PCTC News: Board Briefs

The PCTC 2008 Annual meeting was held at the Mt. Vernon Inn in Mt. Vernon, VA.

Officers' Reports

President John Cleland: Over the years our club has enjoyed its share of success. The awards here today show that 2007 is no exception; our members’ Cairns did well at Montgomery, Westminster, and the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship. These successes show that the hundreds of hours you devote to your breeding programs do lead to the continued perfection of the Cairn terrier breed, something we can be very proud.

Beyond the joy of watching our Cairns do their job and the good-natured competition, these events preserve the working qualities and the standard of this wonderful breed. We know our Cairns can still do the jobs they were bred to do. As gratifying and wonderful as all the success is, it would be impossible without each and every one of you. You make our club what it is today. Wherever you look you will find a member of PCTC contributing his or her time, knowledge, and abilities in some way. For PCTC to continue to thrive and to be the successful organization it has become we all have to pitch in. Our Specialty will be coming up in April and it will be a good opportunity to volunteer. Molly Wilder is going to need a lot of help. At my first board meeting as president, I realized that we, the Board, needed more than just ourselves and the committee chairs if we wanted to continue the legacy of our predecessors. My next thought; Get involved. We need your new thoughts; your new ideas. We always need more hands. Participate.

Secretary Peggy Slattery: The Annual minutes for 2007 were typed and presented in the June edition of Thistletalk. PCTC’s regular class judge for 2010, Peter Green, has been contacted and has accepted the club’s invitation. Also, the 2010 Sweepstakes judge, Letisha Wubbel, has accepted PCTC’s invitation. The Board met 4 times during the past year and the minutes have been distributed. A brief overview has been put in Thistletalk under Board Briefs. The Secretary keeps in touch with AKC and other Cairn club affiliates –such as CTCA. Letters were sent to all club members with the upcoming slate of officers and any additional names were to be sent to the Secretary for the club’s vote at the annual meeting. One reply were received and then withdrawn. Also, of special note, the Club sent Mary Desloge a permanent life-time membership in honor of her many years of service. Also, Mary celebrated her 90th birthday on December 26th of which the club made a special commemoration.

Treasurer Beth Koris: A copy of the financial report for 2007 may be obtained by contacting Beth Koris via e-mail or phone number listed on the home page.

Committee Reports

Breeder Referral [Roberta Perry, Marsha Quinn]: The Breeder Referral committee provides information to people who are considering adding a Cairn terrier to their family. This past year we received an average of 3 contacts per week. If you are a PCTC breeder, owner, or co-owner, you can ask to be put on the referral list when you have a Cairn to place. Breeder Referral does not use Thistletalk litter announcements or second party information for their referral list. We encourage you to contact us directly if you have a Cairn needing placement. Thank you for allowing us the opportunity to share our love for Cairns.

Rescue [Lynda Hammel, Sharon Howse, Linda Savage]: In 2007, 11 Cairns were fostered and placed. Seven of the foster Cairns were between 8 months and 2 years old. Currently PCTC has 3 Cairns in foster homes and two on petfinder.com as direct referrals. The rescue committee has met to discuss guidelines for future donations to other groups, outreach ideas and to review current rescue forms to determine if changes were needed. As of today, Lois Cleland and Veronica Hudak-Moe are the rescue co-chairs. If you have an interest in helping with rescue, please contact them.

Field Trial Committee [Veronica Hudak-Moe]: The club held 2 field trials in 2007. The first was held on May 13th at Roberta Perry’s home in Spotsylvania, VA. There were 39 Cairns entered in the races and 15 in Go-to-ground. The second field trial was held on September 23rd at Will & DiAnn Flory’s home in Culpeper. There were 51 Cairns entered in the Races and 23 in Go-to-Ground. Thank you to everyone who helped out with the field trials. Without you, the field trials cannot continue to be a success. We are always looking for volunteers to host, help out, and to haul equipment. If you are willing to do any of these things, please let me know.

Field Trial Registrar [Judith Simmons]: PCTC held two trials in 2007. At the May trial, GREMLINS ON THE ROCKS, owned by Jackie Sowards, earned a Sporting Certificate; and at the trial in September, MOORGREENS BUTTERSCOTCH AND HONEY, owned by Will and DiAnn Flory, and NIGHTFALLS A STITCH IN TIME, owned by Lynda Hammel, each earned Sporting Certificates.

Membership [Colleen Finch]: This year we have seventeen new members. No applications are pending at present. As of this writing we have 177 families/members. The following were voted in as new members at the November Meeting: Theresa Leech, Joyce Adams-Taylor, Maxene Bowers, Beth Wilder-Wilson, and Eleanor Parker. The following were voted in as new members at the February Board Meeting: Rita Hull, Gwendolynn Slavik, Chuck and Maria Tishue, and Judy and Steve Ochs.

