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Our banner cat for January is CFA's Fourteenth Best Kitten, GC, NW Callyn's Luscious, a blue-patched tabby and white Exotic female.
(photo by Chanan)
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February 1, 2018
All club dues and membership lists are due into CFA Central office by today in order to be eligible to vote in the upcoming election.
March 15, 2018
Deadline for declarations for CFA Executive Board and all regional directors.
April 16, 2018
Proposed Amendments & Resolutions must be RECEIVED in CO by this date.
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Many parts of the US have endured bitter cold, snow, and ice. This time of year is always dangerous to be outside and on the road, so please use extra caution when traveling - especially with your cats. You don't want to be marked absent for next week's show!
In other parts of CFA's world, things are much more moderate (and we envy you!). Regardless of where you are, why not grab a kitty (or two...), settle in to your spot, and curl up with this month's issue of the CFA Newsletter.
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 elcome to the New Year! As we look back on 2017, we see that CFA had a very successful year. Our primary business is registering cats and we continued to see an increase in our registrations. At the same time our registration staff turned these registrations around very quickly. More than 80% of our registrations are submitted via Ecats and we normally process them within 24 - 48 hours. If you are having a registration problem that can not be satisfactorily resolved by the staff, please take it to our Deputy Director,
Verna Dobbins. We want happy customers and if you are not happy, please give us the opportunity to turn that around for you.
We have translated our Show Rules into Chinese and the translation is currently being reviewed for accuracy. We want to make sure we convey the proper intent for each rule and at times a literal translation word for word may be misleading. Since more than half our registrations come from China, we want to give them a good chance to succeed.
Our board members will meet in Alliance, Ohio, the first weekend of February. We are all arriving a day early so we can devote Friday to an all-day strategic planning session. Some of the topics to be discussed include marketing, discussing issues our customers in China are encountering, and improving our IT services to either automate some processes that are being handled manually or automated systems that can be improved.
At the February board meeting we will discuss advancing the Bengal from Miscellaneous status to Provisional. We will also consider two new breeds for registration: Khao Manee and Lykoi. The Lykoi is also known as the "werewolf cat." Khao Manee cats were originated in Thailand. They are pure white with a short, smooth, close-lying coat. Supporters of these two new breeds plan to have examples at the board meeting.
Many of you took advantage of our month-long offer of a free cattery report. Please be sure to review your report and notify the Central Office if there are any cats that you did not breed but appeared on your report. We want to discover any possible errors or fraud.
2018 is the 50th anniversary of the Winn Feline Foundation. Most of you are familiar with their work supporting feline health research. This remarkable organization was started in 1968 with a $100 donation from CFA and since then they have raised an incredible $6 million. Congratulations to Winn on a very successful 50 years.
2018 is also the 100th anniversary of the Cleveland Persian Society. That certainly makes this one of CFA's oldest clubs. They hold shows, obviously, in the Cleveland, Ohio, area. For a number of years they have held two successful shows each year (January and October) in Parma, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. These shows are consistently among CFA's larger shows and their club members work hard to produce a quality show that reflects well on our organization. Join me in congratulating this club on their wonderful milestone.
A reminder that club dues and membership lists are now due. Check the
CFA website to see if your club is in good standing. Only clubs in good standing as of February 1, 2018, will be able to vote in this year's election for Regional Director and Officers.
In closing, I encourage you to enter a cat show and support our many hard-working clubs.
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Terri Barry
CFA Executive Director
It's hard to believe the holidays have already come and gone. Winter has arrived across the entire nation, and not just in the north. I hope all are doing ok and you haven't had too many weather related issues to deal with. While 2017 has officially ended, CFA's yearend will close in April.
I do want to let you know that so far, 2017/2018 continues to be a remarkable year for CFA. Through key board leadership decisions, we continue to work and strengthen CFA while expanding internationally.
C.O. would like to welcome Cristal Oesch (pronounced Ash) as our new Fiscal Coordinator, she replaces Stacy Malone who accepted a position elsewhere.
