PENNSYLVANIA BEAGLE GUNDOG ASSOCIATION, INC.
Minutes of the Meeting of the Officers and Official Delegates
1. The
meeting of the Officers and Official Delegates was held on
2. The minutes were distributed prior to the meeting for the delegates to review.
3. Officer’s Reports
a. President: Scott Dennis thanked Conemaugh Valley Beagle club for their preparation and support for the Derby Championship trial, the delegates for their attendance, the participants, and the Executive Board for their help in preparation of the Derby Championship.
b. East Region Vice President: Sam Lauchman thanked Conemaugh Valley Beagle club and the judges that agreed to take on the assignment of the Derby Championship.
c. West Region Vice President: Stan Helper thanked Conemaugh Valley Beagle Club and Tina Grim for all her assistance in preparing him in his new role.
d. Secretary: Jared Shade thanked Virginia Conrad and Tina Grim for their assistance for a smooth transition into his new role.
e. Treasurer’s
Report: Dave Sharer provided the Treasurer’s Report. A MOTION was made by John Johnson and
seconded by John Gibble to pay the bills.
Cathy Stewart submitted a
receipt of postage from Ginny Conrad for $4.41.
A MOTION was made by John Johnson and seconded by Stan Hepler to
reimburse Ginny. Beginning balance as of
f. Director of Communications: Tina Grim mentioned her enthusiasm to be a part of the team. Tina referenced the value of the web site in the PBGA.
4. Committee Reports
a. Political
Awareness: PA Houndspersons Association.
Scott discussed the need and value of a Chairperson for this
committee. No nominations or volunteers
for this committee at this time. There
will be a Houndsman Meeting at the PA Game Commission building on
b. Show
Seminars: Cathy Stewart reported that on
c. Hall of Fame Exhibit: Dave Sharer reported the exhibit is located at Lycoming Beagle Club for the PBGA All-Age Championship trial in October. Charlie Flexer mentioned the exhibit could use modifications to assist in the transport and display due to its height and weight.
d. Banquet 2006: New banquet locations are under consideration to better accommodate the PBGA needs. Tina is soliciting suggestions and will explore options for a new facility. Dave Sharer expressed his satisfaction in the Dunnstown Fire Hall. Committee will discuss options and make a decision on a location for 2006.
e. Directory 2006: The 2006 PBGA Directories will be distributed at the banquet. Tina Grim will continue to take suggestions on improving the directories and mentioned the Trial Schedule continues to change and may get outdated at some point during its print.
f. Website: Tina mentioned it is the responsibility of each club to forward her updated information. Tina suggested clubs update their directions to the grounds to increase the participation you would receive at trials. Clubs should always review website updates to accuracy.
5. Old Business
a. Trial Schedule: Stan Hepler will be taking over the Field Trial Schedule. Scott Dennis reported the PBGA All-Age Championship trial will be held at Lycoming Beagle Club the October 15th and 16th, 2005. Charlie Flexer reported the clubhouse will be open Friday night before trial and that there will be plenty of parking. Attendees are asked not to park in neighbor’s field.
b. Tri-Tronics Donation and Raffle: Sam Lauchman reported brought in an income of $1480.00. Susquehanna Valley Beagle Club was awarded the prize of a Tri-Tronics 1 Dog Unit for most Raffle tickets sold in 2005. The prize awarded to the club that sells the most raffle tickets will receive a Tri-Tronics 3 dog unit valued at $559.00. All proceeds go towards the following years prizes. Rick Merkel was thanked for his assistance in negotiating prizes for the Championship Trials.
c. Consistency
Award: Sam Lauchman reported the following: PBGA
d. Hall
of Fame Nominations: Sam Lauchman reported the following nominations. The deadline for nominations will be
i. People Nominations, Stan Breon, and Doug Pears.
ii. Hounds Nominated;
1.
2.
3. F.C. Brandy Dan's Rachael
4. F.C. D&L Bo Bo
5.
e. Field Trial Planning Committee: A survey was sent to clubs soliciting feedback on key items related to the Field Trial schedule. The survey did not receive much attention as only a few were returned to the committee. A Field Trial Secretary Folder was distributed to each clubs delegates. The folder includes necessary forms and information for Field Trial Secretary’s to complete their job. It also includes information on Purina and Purina High Points trials. Please see attachment on suggestions to be made on improving the PBGA Field Trial Programs and schedule. The suggestions will be distributed to clubs in Bi-Law form and will be voted on at the October meeting.
6. New Business
a. Purina and the PBGA: Scott Dennis thanked all Purina has done for the PBGA with the donation in trophies, assisting with trial booklets, and providing the dog feed. Mike Luchetta, representative from Purina, described the overwhelming response the PBGA has provided to Purina which Purina is extremely impressed with. Purina received 25 new Pro Club members that are affiliated with the PBGA.
b. Host for the 2006 PBGA Derby Run Off: York & Adams Beagle Club was nominated and will hold the Derby Championship trial on June 17th and 18th, 2006.
c. Voting on Judges for the All-Age Run Off: The voting was as follows:
East West Apprentice
Show
Rick Merkel, 10 Dan Zerrick, 9 Ryan Becker, 7 Jim Dowd
Todd Seitz, 8 Matt Minnick, 7 Ed Valentine, 4
Gary Slick, 7 Jim Rousch, 7 Jake Flessiner, 4
Mark Malloy, 6 Ed Sankey, 6 Carl Altland, 4
d. Bi-Law Committee: Scott suggested an overall review of the Bi-Laws of which Jared Shade will chair.
e. Central Beagle Club-forgiveness for one year: Scott Dennis read letter from Central Beagle Club discussing their inability to hold their May 1st All Age Qualifying trial. A MOTION was made by John Gibble and seconded by Charlie Flexer that Central Beagle Club will permanently lose their trial date of May 1st, and their date will be available to other clubs. Sixteen were in favor, one opposed. The motion passed.
f. NEBGF/ BAC Info:
i.
