Sunday, May 5, 2002
Three County Fairgrounds
Northampton, MA
 
Officers Present:    Jim Mullen, President
                            Laura Busky, Treasurer
                            Stephanie Pfieffer, Secretary (outgoing)
 
1.  Call to order 8:34
 
2.  Secretary's Report/Minutes  A MOTION was made to accept the minutes of the February 10,2002
     meeting held at Tufts University.  The motion was seconded and APPROVED.
 
3.  Treasurer's Report  was handed out to all present.  Laura fielded  questions from members and
     discussed NEAOBA's non-profit status which will be changed from a 501(c)3 to 501(c)5 status as
     recommended by the IRS.
 
4.  Bylaw Change/Discussion  Jim is concerned about the state of the NEAOBA Bylaws, as they are
     not current  It was suggested by Al Mahoney that a discussion take place on-line among
     the group then discuss proposed changes at the next meeting.  One of the proposed updates would
     be to elect 6 board members for two-year, staggered terms and also to have two elections one for the
     board and one for the officers.
 
5.  Report on Portland Show: New England Coastal Classic given by Walter VanBuskirk, Chairman
     Scheduled for October  5 and 6, 2002 at the Portland Maine Civic Center
     This show will be AOBA sanctioned,
     Judge will be Anthony Stachowski
     Show Superintendent will be Peg Stevens.
     A professional crew will be hired to be gatekeepers and ring stewards, etc.
     Full-color souvenir booklet aimed at NEAOBA members as marketing tool and fundraiser is being planned
     Member Question:  What about showing animals that were purchased from the judge? 
     Answer:  Based on AOBA rule book, it must not have been purchased within a year of the show.
 
6.  NEAF 2003:  Where and When?
     Discussion about where to hold the next NEAF, as members had previously decided that the event would
    move  around New England and this was the second year in the same location.  The consensus of members
    present  was to stay in Northampton for another year.  The next NEAF will be held the first weekend in May 2003 at
    the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton, MA.  Erica Dwyer volunteered to be chairwoman
    and Liz McEachran volunteered to be co-chairwoman.
    Some ideas and discussion followed about how to improve the event for next year.  
 
7. Election of Officers. The nominating committee:  Liz McEachran, Mike Tierney, and Walter VanBuskirk
    reported that the following candidates were running for their present positions in a second term:
    Jim Mullen, President
    Joan McCurry, Vice President 
    Laura Busky, Treasurer
    New candidate for secretary:  Cindy St. George
    As all candidates were running unopposed, there was a MOTION to accept the nominations of above candidates,
    this was seconded and APPROVED.
   
8.  Contributions to New England Animal Health Institute(NEAHI)
    Jim shared a letter that he received from Dr. Purdy regarding funding for proposed alpaca health studies.
    The amount raised from the NEAOBA voluntary animal health research fund was about $900. 
    The following members volunteered to form a committee to make recommendations on how to raise and
    spend the animal health research fund:  Leo Pfieffer, Morelia Candia, Leila Roukounakis, and
    John McEachran.
 
9.  Other Business:
    a.  The next NEAOBA meeting is scheduled for July 14, 2002
         tentative location is Tufts University Veterinary Campus, N.Grafton, MA (pending verification with
         university officials) Leo Pfieffer will make the arrangements with Tufts.
    b.  Newsletter editor, Nicola Blake, was commended for her outstanding job creating the
        newsletter NEAF edition.  She will post deadlines for future issues and asked that members send articles.
         Melissa Ferrara and Alayne Baker volunteered to help Laura Busky collate the newsletter
    c.  Marketing Committee Chairman, Dave Sanderson, was commended for his outstanding effort advertising
         NEAF and organizing the committee.  He asked that members contact him with comment/suggestions
         for future events.
    d.  Web master, Al Maloney, reported that a new site was being developed for the NEAOBA sponsored show:
         New England Coastal Classic. www.necoastalclassic.com
    e.  The 2002 Big E, Sept. 23-25 (Monday-Wed) presented by Kevin O'Leary.  The premium books will be mailed
         soon and he recommended that members return their show registrations right away as this year's show will have
         144 pens.  This will be an AOBA Certified Show. 1st Judge will be Kristen Berman.
        see the web site for more info:  www.thebige.com
 
Motion to Adjourn at 9:30 a.m.