It's downright cold in Atlanta right now but the weather should be fabulous for CFA's Annual Meeting in June. The Schedule of Events and other information related to the Annual will be forthcoming on CFA's website. Also included will be the link to make your hotel reservations at the Crown Plaza Atlanta Perimeter at Ravinia, about 30 minutes from the Atlanta's (ATL) International airport. There is great shopping and plenty of restaurants around the hotel. A complimentary shuttle service within a two mile radius is offered by the hotel.
Mark Your Calendars
If you haven't already, here's are a few friendly reminders to mark on your calendars:
- C.O. will be closed January 15th in observance of Martin Luther King Day.
- June 28 - July 1, it's on to Atlanta, GA. for the CFA Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet.
- October 13 -14 is The International Cat Show, (please note the new dates for the show) in Cleveland, OH and it will provide a multi-cultural atmosphere, ideal for both international and national competitors.
I wish you all a safe, healthy and happy 2018.
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Meet the CFA Central Office Staff!
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coordinated by Verna Dobbins, CFA Deputy Director
We here at Central Office spend our days talking and working with all of you, it was thought you might like to put a face with the voices/emails.
Starting with the top row, left to right and working our way down please meet:
Dena Donnelley - Dena's is our receptionist and she processes requests for transfers, opens and distributes our mail and prints all registration certificates. Dena has been with CFA since 2014
James Simbro - IT Support/Systems Administrator - James handles and controls our computer system along with trouble shooting and helping customers with their on-line issues. James has been with CFA since 2012
Melissa Watson- Administrative Associate - Melissa processes and handles all show licenses and assists the Protest Committee. Melissa joined our staff in 2016.
Brian Buetel - Facilities/Shipping - Brian handles keeping our building in tip top shape, helping staff and making sure your show boxes are shipped in a timely manner. Brian has also become a valuable member of the International Show Support Team. Brian has been with CFA since 2011 and was the first employee hired for the Alliance office.
Row 2
Mariane Toth - Mariane handles general registration, Cats Ancestral Tracking and Cattery Inspections. Being a member of the car fancy, Mariane brings much knowledge to Central Office. Mariane has been a member of our staff since 2012.
Kay Chamberlain - Kay is our bookkeeper and also our Breed Council Representative. Kay joined CFA in 2014 and has had experience with many roles in Central Office such as registration and show licensing.
Cristal Oesch - Cristal is our newest member joining us in 2017 as our Finance Coordinator. Cristal has excellent accounting skills and has grasped our Central Office procedures impressively.
Sean Dobbins - Sean has taken on the duties of our clubs, membership lists, dues and our delegate process. He also assists with show data entry, shipping and receiving. Sean joined CFA in the fall of 2017.
Row 3
Jordan Lampley - Jordan joined CFA in 2015 and worked in Registration before moving into the show department. She handles show data entry, grand certificate and confirmations along with assisting with Registration via Pedigree and is in training for clerking program.
Shirley Michaud-Dent - Shirley has been with CFA since 1991, 27 years and is a tremendous asset to the staff in Alliance. Shirley handles Grand Champion Scoring and National Regional Scoring, entry surcharges, Grand of Distinction and DM's along with Agility, BAOS preparations, the Clerking Program.
Linda Scharver - Linda's duties include preparing the show package upon receipt in Central Office as well as show data entry. She also is the Central Office Representative for the judging program and guest judge process. Linda assists the judging program file administrators along with grand certificates. Linda joined CFA in 2012.
Row 4
Kelly Williams - Kelly started out in general registration and has taken on the task of Registration via Pedigree. Kelly joined CFA in 2017.
Amanda Ganni - Amanda became a member of our staff in 2016 as in the registration department. She is 1 of 2 that handles all of your e-cat registrations. Amanda is also customer service for phones and email.
Kylie Westfall - Kylie is part of our registration department and the other half of the 2-person team that handles all your e-cat registrations along with customer service for phones and emails. Kylie came to the CFA staff in 2016.
Front Left: Teresa Barry - CFA's Executive Director. Terri joined CFA in 2014.
Front Right: Verna Dobbins - CFA's Deputy Director. Verna started with CFA in 2011.
Not Pictured
Erica Minich - Erica came to CFA in 2013. Erica processes all of your cattery and pedigree requests/renewals.
