THE CHINESE SHAR-PEI CLUB OF AMERICA, INC.  GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
JULY 5, 1996

ATTENDANCE     Elizabeth Straube, Eve Simons, Mary, Crafton, Laureen Smith, Sarah, Stanley, JoAnn Leistner, Deborah,McFarland,Jane Good, Brian Flahire, Carolyn Patterson, Claudia Henley, Sue Mays, Charlee Abrams, Alta M., Germany, Harriet Land, Gail Tighe, Patrick Tighe, Judy Welch, Sidney Nazario, Lynn Olds,James A. Harvey, Nicole Philips,John Cochran, Pastor Alan Kiessig, Julia Cregger, Connie Johnson, Vickie Waters, Sue Anderson, Dixie Williams, Valley, Can Lee Williams, Roy Anderson, Joan Wilkinsan ‘Dahiet", Gayle Wigyins, Monica Whitley, Lisa Webster, Bernard Hastings, Barbara Hastings, Beverly Foster , Paul Foster, Wallace K. Welch, Linda Rowley, Donne Jordan, Prissy Welch, Mary Flores, Darlene Wright, Scott Montague, Carrie Montague, Bonnie Watson, B.J. Stoney, Brianna Taylor, Shirley Rafferty, Shea Skinner, Todd Skinner, Sherry Munsee, Debi Turner, Thad Taylor, Tim Ball,, Anita Ufley, Nancy Camera, Sheila Marquart, Dee Dee Wells, JoAnn Redditt, Georgette Schaefer, Avory Lewis, Craig Lewis, Romana Arnold, Lee Arnold, Linda Graling, Don Graling, SamJohe, Bob Walling, Vicki Mauk,JeffMauk, Bryan Timby, Gail Garrison, Rosie Steinke, Robert Hall, Lana Sayer, Ron Sayer, Marla Gularte, Brenda Williams, Debbie Smith,Jeff Chamberlain, Ruth Balladone, Mary Lou Smith, Bonnie Stoney, Janet Dahlin, Dawn Stefanski, Pat Zimmel Roach, Sharon Johnson, Sandra Frasier, Mara M. Snyder. Lynette Richardson, Linda C. Smith, Larry Rafferty, Jocelyn Barker, Dawn Walling, Judy Dorough.

MINUTES     The meeting opened with CSPCA Charitable Trust Chairman, Lee Arnold speaking on the Charitable Trust. Lee reported that the CSPCA reached our goal, in fact we surpassed our goal. Lee thanked the committee for their help and support.  Dr. Gary Johnson gave his report on the progress of research for Amyloidosis. Dr. Johnson is hoping for a test soon. Any questions may be directed directly to Dr. Johnson at his office (314) 882-6723.

Recess taken at 5:15p.m.

Our meeting reconvened at 5:40 PM. President, Jocelyn Barker thanked Shirley and Larry Rafferty for a superb job in coordinating the 1996 Nationals. Jocelyn asked for people to volunteer to approve the general membership minutes, those volunteers are as follows:  Gail Tighe-Western Region, Dawn Stefanski-Eastern Region Nancy Camara-Central Region

SECRETARY’S REPORT

Secretary, Judy Dorough read the results of the Ballots. They are as follows: The following ran unopposed and were elected.

Vice President: Cathi Schneider. Treasurer: Kay Rosenberger Western Director: Dawn Walling Central Director: Robert Hall. An election was held in the Eastern Region for Eastern Director. Elected were Romana Arnold and Kimberly Phiipps. There were 472 Ballots returned, 12 improperly completed, 7 returned with incorrect address, 2 received late.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT  Jocelyn stated that the results of the Board of Directors voting on issues appear in The Barker. Jocelyn also reminded members that her vote only counts in case of a tie and only in the affirmative.
Jocelyn stated that it has been a challenging and difficult year. We have a strong membership and we are one of the largest breed clubs. We also need to campaign for more members. Jocelyn encouraged members to offer a gift membership to CSPCA when people are buying puppies.

TREASURER’S REPORT  (Financial Statement from Walt Lupeika in this issue.)

ASSISTANT SECRETARY’S REPORT  Membership secretary, Shirley Rafferty mailed 2,771 dues notices. Our goal is 5000 members.

