PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE - January - February, 2007
Greetings to everyone, I hope that everyone had a chance to enjoy the mild weather before the reality of winter set in. So far we have been lucky and the hint of spring will begin in a couple of weeks as the days begin to get noticeably longer.
Our membership activities got started in January with the Maryland Horse Expo which was successful. This year we participated in several of Liz Graves clinics which gave us more exposure to the public. We received a thank you note in the mail the other day thanking us for participating in her clinics. I would like to thank everyone who helped with the expo!!…….We can not be successful without our volunteers!! You can refer to the article in the Glide for more details of what went on at the expo.
The Pennsylvania Expo is February 22-25, 2007 at the Harrisburg Farm Show Complex. Sheri Becker is heading this activity and volunteers are still needed to help watch the booth. This year they expanded the expo to 4 days instead of 3. Even if you can just watch the booth for an hour or two to give the regulars a break that would be a help!! Please contact Sheri for the schedule.
The Delaware Horse Expo is still one day and that is Saturday, March 24, 2007. Cecilia Uhlmann is heading this expo and really is short of volunteers. It is only one day, please call her to help out!!
Our clinic schedule for 2007 is beginning to form with three clinics coming this spring. Refer inside the Glide for more details. Here is what the schedule looks likes so far:
March 31st & April 1st Mary Rizo-Patron Returning to Hillside Farm PA
April 21&22,
2007 Carlos Tobon Returning to the Heartland Arena in DE
Date Pending Rick Shaffer Clinic
and Trail Ride MD (Details in the works)
The clinics are a great way to expand your knowledge base and exchange ideas with other members. It doesn't matter if you trail ride or show, the information that you get out of the clinics can always be used for either. Even if you can not come both days, or bring a horse, you can still audit the clinic and pickup some great tips to help you with your horse when you get home. Auditors are always welcome at any of the clinics and you get to spend time with other Paso enthusiast!!
In the next Glide look for information on our upcoming shows in May and June. Remember that the you can always refer to our website masondixonpfha.org for more information. The Nov-Dec Glide should be posted shortly on the site as will this issue and all future issues.
Dick Teachout has done a wonderful job in producing the Glide for the past couple of years and with some scheduling issues, is asking for some help in producing the Glide or if someone would be interested in taking the production over completely. Please contact Dick or myself if you are interested.
Remember that if you want to continue receiving the Glide in the mail we ask that you please forward a $5 check to Karen Basehore to help cover the production cost of the Glide. Thank you for your continued support.
November - December 2006
By the time you receive this copy of the Glide, we will have already had our annual meeting and banquet on Saturday, November 4, 2006. We had attendance of approximately 50 members. For the members who did not attend, you missed a productive meeting with lots of new ideas, good food, and a lot of laughs that equated to a great time.
The lucky winner of the Aruba Time Share is Sandy Cormier of Bernville, PA! The seller of the winning ticket was Ann Bastian. The winner of the $50 Raffle Ticket Selling Contest is Nancy Lewis,with 64 tickets sold! Thank you Nancy and to everyone else who sold raffle tickets.
Congratulations to all of the High Point Award winners!!!! There was not a lot of participation in the Pleasure High Point Category this year. Just as a reminder you get points for participating in Demonstrations, Parades, organized, judged and competitive trail rides. All you need to do is complete the form and submit it when a pleasure activity has happened. The deadline for submission is September 15th every year.
When we reviewed the year, it was great to see that the many activities were geographically spread all over the different areas of the Region with good participation from the members. There were clinics for continuing education in PA and DE, breed representation at the DE, MD and PA Horse Expos. Demonstrations were held in DE, MD and PA, Shows were held in VA, MD and PA; Parades were attended in PA and NJ.
Rick Shaffer will be coordinating the Clinic Program this year so anyone interested in having a clinic at your farm with a clinician please contact Rick and he can assist you with the arrangements and obtaining a clinician if necessary. Contact Rick at rspaso@shol.com or 814-444-0622.
Diane Dutt is our Parade coordinator and if you would like to participate in the parades or know of a parade that would be good to attend contact her at dld5@comcast.net.
Karen Basehore will be chairing the new membership committee to help devise a plan to reach out to the new and expiring members of the Region. Lori Wieszkowiak and Marie Williams will be on the committee to assist Karen and the Breed Ambassadors will also be involved in the out reach.
The Glide and the website was discussed and Dick Teachout was commended on a great job publishing the Glide. In discussing what the cost is per member to publish and print the Glide, options were discussed including going to an e-newsletter altogether unless a member did not have access to a computer. After much discussion the majority of the membership still wants the Glide mailed. A motion was made from the floor to have a nominal fee of $5 added to the membership renewal form for those members who wish to receive the Glide in print and via mail. The motion was voted on and unanimously passed by the members.
The e-newsletter was also voted and approved to begin putting on the website. Details with the web host still need to be ironed out but most likely an email would be received with a link connecting to the website notifying the members that the Glide is ready for viewing.
For those members that were not at the meeting, included in this Glide is an updated membership application with a place to check for the $5 and to receive the Glide in print via mail. For the members who were not at the meeting, if you would like to continue receiving the Glide via mail, please use the application in the Glide and forward the $5 to Karen Basehore.
The Election of Officers was held and all the officers will remain the same with the exception of Secretary, and that will be Karen Basehore. The new youth coordinator will be Nick Burgos.
There has been a change in the regional news reporter for the PFHA World this year and it will be Sheri Becker. Her contact information is fsmcbic@earthlink.net or 717-428-1617. Thanks goes out to Denise Clearwater for the many years that she has been reporting to the PFHA World for us.
October proved to be a busy month for many members, Nick Burgos demonstrated the Paso Finos at an annual open house at a local tack store near Ron & Joy Weyer’s farm. The owner of the store has been inviting Nick to demonstrate the Pasos for several years. At the open house Nick has a mini clinic with a couple of the local horse owners that are having problems with their horses.
Also in October were the Northeast Gaited Show in Dillsburg, PA and the KILE Show in Harrisburg,PA. The number of horses increased slightly at both shows this year and KILE seemed to be better organized.
Looking ahead, VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED FOR BOTH EXPOS. The Maryland Horse Expo in Timonium, MD will be January 18-21, 2007 and the Pennsylvania Horse Expo in Harrisburg, PA will be on February 22-25,2007. This year the PA expo will now begin on Thursday like MD. Please plan ahead and contact the coordinators with some volunteer time. If you are planning to attend a certain day anyway, please add a little booth time to your schedule. Just 2 to 3 hrs would be greatly appreciated. If you are interested in participating in the breed demonstrations you need to make the appropriate contact on or before December 8th for MD and December 15th for PA so that the paperwork can be coordinated and filed by the deadline.
The contact persons for the expos are as follows:
Maryland Expo
Booth Time: Denise Clearwater dhclearh2o@erols.com 410-757-8487
Breed Demos: Lisa Gorsuch middlefieldfarm@verizon.net 410-596-5586
Pennsylvania Expo
Booth Time & Breed Demos: Sheri Becker fsmcbic@earthlink.net
717-428-1617
It is hard to believe that this year is almost over and the holidays are fast approaching. I wish everyone and their family a happy and safe holiday season!!!
Lisa
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