Allene Tartaglia - Allene is CFA's Special Events Coordinator and works off-site of Central Office. Allene rejoined the CFA staff in 2016. Allene is responsible for our wonderful events: the CFA Annual, last year's World Cat Congress event hosted by CFA, and the International Cat Show. She also investigates site locations for our events.
Carol Bertone - Carol came to CFA in 2000 and has been a valuable asset with procedures customer service and on-line payments. Carol works off-site from the Alliance Central Office.
Shelly Borawski - Shelly started with CFA in 1987 and works off-site. Shelly is in the publications and special events divisions. Shelly designs, provides layout for the CFA Yearbook, White Pages, forms in addition to handling many duties such as AV, delegate check-in at the Annual and many, many functions at the International Cat Show.
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Teresa Keiger
Editor
The February issue of Cat Talk is well into production! This issue marks the 8th year of the magazine's publications, and we'd like to thank all of our supporters and contributors over the years. Many of our best articles over the years have come from your suggestions, and we are always grateful for your input.
Have you been enjoying our series "What You Don't Know About..." which brings you information about what it is like to live with and exhibit CFA breeds? This is a prime example of our reliance on the contributions of our fellow fanciers for stories and photos of what their breeds are like. These have included cats perched on doors, snuggled up with other cats/breeds/species, and taking over their humans' lives. So if you hear a call for photos for your breed, please don't hesitate to share! (and are you curious about the breed for February? It's the Turkish Angora AND the Norwegian Forest Cat!)
Remember that you can subscribe to either the print or the online version of Cat Talk. It's available online through the
Kindle Newsstand or through
Magzter. Complete ordering information is
here.
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CFA Annual Meeting
June 27-July 1, 2018
Crowne Plaza
Atlanta Perimeter Ravinia
Atlanta, GA
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WINN FELINE FOUNDATION
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Winn had many honored donors of $100 or more for December and their names are posted on this linked table. Please join Winn in issuing a giant THANK YOU for their generosity
The Future of Cat Health:
Winn Feline Foundation will have our 2018 Winn grant review in Portland, OR on March 16th. We have a superb mix of 46 research proposals to evaluate for funding. This includes proposals for awards to New Feline Investigators in the area of feline genetics specifically and for other health issues plus research into feline shelter medicine. An exciting time for cat health!
2017 Holiday Photo Contest Results:
Out of 40 wonderful photo submissions, the winners in each category are: Best in Holiday Attire is "Dong Dong" (individual) and the Gingerbread group, Norman, Baldar, & Walter (multiple cats). Most Humorous is "Diesel" in B&W. Their humans will receive a $50 Amazon gift card. A special mention for "Anastasia" who at 21 years of age recently crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Her loving human will receive a $10 Amazon gift card. Sheldon O' Cooper also received a runner-up Special Mention. All of our holiday cats are winners and Tthank you to those who sent a photo.
Planned Giving tip for January:
Tax changes are coming in 2018. But most people are not done with their 2017 returns, due April 17, 2018. You can start now to make things easier at tax time.
- Watch your mail and inbox and make sure not to miss any tax documents sent you by third parties.
- Make a list of documents you need to complete your return, such as W-2s, 1099s, mortgage interest statements, ACA documentation and the like.
- Gather up your financial records, receipts, or other tax information accumulated during the year so they are together.
- Be sure to have documentation for any sales of stocks, bonds or other assets during the year, including your purchase price or other tax basis.
If any documentation is missing, try to get copies now. Don't wait until your return is due. Starting your homework early may help make things less stressful when preparing your return later
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By Kelly Crouch, CFA Legislative Information Liaison
Is Regulating Rescues the Next Legislative Trend?
To classify regulating rescues as the newest trend in animal welfare legislation may be premature. Nevertheless, the issue has risen enough that fanciers should know about it. They are heavily involved in welfare and rescue efforts through the CFA Breeder Assistance Program, CFA Animal Welfare Program, or the numerous rescue groups in the pedigreed cat community. Poorly drafted legislation could prohibit rescue volunteers from helping if the need arises. Whether fancier supported (thank you!) or from another part of the global rescue community, these volunteers are indispensable to reducing euthanasia rates in the animal sheltering community. Rescue is already stressful for the volunteers without adding burdensome legislation and regulations that ultimately put pets in harm's way if small groups and individuals leave the rescue community.
