IV.  REPORT OF THE AKC DELEGATE

AKC Delegate - James Smith.

Mr. Smith reported on the AKC Quarterly Delegates Meeting held September 12, 2006. He reported that the AKC had an operating surplus of $3.2 million, up 17%. Litter and individual registrations were down 1% and 6% respectively, and the AKC experienced a $10 million loss in its support of events in 2005. After John Lyons presented the Petland-AKC initiative regarding the registration of puppies sold, there was a barrage of negative comment from the floor. A non-binding resolution requesting the board rescind any contracts already signed with Petland was passed but NOT overwhelmingly. Mr. Smith reported that there were no proposals to be brought up at the fourth quarter meeting.

Mr. Flock made a motion to approve the Officers’ reports. Seconded by Mr. Miller, the motion was approved unanimously.

V.  STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

A. Charles Garvin

1. Ethics - Edward Flock

Mr. Flock reported that there are no issues at this time. In lieu of the fact that he will no longer be on the board, Mr. Flock requested the board members to take a strong look at the remaining members of the committee and be prepared to give recommendations at the next meeting.

2. Legislative Liaison – Marie Fiore.

No action required.

3. Public Relations - Julie Lux.

No action required. A letter was received from Lisa Peterson, Director of Club Communications at the AKC, requesting a contact for our breed who can respond to questions from the media. President Garvin will approach Julie Lux in NJ, Jackie Quinn in NY, Irv Krukenkamp in Long Island, and Sharon Lyons in NY for their input. David Frei, in production of the 12 Dogs of Christmas, will also be given those contacts.

4. Web Page - Julia Soukup.

Ms. Soukup submitted a written report to the board of Web site activities, including additions to both the DCA and the Spotter web sites. Ms. Soukup also reported on projects in process. She had no action request for the board, and Dr. Garvin remarked on the speed and efficiency with which Ms. Soukup accomplished changes when requested.

Mrs. Hennessey and Ms. Soukup were commissioned to investigate web software that would allow DCA it's own "list serve". Their suggestion was to purchase Mailman, and the board approved the purchase of appropriate software and the subsequent installation and testing of it. The board had also requested an answer to the problem of archiving/storing important information on the web site. Mrs. Hennessey made a motion that we create individual file folders on our web site for archival storage. Seconded by Mr. Miller the motion passed unanimously.

B. Edward Flock

1. Junior Showmanship - Mary Miller.

   No action required.

2. DCA Archival Photographer - Irvin Krukenkamp.

   Irvin Krukenkamp. Dr. Krukenkamp presented an extensive report to the board regarding the photographing/filming of the events at the 2006 specialty show as well as special video projects for which he has been engaged. They continue to evaluate means to increase the efficiency of production.

   The Krukenkamps will be using high definition digital video recording at the 2007 national specialty with a capability of wide screen format. An online survey will be conducted after the first of the year to determine the needs/wants/desires of both those attending the national and those purchasing the DVD.

   Dr. Krukenkamp has been approached by the board to convert two videotapes (A Review of Color in the Dalmatian and the AKC Breed Standard) to DVD and to streaming video for download from the AKC website. He reports that both projects are possible pending no copyright issues have to be addressed. The secretary will write a letter to Jim Crowley requesting permission to use the AKC slide show and/or video on our web site. Dr. Krukenkamp reports the conversion of an older slide show in the DCA archives to a DVD or streaming video would also be possible.

3. Specialty Steering - Edward Flock.

   Mr. Flock reported that David Galloway has submitted a resignation from his Specialty co-chair duties. As steering committee chairman, Mr. Flock has been continuing with the site search committee for 2009 and beyond. He regrets to report that the facilities as proposed for Tulsa were not adequate to meet our needs, but expressed his appreciation to the local group that put the proposal together and hosted representatives from the site selection committee to review the physical plant at the proposed site.

   The committee has revisited the venue for the 2004 specialty in Kansas and initiated negotiations for accommodations at the Lawrence Holiday Inn Holidome and Convention Center. Jamie Davis, Director of Catering at the hotel, has submitted a bid for our consideration and it is the steering committee's recommendation that the board approve this venue for the 2009 specialty and possibly 2010 as well. Mrs. Berg made a motion to hold the 2009 DCA Specialty in Lawrence KS at the Holiday Inn Holidome and Convention Center on April 2-8. Seconded by Mrs. Pirs, the motion passed.