BYLAWS & AMENDMENTS  By-Laws, Rules & Regulations Committee Chairman, Jocelyn Barker explained that AKC must approve our By-laws as well as any amendments. There has been some confusion with AKC on approving our Bylaws. Jocelyn stated this confusion has nothing to do with any of our members or past presidents as they have done their job; the confusion is with AKC alone. AKC is particularly concerned with our procedure for nomination of officers. AKC suggests that we appoint a nominating committee. Jocelyn asked that if we appoint a nominating committee, could we compliment this nominating committee with our current nominating procedures. AKC said that this was a possibility and she would consider it. The second concern is if there should be more seats elected at large (meaning elected by the whole membership) in-stead of by regions (we currently elect nine regionally and four at large). Jocelyn’s recommendation is that we go along with AKC on this issue. Jocelyn also stated that we spend between $7,000 and $9,000 on a election. The Board has a problem spending clubs money this way. The Board suggests that we print ballots on the back of the address sheet inserted in The Barker. This would allow for membership to respond to issues as many as six times a year. This would reduce our balloting expenses immensely. Jocelyn asked the membership for a vote of support to accept the changes regarding the balloting procedure, regional representation and nominating committee. Jocelyn stated that she can use these changes as a negotiating chip to get AKC to allow us to change our voting procedures as well. When we do amend our Bylaws, we won’t have to spend the thousands of dollars on a ballot. Jocelyn entertained a motion from the board.
A motion was made by Robert Hall seconded by Georgette Schaefer and passed unanimously to give Jocelyn a vote of support to negotiate with AKC the necessary changes relative to the by-laws being negotiated and accepted.

STANDARD COMMiTTEE  Co-Chairman, Darlene Wright has comments on the Standard from the last five years. The Board decided to eliminate any comments from the floor at this time and asked that all comments be written and submitted to any Board Member. A notebook was passed around. The Standard Committee consists of the Board of Directors and they will be discussing any revisions of the Standard at the next Board meeting in Kansas City on September 21-22, 1996. Darlene has to date a total of 61 suggestions.

ADOA  Bert Hickman provides continuing reports on the activities of the ADOA. The CSPCA is a current member. Bert was unavailable for comment.

NATIONAL ANNUAL SPECIALTY SHOW COMMITTEE    Jo Ann Leistner, Co-Chairman of the 1997 National Annual Specialty Committee, reported that the Judges Election Committee will have the option to determine costs, etc. for judges. If the memberships #1 choice for a judge has their expenses too high the Committee has the ability to select second choice, etc. This is for budgetary reasons. Next years National Specialty will be held on August 26 through 29, 1997 in Kansas City Missouri.

NATIONAL JUDGES SELECTION COMMITTEE  Chairman, Robert Hall gave a report of judges for the 1997 Nationals. Robert received 108 ballots from members—the results follow:

Best of Breed - Jack Russell; Dogs; -Jane Forsythe; Bitches - Sharon Crowe; Dogs - Sweeps - Mrs. James C. Clark; Bitches Sweeps - Jackie Stacey; Futurity - Frank Sabella. The proposed schedule is Tuesday, Futurity; Wednesday, Sweeps Bitches and Conformation Dogs; Thursday, Sweeps Dogs and Conformation Bitches and Friday, Best of Breed. This will be a four-day show. The breed judge will judge Junlors. All 1997 judges are AKC, not breeder judges. They are considering having obedience in the evening. Robert stated that the membership has voted to have all AKC judges next year, which is unusual. Robert stated that the procedure for picking national judges is to make selections at the National Show prior and that tomorrow there will be a form for selecting 1998 judges available at the show. Also there will be a nomination list in The Barker. The ballots are tallied with the first choice of judged to be considered to have the greatest number of votes. Robert’s report will appear in The Barker.

Robert resigned from the Judges Selection Committee and has completed his assignment for 1997. Robert will no longer chair the Committee for 1998 for personal reasons. Robert Hall recommends Gail Garrison from Florida be on this committee along with Jocelyn Barker; Cathi DiGiacomo will Chair the Committee. He has the approval of the board for this replacement.

Robert Hall asked for a straw vote on the following issue: We have a total of five judges for our Nationals; other AKC dubs don’t have this many judges. Robert stated that having fewer judges would reduce our expenses. There was general discussion. Most liked the current way we are using our judges. Robert stated that perhaps in negotiating fees with judges we can remain the way we are.

The board has given the Judges Selection Committee the power to negotiate with judges on their fees, etc. The Committee will have the option of choosing #2 or #3 judge if the expenses are too high on #1 or #2.

HISTORIAN     Mary Ellen Tarman did not attend the meeting. Refer to her report in The Barker.

BUDGET & FINANCE  Jocelyn Barker explained we are losing money in our The Barker fund. The more pages of information we supply to the membership, the more money our The Barker costs us. We need $21,000 of advertising each month to cover costs. Jocelyn stated that our Bylaws have not been printed in a long time and from now on the January-February issue will carry a current copy of our Bylaws. One suggestion was that the print could be smaller so we can publish all needed information. Jo Ann Redditt was commended for all her efforts in working with the Board and the membership in keeping costs down and still maintaining an excellent magazine. A motion was made by Judy Dorough and seconded by Shirley Rafferty to approve the proposed budget prepared by the Budget and Finance Committee. Motion passed unanimously.

Suggestions from the membership     There was a discussion in favor of increasing dues to $45 for single and family membership. This would increase the single membership $5, the family membership would remain the same. The board will vote on this at the September Board Meeting.

