BCOA Board Meeting Minutes
August 14, 2002
Conference Call

Minutes of the December 1, 2001 Board Meeting:  The minutes were approved as submitted.

Trophy Supported Entries:

Requests for BCOA Trophy Supported Entries were received and processed for:  
8/11/02 - Greater Racine KC, Racine, WI    
Judge - Carol Esterkin, Sweeps - Carol Starr  
10/20/02 - Del Valle Dog Club of Livermore, Pleasanton , CA  
Judge – Alan Pepper, Sweeps – Nitza Trayler  
11/3/02 - Northwestern Indiana KC, Fort Wayne, IN
Judge – TBD, Sweeps – Katie Averill  
11/17/02 - Greater Gainesville Dog Fanciers, Gainesville, FL  
Judge – Dr Asa Mays, Sweeps – Karen Mays  
12/14/02 - Richland County KC, Cleveland, OH  
Judge – J. Lyons, Sweeps – Ronald Mater  
1/25/03 - Abilene KC, Abilene, TX  
Judge – Dr John Reeve-Newson, Sweeps – Chris Swilley  
5/10/03 - Baton Rouge KC, Baton Rouge , LA  
Judge – Dr Jacklyn Hungerland, Sweeps – K.C. Artley  

Shen brought a concern from the MBC Board that there are too many TSE’s being approved. They would like the TSE’s to be grouped with regional specialties rather than with any local show. The original purpose of the TSE’s was to provide a BCOA presence in areas that do not have a large number of Borzoi in order to attract an entry. They have now become so common that the entries are not necessarily very large, and this could be a concern for sweepstakes judges that have to pay their own expenses to judge. The original purpose seems to conflict with one of the job duties of the Regional Governor, which is to promote TSE’s in their areas. There is concern that the TSE is no longer special. It was determined that this will be on the agenda for our November meeting. All the Regional Governors should solicit their regions for input regarding this issue and bring the feedback to this meeting.  

2^nd Readings: 
Colleen M Boyle and Pauline L. Coe, Rita Linck, Carolyn Mueller, Stephen Sharp, Roma Mason. 
As no correspondence was received on any of these applicants, Kathleen Kapaun moved that these applications be accepted into membership, seconded by Kathryn Wright. MOTION PASSED.

1st Readings: All correspondence regarding these applicants should be sent to the Recording Secretary, Lydia Pruett.

Nolan and Melissa Rundquist,2944 217^th Pl SW, Briet, WA 98036-8045 (sponsored by Cyndi Dell and Chris Swilley), Charles Shatzkin and Bari Wroblewski,2515 Tucker Road, New Woodstock, NY 13122(sponsored by Dee Burkholder and Roy Silguero), Neil Podoba, 2544 Center St, Mitchell, IL 62040 (sponsored by Chere Fuessel and Pat Shaw), S.Michele Ray, 5616 Prytania St, New Orleans, LA 70115 (sponsored by Paula Moore and Sandra Moore), Susanna and Kristiina Vouttlainen, Haapaniementie 14 C20,70100 Kuopio, Finland (sponsored by Jane Bishop and Lize Edland), Barbara S Blair, 9321 County Road 3, Nickerson, NE 68044 (sponsored by Cindy Gredys and Susan Caulkins) ,Kelly Schomer, 1847 E 99^th Ave, Thornton, CO 80229 (sponsored by Sandra Moore and Maggie Rice), Laurette B McKenny, 1094 Camp Kiniga Road, Colchester, VA 55446 (sponsored by Louenna Avery and Kay Henderson), Shirley McFadden and Michael McFadden, 771 Water Tower Road, Axtelil, TX 76624-1118 (sponsored by Nancy Hopkins and Sara Whittington), Edward and Linda Bourne, 2435 Hwy 21 N, Berryville, AR 72616-4948 (sponsored by Roger and Joyce Katona and Richard Mason Terry), Patricia B Horne, 4809 Oaksong Ct, Fugary, NC 27526-9080 (sponsored by Paula Moore and Sandra Moore), Horace W Pearce (to be added to the household of BCOA member Marina Pearce), 2630 Harkins Road, White Hall, MD 21161 (sponsored by Roni and Jennifer Zucker and Karen Staudt-Cartabona), Meghann D. Lord 1178 Providence Rd, Deltaville VA,23043 (sponsored by Melanie Richards and Susanna Holmberg)