   Subsequent to the resignation of Mr. Galloway, Mrs. Cramer has agreed to be Specialty Chairman for 2008, with Mr. Flock remaining as Steering Chairman to assist her. Mr. Flock will also handle details of the 2009 specialty pending the formal designation of a show chairman.

   Ms. Gayle Riggins has resigned as 2007 Specialty Road Trial Chair in order to take the position of specialty co-chair with Jennifer Cramer for the 2007 and 2008 specialties. The steering committee recommends the board appoint John Cramer as Road Trial Chair, with Linda Davis as Assistant Chair. Board approval was received.

4. Specialty Show Committee - Jennifer Cramer.

   Mrs. Cramer's report addressed several concerns regarding both the 2007 specialty and subsequent specialties.

   1. DCA Specialty 2007, 4/28 – 5/3, Ft. Mitchell, KY – Jennifer Cramer.
      Mrs. Cramer reported that trophy sponsorships are slower than normal this year, with performance sponsorship lagging heavily. She requested board intervention with the performance chairs to stress the importance of supporting the national specialty in this area.

   2. DCA Specialty 2008.
      In light of recent staffing developments, Mrs. Cramer requested that Mr. Flock remain as chairman of the steering committee through at least the 2008 specialty to maintain some continuity.

   3. Mrs. Cramer, with two completed specialties and two more in the planning stages, has now had enough experience to see that some changes are required. She has discussed those concerns with the steering committee and they have concurred with her suggestion. After extensive board discussion of the pros and cons, the board agreed with Mrs. Cramer and the Steering Committee. Mrs. Boyd made a motion that we eliminate sweepstakes in 2008. Seconded by Mr. Flock the motion passed with six in favor, two opposed.

      [See addendum following these minutes for further information.]

      Dr. Garvin will publish a statement on the web site regarding the position the board has taken in this regard.

      ~ ADDENDUM TO DECEMBER 2006 MEETING MINUTES ~
      At the February 17, 2007 meeting of the Board of Governors it was discovered that several issues prevented the implementation of the motion as passed at the December 2, 2006 meeting concerning the future of the Futurity and Sweepstakes competition, not the least of which was the fact that entries/monies had already been accepted for the 2008 Futurity at the current rate, precluding the raising of Futurity rates. Therefore, in order to address this and other issues, the following motion was entertained:

      Mrs. Boyd made a motion to defer the implementation of the board decision to eliminate sweepstakes competition at the national specialty pending further discovery/discussion of the ramifications of this action. Seconded by Mrs. Skibinski, the motion passed unanimously.

5. Top Twenty – Kenneth Berg.

   Planning for the 2007 Top 20 event is well underway, with Dr. Krukenkamp handling the technical details regarding the music for each exhibitor..

C. Sheila Wymore

1. AKC Gazette - Sharon Boyd.

   Mrs. Boyd reported that she continues to develop columns that are entertaining and informative, the main obstacle being the '550 words or less' limitation. Committee member Jan Warren has submitted a few pieces that can be used in the future.

2. Historian - Cheryl Steinmetz.

   Mrs. Steinmetz reported that the Dalmatian Club of Canada is interested in the Canadian material from the Walter Johnson collection and they are looking into a cost-effective way to transfer the material. Mrs. Steinmetz is getting an estimate locally regarding the cleaning and restoration of the framed photos from the Tattoo Collection. She also reported on new additions to the collections, notably ten silver trophies from Mary Barrett of Roadcoach Kennels donated by Forrest Johnson.

3. The Spotter – Paula Olcott.

   Mrs. Olcott reported that she has received the lists from the performance categories for the Top Spots information pulls, and is working with Robert to determine his needs. She reports that so far no one has notified her indicating an interest in taking over editorship of the magazine.

D. Sharon Boyd

1. Regional Club Council – Karen Linsky.

   Ms. Linsky reported that she is still researching information on the Parent Club Partnership program so that regional club council can help launch it effectively after the first of the year.