BREEDER REFERRAL     AKC Breeder Referral Chairman, Jocelyn Barker stated that we are out of the "Introduction to the Chinese Shar-Pei" pamphlets. Jocelyn passed around a reformatted issue of this Guide and asked the membership if they have any additional input. Jocelyn noted that she added an article on Amyloidosis and an article about children and Shar-Pei. The Board will be discussing this at the September meeting.

AUDiT     Albert Daly, no report. The current audit began before Mr. Daly was appointed and is progressing.

HEALTH THROUGH EDUCATION    Jeff Vidt was not able to attend. Jocelyn stated that if anyone has any questions, they may call Jeff and he will be more than happy to answer them.

CERF     Barbara Byse has a database on the Chinese Shar-Pei. There were seven registered dogs in 1995, five registered in 1996. See Committee Reports in this issue for her report.

JUNIORS    Bryan Timby reported on the Juniors activities at Nationals. They had a pizza party and their annual meeting. Bryan stated he wished there was more participation from the Juniors. There was concern that at the AKC shows the juniors that are winning are exhibiting a flashier dog. Bryan has no answer to this and welcomes any suggestions we as the memberships might have. Discussion followed.

AFFILIATED CLUBS     Georgette Schaefer reported that the committee is working with other breed clubs getting information from those clubs and asking their input on how they distribute information to their affiliated clubs.

THE BARKER LIAISON     See The Barker Report.

RESCUE     The committee is working hard and are always available.

AKC JUDGES’ EDUCATION     Coordinator, Robert Hall reported he is doing a seminar at 8:00 am. on Saturday, July 6th. He has three to six AKC judges registered at this seminar. Robert feels this is an extremely important program. There will be a seminar in Houston, Texas, at the Astro Hall Show with NonSporting judges. Robert is very encouraged about the education we are supplying to judges.

PRESIDENTS’ GROUP     Robert Hall thanked and recognized Alice Pool for her organization of this Committee; it is an outstanding group. Robert shared some of the Presidents’ group concerns-one being rescue; the other the Junior group. Robert thanked Bryan Timby for his great efforts. Officers of the affiliated clubs should be CSPCA members. Robert will present his recommendations to the Board. Robert volunteered to chair this Presidents’ Committee. All presidents will be informed of all issues. Romana made a suggestion to distribute this information to club secretaries instead of presidents; there was discussion on this. The committee will take this under consideration. Jocelyn reminded the membership that any change of officers should be immediately sent to the secretary, Jo Ann Redditt and their Directors, as well as Robert Hall.

Jocelyn thanked Ted Jarvis for his video presentation. Ted taped Dr johnson and the AKC representative, Debra Lynch. Jocelyn will make copies of this tape and make it available to anyone that would like it.

THE BARKER REPORT     Jo Ann Redditt asked for volunteers to be guest columnists for the AKC Gazette column. A Membership drive is in effect. Purina canceled their corporate advertising. All The Barker covers for 1996 are reserved and most of the covers for 1997 are reserved; Jo Ann has some reservations for 1998. Call Jo Ann to reserve a space if you wish to advertise on the cover. Jocelyn informed the membership that the Board has approved to forgo the publishing of the National Specialty winners on the covers of The Barker due to the floating dates of the Nationals. Due to the cost of color ads, the Board approved (starting with the 1997 National Specialty) the policy of publishing all win pictures in black and white. The cost difference is $216 per picture. No upgrades will be allowed on those win pictures, however you may place a color ad at your own expense.
     Jocelyn reported on a letter from AKC fining the CSPCA for lateness of a show application. Jocelyn informed the membership that it was not the National Specialty, but a regional club that was late and that they will be paying the fine. The new procedure will be to make application to John Hartman seven months prior to your show dates. John will check the application and he will sign these and forward them to AKC. This will take effect January 1, 1997. The first show to be affected would be July 1997.
     Jane Good reported on the competitive bidding on The Barker, four bids have been submitted.     
     Judy Dorough has the ballots of the last election at this meeting. Jocelyn entertained a motion to destroy the ballots. A motion was made by Shirley Rafferty seconded by Georgette Schaefer to destroy the ballots motion passed unanimously.

NEW BUSINESS     Jocelyn stated according to the Bylaws, up to as frequently as five years the board must interview the makeup of the regions and determine that they remain equal. Currently, we have 1,300 members in the Eastern Region, 680 members in the Central and Western Regions combined. Jocelyn asked if anyone has any suggestions on redistricting to contact one of the Board members. The Board will address the redistricting at the September 21st Board Meeting. This will require a Bylaw change.

The Board will meet in Kansas City on September 21, 1996, as this involves the least expensive air fare.     The new Board of Directors will meet immediately following the General Meeting.

Meeting adiourned at 7:45 PM.

Submitted by Judy Dorough