The meeting convened at 12:45 p.m. Jan Hensle, President of NEAOBA welcomed members to the meeting hosted by Lorrie O'Connor and Peter Buckingham of Folsom, Farm in Raymond, NH There were 52 members in attendance.

All NEAOBA Officers were present:

Jan Hensle, President
Jim Mullen, Vice President
Laura Busky, Treasurer
Stephanie Pfieffer, Secretary

NEW BUSINESS:

New England Alpaca Festival 2001

Jim Mullen, VP of NEAOBA has been researching new venues for the New England Alpaca Festival (NEAF) The members present agreed that we should move from the Topsfield Fairground, and VOTED (unanimously) to find a new location. Several other locations were discussed: Hopkinton, NH; Woodstock, CT; and North Hampton, MA and it was VOTED (unanimously) to give Jim Mullen authority to choose and reserve a location for NEAF 2001, to be held in May. The location will be in New England and centrally located for the convenience of members.
Minutes of the May 2000 NEAOBA Meeting:

Minutes of the last meeting, May, 20,2000 held in Topsfield, Mass. were read and were approved A copy of these minutes will be sent to AOBA and posted on the NEAOBA web site.

NEAOBA Newsletter:

Jan thanked Tim and Cindy Lavan of Chase Tavern Farm for taking over duties of Editors of NEAOBA NEWS. They will begin with the winter issue. Dawn Brooker, past editor will create the fall issue and members were reminded of the August 1st deadline for that issue.

NEAOBA Vendor Booth at the Big E:

This year the Big E Alpaca Show will be held Sept. 25 to 27 at the Eastern States Exposition in W.Springfield, MA. The idea of NEAOBA renting vendor booth space was discussed and approved. There will be three 8x10 vendor booth spaces reserved by NEAOBA at the cost of $225.00 each. Members will be allowed to display and sell their farm's alpaca products. A 15% commission will be deducted from each farm's sales to reimburse NEAOBA for the rental fee and to pay for a person to operate the vendor booth for the three days of the alpaca show. This will be the same procedure that has been used at NEAF in years past. Note: In the event that NEAOBA does not need the space of three booths, there is a clause that will allow us to only use and pay for two booths with no penalty for having reserved three. This clause was verified by Ana Romanik. Fiber Demonstrations will be held at the NEAOBA Booth at the Big E for members to share their spinning, weaving, knitting or other fiber art skills. Demos will be coordinated by Stephanie Pfieffer.

NEAOBA Marketing Committee funds for Big E:

Advertising for the Big E will be coordinated by the NEAOBA Marketing Committee. It was discussed and VOTED to appropriate $5,000.00 to advertise and promote NEAOBA and the Alpaca Show at the Big E. Members Bill Ley and Bob Hebeler volunteered to assist the Marketing Committee Chair, Mike Tierney, with this project. Ana Romanik, Alpaca Show Superintendent, spoke about additional advertising funded by AOBA to promote the Big E Alpaca Show. There will be a mailing done to all members east of the Mississippi River to promote this alpaca event. The show is during the week this year, but if attendance is good, we will be able to get a weekend show date for next year. Ana reminded members that the show entries are due by August 15 and late entries are due by August 31. Kevin O'Leary added that show entrants will be allowed to arrive on Sunday night if they are coming from a long distance.

Treasurer's Report:

The following report was read by outgoing treasurer, Joe Hilliard:

INFLOWS

Membership Dues 3,195
NEAF Income* 44,771
Newsletter Ads 635
Web site Listings 390
Total INFLOWS 48,991

OUTFLOWS

Incorporation 20
Mailings-Monthly 45
NEAF* 16,992
Newsletter 44
Postage & Delivery 575
Total OUTFLOWS 17,676

OVERALL TOTAL 31,315
*Note: Figures for NEAF are still being tabulated and these numbers are not final.

Motion was made to approve the treasurer's report as read and it was VOTED (unanimously) to approve it.

NEAOBA State Representatives:

State Reps act as liaisons to the NEAOBA board and members in their state. The following members volunteered to become the new representatives for their states :

Joe Hilliard for Massachusetts
Carl & Iola Robitaille for Rhode Island
Cindy & Tim Lavan for Maine
Lee Montgomery for Vermont
Lou Ferrara for Connecticut
Jim Cross for New Hampshire

Update from Jim King, AOBA Board Member:

A new affiliate committee is forming at AOBA. Jim is the liaison to this new committee and reminded us that copies of our minutes should be sent to Ken Hobart at AOBA. Regarding the AOBA/ARI merge. The merge is still being worked on and there is nothing new to report. The AOBA Show Committee is working on show management. Jim invited NEAOBA members to contact him with questions or comments about AOBA and its direction. Jim also reminded members that to receive reimbursement funds from AOBA it's necessary to have a breakdown of expenses for the event such as NEAF and the Big E.

NEAOBA Web site:

Al Maloney, NEAOBA Web master reminded members to contact him to update photos and information

OTHER NEAOBA BUSINESS:

New Members in attendance:

Jan introduced new members Lou & Bob Eustance of Bondville, Vermont.

National AOBA Fiber Committee:

Penny Sunn invited members to submit handmade items for the fashion show being organized by this committee. There will be cash rewards for prizes.

New England Alpaca Fiber Pool (NEAFP):

Lorrie O'Connor will be sending out invoices to all who contributed fiber to be processed into the various alpaca products. Payment should be sent to her upon receipt of invoice. NEAFP will be sending out updates on products, production, and return dates.

Alpaca Fiber Co-Operative of North America (AFCNA):

John Callen reminded members that collection deadlines were approaching for the cooperative and that those who have small quantities to ship should consider combining fiber to reduce shipping costs to the collection point in Texas. Contact John if you have fiber you want to combine for shipment.

Tufts Animal Expo and Adopt-a-Vet Program:

Leo Pfieffer reminded members about the upcoming Tufts Animal Expo at the Hynes Auditorium in Boston. There will be a full-day camelid seminar on Oct. 10. He offered brochures on this event to those interested. Information is also posted on the NEAOBA web site. Adopt-a-Vet Program involves hosting first year vet students on your farm to give them hands-on experience with large animals. A newsletter with story information was available to those interested.

Update on New Hampshire Animal Transportation Regulations:

Jim Cross updated members on the status of regulations by the state of New Hampshire on the transportation of animals into and out of New Hampshire. Make it Yourself with Wool Competition:

Mark Russell reminded members about this national competition and the opportunity to get recognition for the alpaca industry. There is a web site for more information: "sheepusa.org/make it yourself with wool" Please contact Mark Russell for more information NEAOBA Banner:

Jan reminded members that the NEAOBA Banner is available to take to shows or fairs and anyone interested in borrowing it should contact her.

Motion to adjourn the meeting at 1:55 pm approved.