motion carried Election of Officers Jason Givens, Chair of the nominating committee, presented the
slate of officers as recommended by his committee:
It was moved and seconded that the slate of officers as presented by Jason Givens be approved. Motion carried. Announcement of 2006 National Open Judges It was announced that the judges elected for the 2006 National Open are Paul McGagh and Tom Meyer. Member Club dues for 2006 It was moved and seconded that the member club dues remain at $75.00 for 2006. Motion carried. Location and Dates of 2006 National Open Bob Montler discussed the planned 2006 National Open. The Mid-East Interclub is hosting the event which will be held at the Hillendale Hunt Club and Crawford Farms outside Altoona, PA. The starting date for the trial will be November 12, 2006. The headquarters hotel will be the Ramada Inn in Altoona. Jim Boone will be the Field Trial Chairman and the committee will include members from each interclub. Bob Montler discussed the date and noted that in the past five years the National Open has been held in early November in all but one year. Bob Montler moved that the proposed dates and location of the 2006 National Open be accepted. The motion was seconded. The motion carried. Point Qualification for Dogs entering the 2006 National Open Gary Wilson gave his committee’s report on the point qualification for the National Open. He referred to all of the work done previously by John Wright and his committee on this same issue. Gary Wilson recommended that the point qualification be changed to two points. He commented that if the qualification stays at one point and if the size of the trial is large then particular attention needs to be paid to securing more grounds and moving courses more often so that the cover is adequate to withstand the level of use that a large trial requires or the quality of the trial will suffer. Dean Reinke moved and Jason Givens seconded that the point qualification for the 2006 National Open be two points. A roll call vote was taken. Fifteen in favor and twenty-one against. Motion failed. Steve Beyer commented that several people who voted against the motion were personally in favor of the change but did not have an opportunity to discuss the report with their clubs. He requested that the report be distributed to the clubs for discussion. It was then moved and seconded to keep the point qualification at one point for the 2006 National Open. Motion carried. Entry Fees for the 2006 National Open It was moved and seconded that the entry fees for the 2006 National Open be $200.00 Tim Edwards commented that in the past few years the National Open had been accumulating funds. Was the organization going to have a problem if it had too much cash? Mhari Peschel stated that while at some point it may be a problem the organization should be looking at some future expenditures; possibly for grounds or a software package in the event the parent club package does not overcome its current obstacles. Dean Reinke commented that it has been shown that it costs approximately $270 per dog to put on a national and in order not to place undue burden on the committee for fundraising the entry fee should stay at $200.00 Motion Carried. Other Business Qualification Period Bob Montler suggested that perhaps we should be looking at a different cutoff date for the qualification of dogs to enter the National. He noted that the Retrievers use a July 31 to July 31 year for qualification and that works very well. Dean Reinke agrees with the concept of having a July to July period. Jim Boone commented that if we made that change this year the first year could be grandfathered to include dogs that had qualified in the fall of 2005 for the National Open. Jason Givens commented that from a professional handlers point of view the July to July doesn’t work because of planning with clients to make sure that dogs are back with the trainer in time to prepare for the National but what about a cut off date that is two weeks before the National starting date. Tim DeGroff commented that the benefit of the July to July cutoff is in planning the National trial. It would help in ordering birds and making some of the facility arrangements if you had an idea of the size of the trial. Cheryl Sligar asked what the optimum time for the trial secretary would be in terms of closing to allow for the preparation of the catalog and compilation of some of the statistical data. Mhari Peschel said that 2-3 weeks would be good. Don Giddens suggested that October 1 to October 1 might be a better cutoff period. Gary Wilson commented that another problem is having the National Open and the National Amateur too close together in terms of starting dates. The dates of this years National’s and the locations of the trials made it impossible for some people to attend both and resulted in the unexpectedly low numbers of entries in this years National. It was moved by Dean Reinke and seconded by Bob Montler that the closing date of the National Open be eighteen days before the starting date of the trial and that only placement in trials held before that date will qualify a dog for entry in the National Open. The motion carried. Mark Hairfield commented that this still does nothing with respect to trials being held in hot weather in order to qualify for the National. Tim DeGroff commented that the July to July change would help alleviate the hot weather trials. Management Board Dean Reinke commented that the National Open needs a “Board of Directors” that can handle the discussion and investigation of issues facing the National and could provide some consistency in the recommendations that are made to the delegates for approval. Mark Hairfield agreed that this would be a good idea. Dean Reinke commented that it would also give the organization more opportunities for sponsorship rather than just focusing on putting on the National Field Trial. Dean Reinke moved and it was seconded that a committee chaired by Bob Montler be formed to address this issue. Motion Carried. Chris Christensen Cheryl Sligar told the group that Chris Christensen had recently died. She gave some history of Chris’s participation in our sport and said she would be circulating a card to send to Janet. Briefing by the 2005 Field Trial Chairman Bob Child introduced Larry Buggeln, the Field Trial Chair. Larry reviewed some rules for activities in the field and gave information about the caravans and the starting time for the trial. Adjournment It was moved and second that the meeting be adjourned. Motion carried.
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