WILLAMETTE VALLEY CHAPTER OF NAVHDA

The Willamette Valley chapter annual meeting was held at the Cascade Grill in Albany.  Members present were Todd Wheeler, Ben Drongesen, Maureen Conley, Carmen Spencer, Phil Swain, Nancy Breuner, Jeffrey Mack, John Tacke, Jay Welch, Jim Donovan, Jeff Merriman, Keith Bartlett, Rollie Montagne, Burton Johnson, Vicki Meyer, and Howard Meyer.

The meeting was called to order at 1:30 pm by President Howard Meyer.  A current membership list was circulated for any updates.  Minutes of last year’s meeting were circulated and accepted as presented (Donovan/Johnson).  In a brief review of the past year’s activities, Howard mentioned the mini-Handlers Clinic and thanked Phil Swain for his efforts that made the event a success.  The chapter is maturing with several members interested in training their dogs to higher levels and running them in UPT or UT testing this coming year.

Jeff Merriman presented the 2009 Treasurer’s report which showed a net income of $2705.74 and an ending balance of $7070.17.  The spring test showed a profit of $1047.74 and the fall test showed a profit of $611.78.  Howard explained that we had been fortunate to have full tests and judge expenses had been held down by not needing to bring in an ‘out of region’ judge for either 2010 test - we will be required to do so for our 2011 spring test.  The financial report was accepted as presented (Swain/Tacke).

Jeff indicated our chapter’s 501 (c) (3) status is in place so both WV Chapter dues and donations made to the chapter are tax deductible.

Dates for our spring test have been approved for May 20-22; the test will be limited to Natural Ability only.  Judges are John Kohnke (WA), Kurt Merg (WA), and Chip Bonde (MD).  The test venue will again be the Luckiamute Valley Pheasant Preserve near Monmouth.  The Natural Ability test fee will remain at $120 for chapter members and $140 for non-members. 

Howard expressed his appreciation to Jay Welch for his efforts as past test secretary.  Nancy Breuner is the Spring test secretary; test entries and payment should be mailed directly to her at 654 NW Ogden Ave., Bend OR 97701.

The tentative dates for the fall test are August 19-21, and the plan is to include all three levels of testing (NA, UPT, and UT).  The anticipated test site is Deerhaven Farms where the 2010 fall test was held. 

Nancy Breuner raised the subject of the many areas of responsibilities during a test, such as judge steward, grounds steward, bird planters, meal providers, gunners, and duck launchers (for UPT and UT tests).  Several members volunteered for some of those duties - Thank you, and you can count on being contacted as the spring test approaches.  Many hands make light work…please contact Howard if you’d be willing to help.

Howard and Nancy led a discussion of the current, and interim, ODFW dog training regulations.  Frustration was expressed by several members, and Howard indicated that much improvement had been made between the first and revised draft as circulated by ODFW.

Training Day dates, venues, and content were discussed.  St. Louis Ponds may be the site for the spring training days - Howard will apply for permits to use these grounds the last Saturdays of both March and April leading up to the test at Luckiamute Valley Pheasant Preserve in May.  Participants will need to indicate their bird needs in advance so birds can be ordered – probably from the nearby Gervais Game Farm.  Depending on water and field conditions, Deerhaven Farm (south of Corvallis and the site of the fall 2010 test) may be available for Training Days in June and July. More information will be sent to members as the details are finalized.  Howard indicated that he would be approaching Ron Garrison to serve as Director of Training.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:06 pm. (Bartlett/Tacke).

Vicki Meyer, Chapter Secretary