Page 5 - Issue 1_2018_Neat

Message from the President

William I. Christensen, MD, MPH

Much of the work of your officers and board dur- Additional support for our Juniors was expressed in approval at the St.
ing 2017 was devoted to up-dating and improv- Louis National Specialty board meeting with the formation of a Junior
ing internal processes. Although this might Scholarship Committee, under the chairmanship of Grace Massey. A
seem mundane, effective governance requires an $200 scholarship is available to any junior who will be attending an
organized and accessible framework of operating institution of higher learning. Two of these awards were made in 2017.
documents and rules. To this end there has been I would like to thank all the ATCA officers and board members for their
continuing work on revising our bylaws. The hard work during 2017. I would especially like to thank those retiring
initial impetus was the desire expressed by the board members, Sue Bachman, Sue Gersin, and Teresa Schreeder for
membership and board at the 2016 National Specialty in Long Beach their contributions during their service on the board.
to simplify the process by which someone interested in Australian Ter-
riers might become a member of the club and participants in the AKC It is important to recognize that much, if not most, of the work of the
Juniors Program might be especially encouraged to join. Revisions to ATCA is done by the committees. Past President Alexa Samarotto
the bylaws requires the active participation of AKC according to their frequently asked for members to step forward and volunteer to work
process. Also required is review by an attorney licensed in the club’s on a committee. I would ask the same. As with any organization, it is
state of incorporation, in our case, New Jersey, to insure compliance only by involvement in the work of the organization that one achieves
with applicable state corporate law. Much of this work has been satisfaction and the enjoyment of working with other members on a
accomplished due primarily to the efforts of our Vice President, Grace common purpose. Please don’t hesitate to contact me or any board
Massey, and Recording Secretary, Sherrill Yates, but when we were member or any committee chairman if you would like to contribute to
ready to submit the final product to AKC for approval, we discovered the welfare and appreciation of your Australian Terriers by becoming
that there was a conflict between the AKC “template” for parent clubs involved in the work of the club.
and the AKC procedures for revising club bylaws and breed standards.
Resolution required the eventual involvement of AKC President Den- We have a great National Specialty to look forward to in late May. If
nis Sprung, who convened a committee to resolve the inconsistency you have never visited the Biltmore, plan to do so. The house is spec-
in AKC documents. This was accomplished two weeks ago, and your tacular, but the gardens are as well. There is a heritage rose garden as
board will reconcile our document with the revised AKC requirements well as an international test garden for roses. The AKC will be video-
and resubmit for final approval. Once approved, bylaws will be sub- taping the specialty in preparation for an on-line educational course for
ject to a vote for approval by the ATCA membership. judge who wish to become approved for Australian Terriers. Dr. Jerry
Bell will be the Education Day speaker and will present an excellent
Complex as revising the bylaws has turned out to be, it has involved comprehensive survey of canine genetics, especially as it applies to
less work than up-dating and sorting-out the standing rules for the our breed. The specialty packet has been sent out by Kerrie and is also
current pertinence of each. “Standing rules” include previous board available on the website. Sign-up and look forward to it!
decisions as well as updating procedures adopted for a particular
purpose. Unlike bylaws, standing rules can be changed, eliminated,
or carried forward as a precedent by a board vote. Both Grace and
Sherrill again did an extraordinary amount of work in identifying all
previous standing rules, reviewing for current pertinence, and organiz-
ing for the board in such a way that a decision to continue each one
as “active” or archive for future historical reference could be made by
the board. This was done at the 2017 St. Louis National. Webmaster
Kerrie Bryan has posted these on the members’ section of the ATCA
website.
Another arduous task has been continuing the digitalization of the
ATCA archives and work with AKC archivist Brynn White to arrange
transfer of some of the bulk of this material to the AKC. I would like
to thank the Archives Committee, Darlene Evans, Sue Bachman and
Carol Sazama, for their hard work The Committee is currently sorting
through physical mementos to see what should be retained and what
might be offered to the members for purchase,
Part of the impetus for revising the bylaws to encourage member-
ship was to promote the Australian Terrier as a breed which more pet
buyers might wish to consider. At the suggestion of board member
Julie Seaton, a Breed Marketing committee has been created under
the chairmanship of Heather Williams. You may have seen some of the
short entertaining and engaging videos which they have created and
posted on Facebook and other social media.

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