GDCA Board Minutes

GDCA Board Meeting
July 25, 2009  - Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

MINUTES

The meeting was called to order at 8:10 AM by President Linda Ridder..

Present were: Chuck Crawford, Nancy Ridgway, Cindy Harwin, Dianne Powers, Jean Highlands, Lourdes Carvajal, Dave Miller, Joe Longo, Lynda Moriarty, Jane Chopson, Linda Ridder, Susan Davis Shaw

All motions are unanimous unless otherwise noted.

MOTION
To excuse the absence of Tom Sandenaw.
Moved: Jane Chopson 2nd: Nancy Ridgway

To excuse the absence of Paul Hardiman.
Moved: Chuck Crawford 2nd: Dianne Powers

To excuse the absence of Rita Suddarth.
Moved: Chuck Crawford 2nd: Sue Davis Shaw
1 opposed

Minutes
There was discussion about changing the wording in the Treasurer’s Report to state “If we continue at the general rate that we have been spending” and removing the wording referring to the 2007 national. Dianne stated that the 50/50 split took place in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2007.

MOTION
To remove the wording in the third paragraph under the Treasurer’s Report referring to the 2007 national.
Moved Dianne Powers 2nd: Joe Longo
1 abstention

MOTION
To approve the minutes of the May 16, 2009 meeting as corrected.
Moved: Dianne Powers 2nd: Cindy Harwin

Corresponding Secretary
Nancy reviewed several items of correspondence, including
• A check from Purina that was forwarded to the treasurer
• A letter from AKC admitting the Great Dane Club of Oklahoma
• A letter that she sent to Sid Levin giving him permission to open a bank account in Pine Bluff.

Treasurer’s Report
Jean reviewed her reports, as well as a review letter from Harvey Jansen.

MOTION
To accept the review letter for the GDCA.
Moved: Dianne Powers 2nd Dave Miller

Jean also reviewed the auditor’s letter for the 2007 National.

MOTION
To accept Harvey Jansen’s review of the 2007 National.
Moved: Cindy Harwin 2nd: Dave Miller

Jean is pleased that she is receiving monthly reports from the Southeast Division. She is waiting for the Central Division’s paperwork from Genia so she can get it to a CPA for review.

MOTION
To accept the Treasurer’s report as presented.
Moved: Dianne Powers 2nd: Lourdes Carvajal

Dues have still not been received from the Great Dane Club of Cincinnati. Joe Longo will take responsibility for contacting the club.

Affiliate Representative
Dianne presented an educational grant request from the Great Dane Club of Oxford asking for support for their cardio testing.

MOTION
To recommend to the Charitable Trust that they fund an educational grant to the Great Dane Club of Oxford in the amount of $400 to help support their health testing.
Moved: Dianne Powers 2nd: Dave Miller

Dianne reported that she had just received a by-law revision from the Great Dane Club of Hawaii. She noted a reference to voting by email and stated that the by-laws are crisp and clean and recommended approval.

MOTION
To approve the revised by-laws submitted by the Great Dane Club of Hawaii.
Moved: Jane Chopson 2nd: Dave Miller

Illini has just completed their by-law revision and it will be voted on at their next club meeting. Central Pennsylvania is also working on their by-laws.
A new club is forming in Omaha, Nebraska.

Parent Club Delegate
Tom Sandenaw was unable to attend, but his report was read by Lynda Moriarty. Tom reported on:
• Group realignment
• A possible break-down of the 12-18 class into 12-15 and 15-18.
• Response to the AVMA on the crop/dock issue
• A request from AKC to Parent Clubs regarding their ethics documents.
• Only 44% of puppies are being registered.

Futurity
Dave Miller reported a current nomination of 546 puppies. This is on par with other years. The closing date this year is August 21st.

Health & Research
Jean distributed copies of a letter from CHF. Dianne mentioned the need for affordable/accessible echos. She will touch base with JP and Margaret and a survey will be sent to affiliate clubs. She would like to have them back by the national so that they can be discussed at the affiliate meeting.

Judges Education
Jane Treiber needs volunteers for mentoring during BOB at the national. She reported that one of the Florida clubs requested materials so that they can be presented at one of their club meetings. Clubs are encouraged to use them as part of their education requirement. She is also receiving a number of requests for materials from sweeps judges.

The CD was discussed and minor changes will be made to some of the pictures and wording. A statement will be added to reflect that the most of the pictures used in the video are limited to National Best of Breed winners, Top 20 dogs, and dogs from the AKC video who are no longer living. It was decided to pull out the ‘You Be the Judge” section at this time but to use it as a template for a section on multiple colors and multiple judges down the road.

The CD will be available for demonstration and sale at the National.

Jane asked Board members who did and did not have trouble with their CD to write down the name of the program and what version and email the information to Jane as soon as possible. Jane asked for all of the beta copies of the CD to be returned to her.

Jane was commended for all of her work in developing the CD.

Jr. Showmanship
Jessie Gerszewski submitted 3 scholarship applications and recommended all three for scholarships, based on their GPA.


