CFA Southern Region

Region Director

Contact Info:
emarkh_

yahoo.com
phone: 540-635-9461

eNewsletter December 2010

It is my goal to send out a newsletter the first of each month to keep our clubs up-to-date. If you know of anyone who might be interested in receiving a copy, have them go to the Southern Region website to sign up or just look to the right to the "Join our Mailing List" link.

Yep, the Southern Region now has a presence on Facebook. When I ran for Regional Director, I promised to communicate with the folks around our Region. I have attempted to do that via our Region's website, this eNewsletter, posts on the Region's email List, Regional Meetings, being responsive to your emails, and now on Facebook. I'm continuing to explore other ways to share information with you. Check us out on Facebook under "Southern Region CFA." If you are so inclined, become a Friend.

Conference Calls
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The CFA Board of Directors has held a number of conference calls this month. One Nov. 9th there was a protest discussed in Executive Session and continued in a follow-up conference call on Nov. 23rd. On Nov. 16th a conference call was held with the Board and several staff members from Computan to discuss the new computer system being created for CFA. During the Nov. 23rd conference call, in addition to finalizing the protest hearing from earlier this month, the Board accepted the resignation of Alene Shafnisky as Publications Committee Chair and ratified the appointment of Mark Hannon as the new Publications Committee Chair. The Board also ratified the appointment of Rachel Anger as Mentoring Committee Chair (previously held by John Gardiner). Computan was also contracted to redesign the CFA website. The Board reviewed a draft redesign and requested additional work. Four new design proposals will be presented to the Board on 11/24/10. Once the Board agrees on a design, the new website should be in production within 7 - 10 days.

Via email vote on Nov. 19th, the Board accepted the resignation of John Gardiner as the North Atlantic Regional Director. Per CFA's Constitution, a special election will be held to fill the seat. During the Board's Nov. 23rd conference call, Sig Hauck was appointed Regional Treasurer, Julie Keyer was given authority to approve/disapprove requests for changes in show dates/locations, Sharon Roy will continues to chair the 2012 Annual Committee, and Claudia Hasay will continue to coordinate the 2011 Regional Awards event. These appointments were intended to keep the Region running until the election results are announced in late February, 2011. Neighboring Regional Directors Loretta Baugh and Mark Hannon will provide the Region with any necessary information that would normally come from their own RD.

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Fund-Raisers

During October the Region raffled an Intarsia Art piece, created by Jacqui Bennett, as a fund-raiser for the 2011 Annual being hosted by our Region. The drawing was held at the Cotton States show and Karen Godwin was the winner. Congratulations!

At the Cat Fanciers of Washington show on 11/13/10, a bake sale was held to benefit the Annual. Lots of yummy home-made goodies were sold and a nice sum handed over to the Annual treasurer. At this same show they held a "Pay It Forward" fund-raiser where gently used items such as cage drapes were sold. Again, a nice amount was raised for our upcoming Annual. We encourage all our clubs to think of what they can do to help fund the Annual.

Madeira Citrine

November's raffle is for a Madeira Citrine Pendant. This lovely 3-carat stone is set in a basket pendant to be worn on a chain. If the winner prefers to wear it set in a ring, their jeweler could easily make that change. It was donated by John & Gloria Clark and is valued at $2,000. Tickets are limited to 300 and are selling at $20 each or 3 for $50. The winner will be drawn at the Dixieland Silver/Golden show on 12/12/10. Tickets are being sold at shows throughout the Region or can be purchased online using PayPal for payment.

Important Deadline

Breed Council ballots are due back at the Central Office by December 15th. They must be received by that date.

Ambassador Cats

Shirley Peet with Hope

CFA has a new program in which 13 cats have been identified as "CFA-Iams Ambassador Cats". Three of those cats are here in the Southern Region. They are a Sphynx owned by Pat Hawk (FL), an American Shorthair owned by Dawn Crisp (NC), and an Exotic owned by Shirley Peet (MD). So that's a longhair, a shorthair, and a no hair from three parts of our Region. These cats will be attending shows and be available to greet the public, to be petted, and the owners will be answering questions from the spectators to our shows. It's also possible that Ambassador Cats from other Regions will be attending our shows. Clubs are asked to provide the owners a double-cage space (owners have a Sturdi Cage) and an empty cage flat on which the cat can be seen by the public. If you have questions regarding this program, please email Karen Lane.

CFA has created a second program for Ambassador Cats. Willa Hawke, chair of the CFA Ambassador Program, writes:

We have another group of distinguished cats the CFA Ambassador Cat (CFA-AC) and owners who are willing to assist CFA clubs with their public relations outreach efforts. You will find our criteria and guidelines for this select cadre of CFA Ambassador Cats here. Some of our CFA Ambassadors will also serve as owners of CFA-ACs and can assist our clubs in attracting spectators to shows and help the club in their education and outreach efforts to spectators during the show.