2. Standing Rules – Michele Wrath

   Mrs. Wrath reported that she expects to have the standing rules caught up to date after the first of the year.

E. Meg Hennessey

1. Awards & Trophys – Laura Lightholder.

   Ms. Lightholder reported that trophy sponsorship for the 2007 show is not as complete as it could be and various factions of the club are working to improve this situation.

2. Membership Education – Lori Finlayson.

   Mrs. Finlayson will be finalizing the contracts pending hearing from each of the board members that we are happy with the documents as they stand.

3. Purina Pro Club Challenge – Meg Hennessey.

   Mrs. Hennessey reported that all the regional clubs have not yet been contacted, stating the Challenge program will officially start on January 1, 2007. There will be an article in the Spotter as well as a notice on the web site bulletin board. Each club will automatically receive 25% of the proceeds of their weight circle collection. The club with the highest weight circle poundage will receive 50% of the proceeds of their collection. The balance of the proceeds will go to DCAF to help support DCAF's activities. Laura Kiedaisch has volunteered to count the weight circles.

F. Eva Berg

1. Futurity – Steven E. Nielsen.

   Mr. Nielsen submitted a complete report regarding the Futurity nominations for 2007. The judge selection process has started, with ballots to be mailed out around December 7th. Mr. Nielsen requests board permission to distribute the judge nomination letter by email to those members with valid email addresses. Hard copy will still be sent out to the rest. Board consensus was that this would be fine.

2. Judges’ Education – Elaine Lindhorst.

   Mrs. Lindhorst reported on two seminars held since the last board meeting, as well as an AKC seminar to be held February 23-25, 2007. Mrs. Lindhorst continues to develop a list of qualified individuals to assist with nationwide ringside mentoring programs.

3. Public Education – Joanne Nash.

   Mrs. Nash and her committee continue their monthly rotation of answering inquiries that come to the DCA website. Mrs. Pirs requested that the committee list the subject matter of any health problem inquiries to aid the Health and Research committee in assessing the prevalence of problems in the breed.

G. Rick Miller

1. Breeder Referral – Karen Wissinger.

   No action required.

2. Performance Events – Donna Truitt.

   Ms. Truitt has regretfully submitted her resignation as chair of performance events. Mr. Miller has volunteered to chair this committee as he will be going off the board in 2007 and will have the time to handle this. Mr. Flock made a motion to accept the resignation of Ms. Truitt and to appoint Mr. Miller as chair of performance events. Seconded by Mrs. Berg, the motion passed unanimously.

   1. Agility – Holly Waldrop.

      Ms. Waldrop reported that the judges' ballots for 2008 have been tabulated and the results returned to Charlie Kocur, 2008 national agility event chairman. The committee plans to actively support the AKC Agility Nationals and the AKC Agility Invitational beginning in 2007 with catalog ad pages, which the board declined to sponsor. The committee also respectfully requests that the DCA sponsor the AKC medallion for Top Dog to be awarded to the top Dalmatian competing at this event. Mr. Miller will contact AKC regarding all "top dog" medallions offered by AKC and bring back a report to the next board meeting and a recommendation as appropriate. Ms. Waldrop also reported that the committee is debating the proposed changes to the Governors Cup point scale allotment.

   2. Obedience – Lynn Luikart.

      Ms. Luikart reported that the obedience committee is working to develop a slate of judges for the 2008 Obedience and Rally trials. She also requested that the board sponsor the AKC medallion to be awarded to the top Dalmatian competing at the 2007 AKC National Obedience Invitational. Mr. Miller to investigate as above. This committee also is debating the proposed changes to the Governors Cup point scale allotment.

   3. Road Trials – Peggy Strupp.

      The committee has reviewed the records and completed a list of former Road Trial judges who have NOT ever exhibited in a Road Trial. Under the "has competed clause" of Chapter 6, the committee voted to "grandfather in": Charlie Cyopik, Beth White, Dr. Michael Manning, Ronnie Ellen Fischler, Laura Fenton, Linda Lewin, Laurie (Westberry) Pitts, Karen Rockwell, Carolyn Bolt, Paula Olcott. Mr. Miller made a motion to approve the list of grandfathered names as requested. Seconded by Mrs. Boyd the motion passed.