MOTION
To recommend to the Charitable Trust that they fund a scholarship to Heather Carroll in the amount of $1,200, to fund a scholarship to Emily Marcus in the amount of $2,500, and to fund a scholarship in the amount of $1,750 to Scott Dalane.

Moved: Dianne Powers 2nd: Joe Longo

There was a discussion about changing the age limit and it was decided that it will remain as it is.

The board entered into executive session.

Membership
MOTION
The following applicants were voted on pending having no additional comments received by the end of the comment period, August 5th.

Michelle Neubert
Moved: Dave Miller 2nd: Dianne Powers

Michael & Peggy Poncio
Moved: Jane Chopson 2nd: Nancy Ridgway

Daniel & Jessica Allen
Moved: Lourdes Carvajal 2nd: Dianne Powers

Ann Heavey
Moved: Lynda Moriarty 2nd: Lourdes Carvajal

Cheryl D. Van Eeghen-Powell
Moved: Cindy Harwin 2nd: Dave Miller

Joan M. Collins & Jude Daley
Moved: Dave Miller 2nd: Dianne Powers

Kelly LaPoint (Junior Member)
Moved: Lourdes Carvajal 2nd: Nancy Ridgway

Marian Heckard
Moved: Jane Chopson 2nd: Cindy Harwin

Dawn Sauers
Moved: Dianne Powers 2nd: Chuck Crawford

Christine MacMartin
Moved: Sue Davis Shaw 2nd: Cindy Harwin

Delayne Corle
Moved: Dianne Powers 2nd: Dave Miller

John & Vicki Kimball
Moved: Dianne Powers 2nd: Dave Miller

Lynda reported that she had revisited the procedure with her committee. The responsibilities of the committee were discussed and their main purpose is to verify the accuracy of the application, check with rescues in the area, and verify the background data.

Lynda will resend the revised membership application to the board. Revisions include minor changes and better organization of the content.

National Specialties –
2008 Jean had a slight change to the financial report, and she also reviewed the
futurity financial report.

2009 Dave reported that everything is going well and that they have permission to use another 1-1/2 acres of grass. He currently has 18 vendors and 9 corporate sponsors, including the Charitable Trust. They will offer the cardio clinic at $35.

2010 Nancy Ridgway reported that they have a signed contract with Pine Bluff and they will be visiting the facility the first week in August to meet with the staff. She will make copies of their proposed budget at lunch to be reviewed this afternoon. Joe Longo stressed the importance of keeping in touch with the hotel and keeping communications open, especially if there are any changes in management. Linda complimented the division for keeping on top of everything. Cindy had an idea for a division chili cook-off.

2011 Linda reported that Putt Richard is looking for a show chairman and that all is well with the hotel, which is under new management.

2012 Lourdes reported that, in the two years since her resignation, no one has stepped up to take over the division chairman’s job. If she has all of her key committee chairman in place by October, she may remain as division chairman through their national.

Rescue
Kathie Shea is working on a new grant application. Lynda Moriarty updated the board on the situation in Newark, IL, where 19 Danes were seized. 3 were found dead, 2 were put down due to temperament, 2 went to Dobe Rescue, Rescue 911 took in 7, and 3 are being held as evidence by animal control. Rescue 911 has had to put two down – one was a wobbler and the other bloated. Four have been placed and one came back. The jury trial will be the middle of August. Lynda also mentioned the petfinder.com sweepstakes, where you can vote for Rescue 911 once a day (go to Grundy County). The prize is $20,000 to the winning rescue.

MOTION
To recommend to the Charitable Trust that they fund a rescue grant (2nd for 2009) for $500 to Mid Atlantic Rescue (DE).
Moved: Chuck Crawford 2nd: Dianne Powers

MOTION
To recommend to the Charitable Trust that they fund two basic rescue grants for $500 each to Rescue 911 and we recommend that they consider an additional amount.
Moved: Lourdes Carvajal 2nd: Dianne Powers

After a lunch break, the meeting resumed with a discussion of the South Central budget. There was a discussion to raise the entry fee for the Top 20 to $200 for next year. There will be an admission charge to attend the Top 20 this year. Also discussed was which expenses are the division’s and which are GDCA, and the use of free rooms. GDCA expenses include the GDCA general meeting, futurity, judges ed and breeders ed, affiliate meeting, GDCA board meetings, rescue and all other GDCA committee meetings. A complete 50/50 split was suggested to simplify the process.

A conference call was scheduled for August 26th starting at 7 PM eastern time to review the National Specialty Rules & Regulations. There will be a 90-minute limit to the conference call and we will start the review from the beginning.

Nancy Ridgway requested that the budget review be tabled until the national, when Terre and Sid will be in attendance.

Standard
Linda asked the board to consider the two most important pressing issues with the current standard – the merle on the harlequin and the proportion issue.