As you will see, the requirements for CFA Ambassador Cats and their owners
are a bit different than the requirements for the 13 IAMs Ambassador Cats. These
guidelines can assist everyone involved in show production as to the best way to
utilize the services of this dedicated group of Ambassadors and their "feel good" felines.

The application/enrollment forms will soon be available on line on the
Ambassador section of the CFA Web site. We will let you know as soon as they are
ready.

Reminder
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Show Rules require clubs to provide their judges with a copy of the show flyer. Judges comment that they often do not receive a flyer nor info on ground transportation arrangements once they land at the airport (or directions if they are driving). Let them know that when they land they should call the hotel for their courtesy van, meet Donna Jean outside Baggage Claim, whatever. Provide your judges with hotel information (hotel name, phone number, confirmation number, payment arrangements, etc.). Make double sure the hotel payment arrangement has been made clear to the hotel. Often our judges are told their room is paid for only to learn upon arrival that the room was guaranteed for late arrival but not paid for. It may require a club member to physically visit the hotel to get that straight.

These days travel is often unpleasant and it is a big help if judges know what they can expect when they arrive in your town. Put yourself in the judges' position and make sure you provide them with all the information you would want.

Regional Meetings

I held a Regional Meeting at the Cotton States CC show in Duluth GA on November 6th. I also held a Regional Meeting at the Cat Fanciers of Washington show in Winchester VA on November 13th. Click here for my notes on the meeting in Georgia. Click here for my notes on the meeting in Virginia.

The next Regional Meeting is scheduled for December 11th at the Dixieland Silver & Golden Fanciers show in Concord NC. I hold these meetings as one way to share information with folks around our Region. This is also an opportunity for you to share your thoughts and concerns with me, to provide me feedback. I can more effectively represent you if I have input from you.

Show Counts

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Regional Show Counts so far this season shown in descending order based on official counts of cats present. Click here to see how our numbers stack up.

Breed Rescue

Charlene Campbell reports on the rescue of 63 Maine Coons in Marion County FL. Thanks to the efforts of CFA's Breed Rescue Program, these cats were placed in No Kill shelters and eventually adopted out to great homes. CFA invested about $1,100 in vet bills, etc. Half of that money was donated by folks in the Fancy and the CFA Southern Region provided matching funds. Check out Charlene's article on this rescue.

"Cat Talk Almanac"

That's the new printed magazine CFA plans to start publishing next February. They are now accepting subscriptions, advertising and grand photos. Currently, only basic subscriptions to the printed
magazine are being accepted. Combination subscriptions for epoints and the magazine will be available shortly, and there will be a way to merge your current epoints subscription with the new magazine.

NAR / NWR 2011 Calendars

In an effort to be a good neighbor, I want to mention that the North Atlantic and Northwest Regions are selling a 2011 calendar as a fund-raiser for the 2012 and 2013 Annuals. Due to Former RD John Gardiner's poor health, our neighbors to the North are getting a slow start to selling these attractive calendars. Designed by Larry Johnson, it features the top 3 kittens, championship cats, premiership cats, and household pets from both Region 1 and Region 2 for the 2009-10 show season. The calendars cost $20 each, including postage in the USA, and can be ordered online.

"How To" Videos

CFA has been working with a company called "MonkeySee" to create short videos for the general public on cat-related topics. This is part of the CFA Outreach and Education Committee's goal to establish CFA as the leading authority on "how to" when it comes to cats. They have a series, for example, on Agility. They also have a series on How To Show A Cat. The videos are available for viewing on CatsCenterstage. An 8 "webisode" series on Choosing A Cat is almost finished and will soon be available. The committee also filmed three News broadcasts - 1-1/2 minutes each: How to humanely treat feral cats was completed in time for Feral Cat Day October 16th. The other two topics will be ready in a few weeks: one is on The Crisis of Abandoned & Stray Cats and the other one is on the need to identify cats via microchipping, tattoo or collar tag. Dr. Elsey's Precious Cat Litter has provided all the funding for all of these video projects. Committee Chair Joan Miller commented, "We are grateful to Dr. Bruce Elsey, Precious Cat Litter and the cat fanciers who have been featured as our stars/expert authorities - Jill Archibald, Susan Cook Henry and Gary Powell, as well as several people who provided cats for the shoots at Susan's home and at Meet The Breeds." I have links above to two of the videos. Take a look.

The CFA Foundation

1905 Challenge Cup

Karen Lawrence writes:

"The CFA Foundation is always looking for exciting items to add to our collection. Several years ago, we were approached by an author/collector who had purchased an antique stein that had engraving on its metal bands. Engraved on one band was "For Best Longhaired Black", "Johnnie Fawe II - 1906 - Strongheart - 1906", and "Columbia Patrick - 1907." He was intrigued enough to do more research and eventually contacted the foundation. One of these days, the foundation hopes to own it! Read more about this stein and its history here."

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