      Mr. Miller will contact the committee regarding the regulation requirement of earning an AKC obedience title or other AKC performance title on a dog and report back to the board.

      Cindy Ingalls Gootee has requested permission to hold a Coaching Certificate test only, with no accompanying road trial. Mr. Miller made a motion to approve the holding of a Coaching Certificate test only. Seconded by Mrs. Hennessey, the motion passed.

   4. Tracking – Tom Hacholski.

      No action required.

H. Betty Pirs

1. Health and Research – Betty Pirs.

   No action required.

2. Statistics - Robert VonMayr.

   No action required.

I. Diana Skibinski

1. DCARE – Diana Skibinski.

   Mrs. Skibinski reported on the actions of the committee since the last meeting, requesting that the information on the AKC Rescue contact page be limited strictly to her name, position, and phone number. The Crescent City Rescue has consented not to accept secondary postings on their site for the placement of deaf Dals by other groups, and they are therefore eligible for DCARE funding again. The group sent a note thanking the club for the donations received to date through this program.

2. Membership – Mary Widder.

   Ms. Widder submitted a written list of names to be considered for membership. Mrs. Skibinski read the list of 9 names to the board. The secretary was directed to write a letter to one of the applicants regarding concerns raised per a previous situation involving this applicant. The secretary will request an explanation of what circumstances are different from the previous encounter with this individual that would allow us to consider the application. Mrs. Skibinski made a motion accept eight of the nine applications presented. Seconded by Mrs. Hennessey the motion passed.

   Mr. Flock presented the names of two juniors: Nick Coppola and Jamie Hadaway. Mr. Flock made a motion to endorse the actions of the Junior Showmanship committee in approving the membership of both candidates. Seconded by Mrs. Skibinski, the motion was approved unanimously.

   Action was taken at the last board meeting to hold the approval of one application pending the receipt of further information regarding that applicant. The situation has been satisfactorily resolved. Mrs. Skibinski made a motion to approve the application being held from the previous meeting. Seconded by Mrs. Hennessey the motion passed.

3. Standard – Barbara Greenspan.

   No action required.

Mrs. Berg made a motion to approve the reports of the Standing Committees. Seconded by Mr. Flock, the motion was approved.

VI.  UNFINISHED BUSINESS

1. Review of "List of Things to Do"

   1. Review of “List of Things to Do.” President Garvin led a discussion reviewing the “Things to Do” from the last meeting, covering the items that were each board member’s responsibility to handle after the last meeting. Members of the board evaluated and discussed the status of each. Mrs. Hennessey is still investigating digitizing the lending library materials for access through the website. Mrs. Wymore is still working on the archive exchange with the AKC.

2. Backcross Project.

   Mr. Flock presented a set of letters/documents received from Mrs. Shirley VanDervort expressing her concern over possible genetic considerations regarding the pointer/backcross. The secretary will write a letter thanking Mrs. VanDervort for her concern and reviewing the current status of the situation.

VII.  NEW BUSINESS

1. A letter was received from the AKC Archivist regarding the preservation of important documents relating to the DCA, and the offer by the AKC to cooperate in maintaining/restoring/storing such documents and records. Mrs. Wymore volunteered to work with the AKC Archivist and to pass information on the program to the club historian, Mrs. Steinmetz.

2. The DCA, as a corporation, should be retaining a Minute Book. Mrs. Wymore was commissioned to contact the AKC Archivist for suggestions on which paperwork to save, including the past minutes, and suggestions on where to store this information.

VIII.  FUTURE MEETINGS

The first quarter meeting of the DCA Board of Governors will be on Saturday, February 17, 2007, in Chicago, IL, commencing at 1:00 PM CST. The second quarter meeting will be on Saturday, April 28, 2007, in Ft. Mitchell, KY, commencing at 8:00 AM EDT.

IX. ANNOUNCEMENTS

None.

X. ADJOURNMENT

Mrs. Hennessey made a motion that the meeting be adjourned at 2:30 PM PST. Seconded by Mrs. Skibinski, the motion was approved unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,

Sheila Wymore
DCA Recording Secretary