Linda appointed Jane Treiber the new Standard Committee Chairman, who in turn appointed Jane Chopson, Sue Davis Shaw, and Joe Longo to join her on the committee. After discussion, Jane T. submitted the following new proposed changes to the standard:

MOTION
To accept the Standard Committee’s recommendation to submit a ballot to the membership with the following changes:
“Small patches of merle are acceptable on harlequins”.
“The length from mid-elbow to the ground is slightly longer that the length from mid-elbow to the top of the withers.”
Moved: Dianne Powers 2nd: Jean Highlands

Explanations will be developed to explain the changes and will be put in the bulletin and on the web site prior to a ballot being sent out.

Website
Nancy Lerch’s report was read by Jean Highlands. A subcommittee was appointed to review the website to see if there is a way to make it more user friendly. The committee will consist of Cindy Harwin, Dianne Powers, and Nancy Ridgway. Ideas were discussed for a template for division sites, a members only section which could include the membership list and emailing the bulletin directly to the membership. There was a suggestion to make all correspondence go by email by 2012.

Charitable Trust
Jane Chopson reported that the Trust had regretfully accepted Lourdes’ resignation as administrator effective July 31st and that Terry Wagner has accepted the position. Trustees have been meeting every two weeks by conference call. They are working with the Affiliate Club Representative on the funding of cardio clinics. Lourdes reviewed the Charitable Trust financials.

It was noted that there should be consistency in pricing of cardio clinics at the nationals.

MOTION
That the board recommend to the Charitable Trust that they accept the budget for the DCM cardio clinic at the 2009 National.
Moved: Dave Miller 2nd: Joe Longo

Newsletter
Cindy would like to get the newsletter out as quickly as possible, as there is some important information to get out to the membership.

Top 20
Rita’s report was passed around for review.

Yearbook
Rita’s report was read. There was a discussion as to how to better get the word out to the membership. Cindy suggested that a letter go out when a dog finishes a championship, notifying the person with wording similar to: Congratulations. Your dog is now eligible for a free ad in the yearbook. Lourdes mentioned a club that puts their yearbook on a CD. A subcommittee was developed to work with Rita, consisting of Cindy Harwin and Jane Chopson. It was suggested that we do some polling to find out what we can do to make the yearbook more exciting.

We will try to run the CD at the national. They can be purchased at the GDCA table.

Corporate Sponsors
Joe Longo reported that he has eight corporate sponsors plus the Charitable Trust. They are: Virginia Perry Gardiner and Ana; Purina, Eagle, Louise Peterson, Omar, Arnie, Dane World, and the Great Dane Gazette.

Old Business
Bonding – Dianne Powers gave an extensive report on bonding through Equiserve and Sportsmans and explained position bonding rather than individuals bonding. Lourdes suggested that we check into Summit Insurance Group.

Judge Selection – Question was raised if we could separate breeder judges from all rounders on the list. That would be very difficult to do. Regarding bio’s on national judge finalists – We will come up with questions to standardize the responses. This will be added to our agenda and Mary Ellen Thomas will be asked to compile the responses. This will be effective for the next ballot.

Champions for Health – Lynda Moriarty has two applicants and they will both be forwarded to OFA.

AKC Good Sportsmanship Award – We will be thinking of candidates for this award.

MOTION
To recess and continue the meeting at the national.
Moved: Lourdes Carvajal 2nd: Chuck Crawford

Respectfully submitted,

Susan Davis Shaw
Recording Secretary

The following motions were made seconded, and properly voted by electronic vote. All motions are unanimous unless otherwise noted.

July 27, 2009
MOTION
To approve the two recommendations made by the Standard Committee
and proceed with the due process.
Moved: Lourdes
Carvajal 2nd: Lynda Moriarty

The standard committee has recommended the following 2 changes to the standard:
 1. Small patches of merle are acceptable on Harlequins. This change is being recommended because harlequins do have merle patches. To penalize a harlequin for the presence of small merle patches would unfairly disadvantage a harlequin in the judging process.


2. The length of leg from mid elbow to ground is slightly longer than the length from mid elbow to the top of the withers. This change is being suggested because Danes in fact virtually all are slightly longer from elbow to ground than from wither to elbow. Clearly Great Danes are not dogs with equal proportions such as Rottweilers,Akitas, and Doberman Pinschers. This change will accurately reflect how we desire Great Danes to appear in regard to leg length.

Moved: Lourdes
Carvajal 2nd: Lynda Moriarty


Yes -10; No – 1; Abstain - 1
The motion passed.

September 2, 2009

MOTION
Cathy De La Garza has volunteered to represent us at the conference and asked to be reimbursed for her airfare. Purina pays for the hotel room and meals. I believe we have done this in the past and I suggest that the GDCA pay for Cathy's airfare to the conference. The airfare is approximately under $300.00.

Moved: Jane Chopson 2nd: Lourdes Carvajal

Sept. 19, 2009
MOTION
That we have a 2-day meeting on January 16 and 17 in Las Vegas.
Moved: Jane Treiber 2nd: Lourdes Carvajal

September 30, 2009
MOTION
To print 175 yearbooks.
Moved: Jane Chopson 2nd: Sue Davis Shaw