U.S. Complete Shooting Dog Association
August 18, 2007
The U.S. Complete Shooting Dog Association held its annual meeting at the Masonic Lodge in Puxsutawney. The President Carl Bishop called the meeting to order at 1:10pm. Voting members then signed in with a check on the Proxies that members held. All present introduced themselves and the meeting began with the reading of the minutes. Jerry Murray mad a motion that the minutes be approved as read and Jim Bush seconded the motion. Next the treasurer report was read and accepted by all.
Rich Warters then took the floor to update everyone on our Sponsor Precise. The agreement is much the same as last year; however they will want a membership list and a poll to find out how many of our members are feeding their product. Strong reminder to have our sponsor mentioned in the articles and banners in the pictures.
Next on the agenda was the change in the bylaws. Rich made a motion we make the change on the Article 4 Section 1. Art seconded the motion and all approved. Then Art made a motion we accept the change to Article 7 section 1 with Rich seconding the motion and all approved.
Art Mourino then took the floor to cover his proposal for the Amateur Invitational. Questions were then raised regarding paying the entry fee three months in advance, and the format of 12 dogs. Jerry Murray brought up using 16 dogs. After a lengthy discussion is was decided to go with the 12 dog format. 15 votes for 16 and 25 votes for the 12 dog format.
Then the discussion turned to whether we needed to name a champion at our Championships. After a discussion a vote was called for and 11 voted yeah and the balance voted no.
Next the wording in the rule book for the Amateur Invitational was discussed and again after a lengthy discussion it was agreed that the first sentence of that section be changed to “This Championship will be held annually.” All agreed. It was also agreed that the entry fee did not need to be paid 3 months in advance. All other aspects of Art’s proposal were agreed to.
Discussion then turned to Regions and Regional Championships. First it was unanimously agreed to accept the West Coast Region as California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho and Washington with Mike Spies as the Regional President. In addition the Northeast Region would remain the same with the addition of NJ. Then Delmarva region would become the Mid Atlantic Region and include PA with Meredith Jones being the Regional President. Due to the lack of participation by the International Region it would remain the same and is currently not eligible for a Championship. The Southeast Region would now include NC, SC, TN, AL, GA, FL with Phil Culbreth currently the Regional President. Great Lakes would include OH, Michigan, WV, IL, Indiana, KY with Ed Teiga Regional President. Mid South Region would be Iowa, Missouri, Kansas & Nebraska. Minnesota, ND, SD & Wisconsin with Scott Berg the Regional President. New York, Ontario, Quebec are to be a Region with Vince Principato the Regional President. These regions can change as the regions grow and it makes sense.
The following Regions would qualify for Championships Mid Atlantic, Southeast, IL/IN, Northeast, Great Lakes, Minnesota/Wisconsin, ND, SD.
The president gave a strong reminder to all members that a Region must have 5 active clubs with each holding at least 1 trial a year. Beginning this year the President will send a list of qualifying trials to the American Field so that everyone knows what will be held each year and the dates.
The location for the National was then discussed. Two sites were suggested, one being Cooper Black in South Carolina with Phillip Culbreth Chairing the event or Dick Cross, in Boydton, VA and Mid Atlantic Region hosting. It was decided that the Trial would be in Cooper Black in March and the Futurity would follow at Dick Cross in Virginia.
Bobby said there was no change in the display at the hall fame without money committed for the project.
Futurity Report was short with the changing of officer to include Meredith and Judy Jones as President and Vice President of the Futurity with Yvonne continuing the secretarial duties this year.
It was agreed by all to keep the Ad Refunds at $75.00 this year.
Discussion then turned to the Website and Newsletter. Due to the current trouble with the website it was agreed to begin using Newsletters this year to keep members informed until the website can be reconstructed and restarted. After a short discussion of the problem and a report from Randy Hopkins, it was agreed to pay Boyte Enterprise the $800.00 that they have asked for reimbursement, with a request that we can keep our domain name.
A brief discussion then ensued regarding the Precise Top Dog Award with nothing being finalized.
This ended the old business and Rich Warters standing in for Tony Bingham who was unable to attend nominated the following slate of Officers for election:
President Jim Bush
1st Vice President Ashby Morgan
2nd Vice president Phillip Culbreth
3rd Vice President Carl Bishop
Art Mourino made a motion to accept the slate of officers and Jim Jones seconded the motion. All approved.
The meeting was then turned over to our New President Jim Bush. All members present then took time to thank Carl Bishop for all of his hard work the previous year.
First on the Agenda was Insurance, and our Not for Profit Status. With our growth it is time to look into a more formal insurance policy for the association and look at our filing status. Jim Bush will work on this.
Jim asked Ashby Morgan to the new Vice President of Marketing and Gary Ansell agreed to turn over to Ashby all the contacts of our current sponsors. Phillip Culbreth then made a motion to have the Dog of the Year winners back in the American Field as our budget should allow this and it is good for our sponsors. Rich Warters then seconded the motion and all approved.
Rick Hamilton also requested copies of the pictures of the winners for their website.
Discussion then turned to Regional Presidents need to approve the grounds and judges for the Regional Championships. The National President needs to approve the National Championships grounds and judges. Approved.
The message board was then discussed and consensus was that the chat room moderator would remove any reference to the U.S. Complete from the message board and it becomes a walking dog chat room. Phil Culbreth then made a motion to have the website professionally done and Carl seconded that motion and it was approved.
With the growth of the association discussion then turned to the Win Certificates. It was agreed with the changes expected in the website that the win certificates would no longer be issued automatically, but only when requested by the winner. All present approved.
Next it was agreed upon to have the association purchase a laptop computer for the secretary.
A brief discussion was held on the minimum number of dogs to be entered for a championship. No support was shown for requiring a minimum number and the discussion quickly changed to setting up a Rule book committee to handle rule changes and presenting them at meetings with the correct wording to assist in speeding up the meetings.
Art Mourino, Jerry Murray, and Phillip Culbreth agreed to sitting on this committee.
And the meeting was adjourned at 5:30 pm
Respectfully submitted
Yvonne McKeag |