The Constitution amendments were approved by the membership as 2/3 of the ballots returned approved the changes. We have not yet received the certified results from the tabulator to submit to AKC. The tabulator has been ill, so Karen Mays agreed to contact him to determine if he will be able to provide this to us. If not, Lydia will submit the results to AKC along with a letter explaining the situation and ask for special consideration for their approval.

There was discussion regarding how balloting is done to select our Specialty judges. With over 60% of the membership submitting votes, only 8% of those returning ballots actually elects our judge. The problem appears to be that there are too many names on the final ballot. A motion to reduce the amount of names on the final ballot to 5 names starting with the 2005 ballot was made by K.C. Artley, seconded by Prudence Hlatky. MOTION PASSED.

A motion was made by Kathryn Wright to approve the Recording Secretary’s report, seconded by Christine Bradley. MOTION PASSED.

Since this report is not sent out to the membership, there was a request that Karen Mays discuss AKC rule changes at our meetings so they are entered into the minutes, as that may be the only way some of the membership becomes aware of these changes.

All dogs entered in the Bred-by Exhibitor class must be individually registered with AKC. The person handling the dog must be a breeder of record of the dog and an owner of record of the dog. AKC is going to be very strict about this. AKC is mandating that all show giving clubs provide each judge with contact information in the event that the judge experiences an unexpected delay in arriving at the show site on the day of the show. This is to include a cell phone number for the show or the assistant show chairman. The club must submit the name, address and phone number of the show superintendent or show secretary and the show veterinarian contracted to service their event. This must be included in the premium list, judging schedule or catalog. AKC will send one complimentary new titles report to each parent club every month. This report will be issued to a recipient designated by the parent club. Additional copies can be obtained for $180.00 each. This will be sent to us by email. We will have this sent to K.C. Artley and she will disseminate the information as needed. Effective October 16, 2002 the AKC approved breed standard must be published in the catalog for every independent National Specialty. Revisions to the Rules Applying to Dog Shows indicate that clubs holding their specialties in conjunction with all breed shows are now permitted to offer trophies that were previously not permitted except at independent specialties. These trophies include challenge trophies. Prizes not properly described in the premium list can not be awarded in the ring. A prize can not be described as a “breed related item”, it needs to be more specific.  

We received a request from the AKC Canine Health foundation that we consider donating $2600.00 over the next two years to help fund a study about hypothyroidism. This would be a matching fund. Projects that do not receive sufficient matching funds from clubs will be approved as funds are received. This would be in addition to the amount that we have donated for heart research. Barbara O’Neill made a motion that we contribute this amount and that it come out of our general funds. The motion was seconded by K.C. Artley. MOTION APPROVED. Karen Mays will write to Ginger Jones to let her know that this has been approved and will send her the forms to complete and submit to AKC.  

We received a letter from AKC asking if we were going to participate in the Meet the Breeds presentation at the AKC Invitational show in Orlando . Karen Mays will confirm that we will participate in this event again, and she will ask Tammy Smith to do it again since she did such a good job last year. A motion was made by Barbara O’Neill that we submit an ad for the catalog, seconded by K.C. Artley. MOTION APPROVED. We will include information in the ad about how to reach BCOA, including our website address. Karen Mays has not yet received a request from AKC for us to sponsor the AKC medallions that will be awarded as trophies. K.C Artley made a motion that we pay for these medallions if we are asked, but no additional trophies. Motion seconded by Barbara O’Neill. MOTION APPROVED.  

A letter was received regarding the absence of publicity for the Reno National in the last Borzoi Connection and asking if we should appoint a publicity chairman. The National was held early this year, and the deadline for the Spring BC was just 10 days after the National so this information will be included in the Summer issue along with all the other Specialty news. The events chairman resigned so that is why there was no event information in the last BC. Dennis Williams will be the new Events Calendar chair.  