Newsletter [Veronica Hudak-Moe]: PCTC members who express the desire to receive the newsletter online will be provided a link via e-mail whenever an issue is released. To date, there are 28 households who have opted to receive the newsletter online. 71 households still receive the hardcopy via snail mail. Opting for the online version saves the club money, saves volunteer time, and saves paper. The newsletter continues to be published 6 times per year. In 2007, I edited the issues and DiAnn printed and mailed the hard copies.

The editors will continue to accept breed and dog-related articles from any member, as well as photographs. The editors prefer information to be sent electronically, as this makes the job of merging the information into the newsletter much easier and cuts down on the possibility of error. When submitting articles and information, we encourage members to use the Thistle Talk e-mail address: ThistleTalk@PotomacCTC.org.

April will be my last issue. Therefore, we need volunteers to take over the editing in order to keep the newsletter going.

Ways and Means [Mary & Stephen Sudkamp]: Ways & Means merchandise was available for sale at all club events. Additionally, the auction basket for CTCA was handled by the committee. Currently, work is underway to create an online store featuring specialty merchandise. Veronica has agreed to lend her expertise in setting this up on the internet. The amount netted from sales and auction: $4809.04. Total expenses: $2694.16. Profit for PCTC: $2114.88

PCTC Specialty Weekend 2008 [Molly Wilder]: The Theme for this year’s Specialty is Cairn Country Fair. Packets have been mailed out. Dinner will include a limited live auction. Ann Priddy is doing the Specialty trophies. Beth Wilder-Wilson is in charge of Hospitality. Peggy Slattery has volunteered to be in charge of advertisements for the catalog. Diane Orange has painted a Cairn logo for a ring-side chair as a raffle item. Everything is in good order and volunteers are greatly welcomed.

Web Site [Veronica Hudak-Moe]: The web site will celebrate its 8th anniversary this June. The following changes have been made in the last year: (1) Rescue dogs are now listed on Petfinder.com. (2) A “Members Area” was added where members can register and login to view an online members’ directory, update their own contact information, view and print various PCTC forms and more.

Specialty Judges Survey [Karen Wilson]: There were 52 valid ballots received for counting. No late ballots were received. Regular Class Judges for 2011 – in order of preference were: (1) Richard Powell (2) Christine Carter (3) Carol Beattie. Richard Powell has accepted PCTC’s invitation to judge.

Sweepstakes classes for 2011 – in order of preference were: (1) Joyce Adams-Taylor (2) Judith Irby Wickham (3) DiAnn Flory. Joyce Adams-Taylor has accepted the club’s invitation for 2011.

The judges for future shows are:
2009 Regular classes – Linda More; Sweepstakes – Louise Hooper
2010 Regular classes – Peter Green; Sweepstakes – Letisha Wubbel

All Judges balloting information has been turned over to the President with my recommendations. A new Chairperson will be needed for the coming years.

Selection of PCTC Fun Match Judges: Three names were presented for a vote for the fall and spring matches: Ann Gates, Beth Hendrick, and John Cleland. Ann Gates and Beth Hendrick were selected. Beth Hendrick will be invited for the spring match, as Ann Gates chose to judge the winter match.

Presentation of 2007 Annual Awards [Lois Cleland]: Eighteen awards were presented for Conformation champions. One award was presented for Performance champion. Please refer to the list of Annual Awards for details.

Special Service Award: The 2007 award was presented to Lynda Hammel to honor her years of dedication and service to Potomac Cairn Terrier Rescue. Her compassion and love have saved many lives and touched many hearts.

President's Award: The 2007 award was presented to Bill Kent for embodying the goals and ideals of the Potomac Cairn Terrier Club and for outstanding service at the national level in 2007.

Nominating Committee Report [Lydia Hutchinson, Chairperson]: The new slate of officers is as follows: President-John Cleland, Vice President-Ann Gates, Secretary-Peggy Slattery, Treasurer-Beth Koris. Board of Directors: Lynda Hammel, Lydia Hutchinson, and Stephen Sudcamp. There were no additional nominations. The Secretary cast a vote for approval of the nominated slate of officers. All agreed.

Old Business: No items were brought up for discussion

New Business:
(1) Lynda Hammel inquired if there could be some way to receive information on judges for the nomination and voting process. As it stands, club members receive a form with AKC approved judges but no other information. John Cleland stated that the Board will discuss this suggestion. He thought one idea which might be considered is to ask Veronica if she could set up a discussion program online so members could “chat” and present some facts concerning different judges.
(2) A suggestion was made to incorporate obedience and/or agility as part of the fun match schedule.
(3) President Cleland made special mention of Lydia Hutchinson having achieved her 200th Conformation champion

Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 PM.