NEBGF: John Gibble reported that the NEBGF is
developing a website: www.nebgf.org The
entries at the NEBGF Run-off have improved this year. Two judges from the PBGA have been selected
for the SPO National in 2006. There has
been and continues to be concern on the IBGA’s support of the NEBGF. The NEBGF has changed the way in which
consistency points are calculated. The
points will be determined by the number of hounds in the class. The Field Champion only trial will be held
ii.
BAC: John Gibble reported that there will be a
teleconference on
1. NBQ changed to 5th place and will be awarded 1/5 of a point. PBGA Vote: NO
2. Should the classes be combined if there are fewer then 6 hounds in a class? PBGA Vote: NO
3. Should the one time official measurement be eliminated? PBGA Vote: YES
Clubs are now able to hold two SPO trials per calendar year.
g. NEW BUSINESS: Scott Dennis complimented both Ginny and Cathy for their work with show seminars in an effort to train new judges. They’ve provided an increased pool of qualified show judges for the PBGA. Scott is going to organize a committee and explore the possibility of starting a field judging seminar. The program would train new judges the sanctioned rules on scoring hounds for Grand Final Winners and provide more depth into situational judging for judges who may experience common scenarios while judging a trial.
MOTION TO ADJOURN made by Dave Sharer and seconded by Tina Grim.
ATTACHMENTS:
I.Treasurers
Report
II.Field
Trial Committee Report
Field Trial Committee
Report
The issues we need to tackle in this committee are very difficult ones, yet it is important that we now begin a dialog in order to properly plan for the future. We distributed a survey and received a mediocre response, so the committee itself has been communicating via email, telephone, and at trials and we have the following proposals to recommend for immediate consideration:
1. We believe all clubs should hold, at the most, only one (1) all-age qualifier, and one (1) derby qualifier. We further recommend that each club consider holding only one (1) AKC Licensed Trial. We feel it is important to reduce the number of overall trials and encourage clubs to focus on making their current trials better. This is a change we would like to take effect with the 2006 Field Trial Schedule.
2. We wish to define the term of “apprentice” field judge to mean a judge who has passed the AKC judging seminar and who has not yet judged 10 AKC Licensed Trials at the time they are invited to judge a championship trial. We feel the apprentice program has been very successful and would like to use high standards to help secure the best judges possible for these important events.
3. We need to have flexibility build into the by-laws to enable the EVP to secure the judges for the championship trials. While the delegates may vote for the judging and that is ultimately our guide to securing judges, we need to have flexibility for issues that arise to enable our EVP to move forward in order to meet important deadlines. Such issues could be conflict of schedules, conflicts with hounds running under them, etc., and we recommend a committee of three (Pres, EVP, WVP) be empowered to make these decisions on a case by case basis.
Other issues for future consideration:
1. Consistency Points – should we consider the option of calculating points based on the number of entries, vs. a straight point system regardless of the number of entries. For example, is it fair to award 5 points for a hound taking first place in a class of 5 entries vs. a hound taking first place in a class of 25 entries?
2. Championship Trials – should we allow hounds to buy into the all age championship trial? Currently only hounds can buy into the derby championship trial, but not the all age trial.
3. Should qualifiers also be AKC Licensed Trials? Note that the Purina High Points do not allow this as an option. The field trial committee does NOT recommend this, given the fact that the Purina High Points trials has increased our entries at our qualifiers.
4. Clubs requesting a waiver for a year for special circumstances (rabbit issues, etc.) – how to handle this? Issue is not address in the by-laws.
5. How to free up additional dates on the field trial schedule? Do we divide the state into quarters? What other options exist?
6. We believe the field trial schedule cannot be adjusted to accommodate any 2nd AKC Licensed Trial dates by PBGA clubs. We are grandfathering only those 2nd dates that have been in existence on the schedule since 2005.
7. Club seniority must be established. We need all clubs to send us the date they joined the PBGA to help us work through this issue. To our knowledge, no data currently exists to help us prepare such a list. A draft will be sent to delegates for their input.
8. Need to address the issue of clubs violating the by-laws by moving their trial dates without proper permission.
Field trial packet kits were distributed to the clubs represented at the meeting. All other clubs will receive their packets via mail.
There are some important issues that need to be addressed with proposed by-law changes, which are also included in this mailing, to be voted on at the October meeting.
Again, allow me to emphasize that we recognize these are issues are thought-provoking, but we need to give them serious consideration and hope you will come to the October meeting prepared to discuss them in detail.
I would also like to thank all of our committee members who have given a great deal of thought and effort into these recommendations. We have not always agreed, but it has been a wonderful combination of energy and ideas that have helped each of us gain a greater understanding of field trials and how they impact our clubs and our association.
I challenge all of you to discuss these matters at length among your own club members and come prepared to share important insight into these matters that affect us all.
Tina Grim, Chair of the Committee
Committee Members: Dave Sharer, Gary DeFoor, Sam Lauchman, Gary Keller, Stan Hepler, and Tina Grim.