A motion was made by Maureen Bardwell and seconded by Barbara O’Neill to accept the Corresponding Secretary’s report. MOTION APPROVED.

2002 National Specialty Report: Barbara O’Neill  
There were some issues that made this a difficult specialty. We had problems with people letting their dogs urinate on the outside of the entrance to the hotel. This also happened to some hotel guests in the elevators. There was some room damage, but all the individuals involved paid for anything damaged. People left early, which resulted in us losing room nights, so we ended up paying an extra $3000.00 to cover the use of the health clinic rooms that would have been free if everyone would have stayed for the nights that they had reserved. We lost about 300 room nights. There was discussion regarding how to handle this since this hurts the club financially. There was also concern about the lack of space for walking dogs due to the amount of private Xpens that were set up on the available grass and whether this contributes to the amount of accidents as people have to walk farther to potty their dogs. Kathy Wright commented that she feels private x-pens are necessary for the health and welfare of the dogs, especially when bringing a large entry to a National.  She suggested more consideration be given to sites that are not high rise hotels, which limit the amount of grassy area.

2003 National Specialty Report: Barbara O’Neill. 
Application for the specialty has gone in to AKC and we were informed that we were in conflict with Sacramento and Borzoi Club of Northern California. We need to get letters from these clubs acknowledging this conflict. The BCNC show date was intentional, so that it falls at the end of the National. The health seminar will be about Canine Orthopedics. The schedule may be fairly tight as all the regular conformation classes will be held on Thursday – Saturday.

Karen Mays made a motion to accept both specialty reports, seconded by Kathleen Kapaun. MOTION APPROVED.

2004 Centennial Specialty Report: Prudence Hlatky  
The packet of information that Prudence sent to the Board was discussed. There was a question regarding whether or not Barbara O’Neill was going to be show chairman. Barbara indicated that she needed to think it over. There were questions about the hotel contract, specifically the amount of room nights that needed to be guaranteed, the amount of comped suites that we would receive shuttle service for guests and the expense of the food and beverages.  It was determined that we need time to read the packet in detail. Feedback should go to Prudence and Barbara by 8/30/02 . Barbara will help Prudence work out any of the details regarding signing the contract. The tentative schedule of events will be put on the agenda for out November meeting as there should be more information at that time. We discussed the specialty committees and clarified that the National committee chairs are the heads of the different specialty committees. We will approve the committee’s at the fall board meeting.  

Karen Staudt-Cartabona made a motion to accept the Centennial report, seconded by Chris Bradley. MOTION APPROVED.  

K.C. brought up the need to change our insurance company prior to the 2004 National as they do not operate in Ohio (amongst other states). The policy will expire next year so we will need to find other coverage. Karen Mays, Barbara O’Neill and Karen Staudt-Cartabona will put this on their agenda for the AKC Parent Club committee to see if they can get feedback from other clubs about different insurance companies.

AKC will be covering the Centennial Specialty. They will also be giving us a Gazette cover for that issue. They would like to reprint one of the previous covers that were used. Karen Mays will write Laurie Kasowski to ask her if she will coordinate this with AKC. The creation of a commemorative book for the Centennial will be discussed at our fall meeting.  

2005 National Specialty:  
The National Specialty in 2005 will be in Region 3. Anyone in Region 3 that is interested in hosting the National Specialty should submit a preliminary proposal indicating their interest to Barbara O’Neill by 10/30/02 . One proposal has already been submitted.  

The future rotation schedule is as follows:

2005 - Region 3
2006 - Region 5
2007 - Region 1
2008 - Region 4
2009 - Region 2
2010 - Region 6
2011 - Region 3

Rescue Committee: Maureen Bardwell  
The committee is currently in good shape. A request was received from Mary Childs, asking that BCOA support NBRF by paying for an 800 number. The average cost for this is $150.00 per month ($1800.00 per year) and Mary requested that this be paid out of BCOA general funds rather than rescue funds. Due to the availability of email and since so many people have cell phones with free long distance; it was the consensus of the Board that an $1800.00 annual phone bill is not cost effective. Barbara O’Neill made a motion to accept the Rescue Committee Report, seconded by Kathryn Wright. MOTION APPROVED.

