Dale Bush reported that the sponsorship committee had secured a new three year agreement with Royal Canin, Inc. (formerly known as Kasco). The secondary sponsor, Bruce Fox Awards, could not continue their support, but would offer the AFTCA a reduced price of $58.00 per plaque for all National Amateur events. Tri-Tronics & Wildlife Materials are still honoring their existing contract. Saddles for the National Amateur events will be donated by Haggis Saddlery, Tucker Saddle Company. Tarpin Hill will continue the tradition of providing a saddle for the National Amateur Shooting Dog Championship.

Print Program:

The print programs are going well and will continue to raise between $75,000.00 and $100,000.00 per year. All benefactors are paid in full for the next 10 years at a cost of $10,000.00 per scene. I believe the Smith Setters will be the benefactors of next year's print. Year 11 will be available soon and would welcome a $10,000.00 check from any West Coast field trialer who wishes to become a benefactor. There may be a satellite print available to the breed clubs at a cost of $25,000.00 per benefactor.

Rule Change 1:

The rule concerning "Blank Ammunition Only" as stated in the Bylaws will now have a violation clause. The new rule is as follows: "Blank pistols using 32 caliber or equivalent are allowed. Handlers who choose to use a shotgun must show their blank ammo to the judges prior to running their entries. Any handler deemed , while the trials in progress, to be using live ammo by trial officials shall be disqualified for the entire stake and shall be responsible for payment of entry fees on all entries". Clubs must also state in their ad "no live ammunition or blank ammunition only".

Rule Change 2:

The Red Book prohibits the use of scouting in Shooting Dog stakes. Yet, scouting has gone on for years. I was asked to help write new language to permit the use of scouts with certain parameters. A preliminary suggestion is as follows (your comments would be welcome): "Scouting is permitted in Shooting Dog stakes provided permission from the judges has first been obtained. The scout should return to the gallery immediately upon completion of his task and not act as an outrider".

Jerry Arlington:

The Board had been asked to consider the recommendation to the American Field for reinstating Jerry Arlington. Various documents were available for review (Arlington's letters to Bernie Matthys). This issue did not gain enough support for any action.

The meeting was dismissed and scheduled to resume at the Printers Row Hyatt the following morning.

Legislative Report:

The Legislation Committee reported that the AFTCA had donated $50,000.00 to the U.S Sportsman Alliance Foundation (lobbying group). Combined with individual donations from AFTCA members, we have contributed a total of $113,000.00 on lobbying efforts toward the adverse effects of the" Pittman-Robertson" audits. The audits have been stopped on a Federal level; however, some states may choose to continue with their own audits. To date, no state has elected to audit. However, when this does occur, we should continue to contribute our resources and stop them on a State level.

Change in Dues:

Dues have not increased since 1986. AFTCA costs have doubled during that same time frame. As Trustees, we believed it responsible to increase the annual dues from $50.00 to $75.00.

20th Century Fund:

The 20th Century Fund had requests from various organizations in the amount of $44,000.00. Upon reviewing these requests, $24,000.00 was approved for distribution. The list of Clubs, organizations and amounts will be published in the Field. To date, not one club from Region 11 has requested funds.

Trustee Changes:

Herb Anderson replaced Mark Shelton in Region 10.

Glen Wiese replaced Jerry Krebs in Region 9.

Financial Report:

AFTCA has a total of $508,000.00 in various accounts, including some stock investments we have chosen to divest and place into a more prudent, secure arena.

Notes:

Region 11 appears very calm compared to other areas ~ specifically Region 13. McInteer cited irregularities in Region 13 and complaints concerning such. He appointed Richard Bembenck to oversee that region, along with the current Trustee. The main concern, other than all the in-fighting, was correcting their procedures in running Championships. Region 13 sent numerous applicants for new Trustees to the meeting, each representing one of their factions. The possibility of losing their Championships is very real if the irregularities as not eliminated. Basically, it was Walking Dog verses Horseback Dog factions not being in total accord.

I would like to extend my special thanks to Mack Smith for reminding me of the Proxies. Two issues required a proxy count and a number of regions failed to have their proxies available from their various clubs allowing just one vote from that region.

Any comments or questions, please call or talk to me at one of the trials. Again, thank you for your confidence in allowing me to represent you at the annual meetings.

Regards,
Torben Hansen