The 6/02 ROM proposal was reviewed and Chris Bradley was able to clarify some of the areas of confusion. There was some concern regarding how the points system was structured (eg: a Companion Dog title quite a bit less than a Field Championship). All Board members are to send their comments to Christine by 8/30/02 and she will present them to the ROM committee.

Barbara will research the cost of engraved plaques to replace the photo plaques that have been awarded in the past as these plaques have become too expensive. Barbara will have this information to the Board members prior to the fall meeting.

Karen Ackerman is looking for someone to volunteer to establish and maintain a database for the BCOA Hall of Fame inductees. Chris Bradley volunteered to keep a written log of the inductees.  

Kathy Wright suggested that the Specialty committee make sure that the Bronze trophies are included in the win photos at the National. Barbara O’Neill said she would add this to the specialty guidelines, and also add that a platform should not be used for these photos as many dogs are not accustomed to it and the dogs then do not look their best. Prudence suggested that a short break be allowed after the judging of senior puppy in the futurity prior to having to go back in for best in futurity.  

We are still looking for a BCOA member to assume responsibility for the Standardized Trophies. This would include storing them and shipping them to and from each National. Please contact Barbara O’Neill if you are interested in volunteering for this job.  

Laurie Kasowski requested clarification as to when the Historian Photo Albums were to be on exhibit again. They will need to be shipped, so if they are to be displayed will they all be shipped or only some of them? The Board determined that they will not be shipped to Reno ; they will be shipped to Prudence Hlatky for the Centennial in Cleveland . We hope to have someone available to take them after the Centennial and arrange to have the photos scanned.  

New Business:  
A request was received from Gale Snoddy that since Rally-O will officially become a new AKC performance event that we consider keeping track of the stats for this sport and award medallions to new titleists. Kathleen Kapaun made a motion that we keep the statistics but hold off on awarding medals until we see how popular this becomes, seconded by Christine Bradley. MOTION APPROVED. We clarified that we had previously decided that we would award a medallion for the first agility title (regardless of type) received by a dog, and no medals for further agility titles.

Parent Club Conference – Karen Mays, Barbara O’Neill and Karen Staudt-Cartabona will be attending. Almost all Parent Clubs are sending representatives. If there is another available slot Prudence Hlatky will attend also.  

The fall Board meeting will be held on Saturday November 9, 2002 in Charleston , South Carolina .  

A proposal was received from Vic Harrison that he would like to offer a bronze challenge trophy for Best In Puppy Classes. It would be called the Saringa Trophy and must be won three times by the same owner for permanent possession. The trophy will be engraved with the winners name each year. A motion was made by Prudence Hlatky to accept this trophy, seconded by Barbara O’Neill. MOTION APPROVED. Karen Mays will send Vic Harrison a letter accepting his proposal and will also submit the description of the trophy to AKC to approve this challenge trophy.  

A request was received from Laurie Kasowski that BCOA give a free advertisement for the Borzoi Connection in our National catalog. A motion was made by K.C. Artley, seconded by Valori Trantanella. MOTION APPROVED.

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Barbara O’Neill, seconded by Kathleen Kapaun. MOTION APPROVED. The meeting was adjourned at 12:47 AM EST  

Future Agenda Items –

Unfinished Business:  
Incorporation - BC, Health and Rescue.
Re-districting of regions.  
Yearly Awards  
Original artwork for Centennial fundraiser  
Criteria for approval of TSE’s  
LGRA subcommittee report – Val and Lydia  
Schedule of events for Centennial Specialty  
Committees for Centennial Specialty  
Proposals for 2005 Specialty  
Commemorative book for the Centennial

New Business:  
Pursue/discuss getting a “performance bond” to cover us if a hotel cancels a contract with BCOA due to a change of management, etc.  
We need to find a new insurance company  
Honoring Veteran Dogs (review Maureen’s email)  
International Hospitality Committee (review Maureen’s email)