Some of these legislative efforts regulating rescues may be due to advocacy campaigns, while others are reactions to unfortunate situations. Animal welfare is a concern for all animal lovers and while these abusive rescuers are a minority, but they do make the news. Recently there was a news report in Maricopa County, Arizona about an emaciated dog neglected by a rescue. It was unclear whether this was a one-time event, but it was enough for at least one animal control employee to think there "ought to be a law." The sought-after legislation can take a wide variety of forms including licensing, inspections and fees. Legislation may not directly regulate rescues but may hamper their efforts through import or transportation regulations, or require high levels of veterinary care for rescued animals. Such laws may create a barrier to entry for small groups and individual volunteers or cause existing rescues to shut down.
Inappropriately grouping small volunteer efforts with commercial-scale operations in legislation is just one of the items fanciers need to consider when reviewing proposed legislation. As with breeder legislation, both barriers to entry problems and cat-specific issues can arise by accident or design. Sometimes these issues reside in the definitions of the term rescue. Rescue definitions may exclude any entities that are not an Internal Revenue Service Section 501 (c) (3) charitable organization or a state equivalent. Incorporation of the rescue entity may also be a consideration in defining who is a rescue. Another consideration may be the source of the animals the rescue obtains. Rescues might be required to source their animals from shelters rather than individuals and other rescues. The substance of the legislation may simply define which people need to be licensed, inspected or meet other requirements; it may also define who is allowed to act in a rescue capacity.
In addition to evaluating the proposed legislation, fanciers need to evaluate current state and local laws as they may address legislative concerns. States may have laws for facility licensing that include rescue organizations and private shelters. Shelter sterilization laws may also impact rescues. Local ordinances may also have provisions applicable to private shelters and rescues. These may include zoning laws, business permits, kennel and cattery licensing, limit laws, nuisance, and waste disposal regulations. Laws at any level may include standards of care provisions or authorize the creation of care regulations. Even federal laws may address the issue of concern to legislators. Applicable federal laws may include importation of dogs or cats, interstate transport, and air travel.
Whether the concern in Maricopa County progresses to a draft ordinance or legislators choose to apply existing law remains to be seen. However, fanciers should not be surprised if the issue crops up more often. When it does, fanciers may see familiar concepts or see this new area of legislation bring about innovative approaches. The CFA Legislative Group will help fanciers protect their ability to act for the benefit of pedigreed cats without handicapping their welfare and rescue efforts. Rescues of all sizes perform too important a function to be regulated out of existence due to a few bad actors.
Please report legislation happening in your area to the Legislative Group -
[email protected]
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 by Karen Lane
CFA Ambassador Cats Program Chair
It is a New Year! Happy 2018!
We are planning great things for the A-Cat group. First we are looking to expand the number of A-Cats in our program, and do a bit of restructuring within the committee.
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| A-Cat Trading Card |
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So we need you, or I should say, if you want to share your experience with the public and get people interested in your breed, we need you. Being an A-Cat is a rewarding experience for you and letting people learn about your breed of cat is good for your breed. We are all aware that some breeds may look similar but are very different. People are eager to see and have a close encounter with a breed of cat they have only read about. The majority of my kitten buyers have never seen my breed in person but only looked at lots of photos of the cat in magazines or books.
As breeders, we have great information to share to people who are eager to learn. What makes a Scottish Fold's ears fold?? What is the difference between a Birman and a Ragdoll?? Are all Manx cats born without a tail?? What is the difference between an American Bobtail and a Japanese Bobtail?? What breed would be best for my 12 year old daughter?? All these questions, and more, have answers that people want to know. And seeing your breed in person and having the ability to pet your cat, is a great deal for so many spectators at our shows. It is no secret that all clubs are working to increase the number of spectators at their shows.
As an A-Cat, you are given special cages and equipment, trading cards for people to carry home with them all about your cat and a breed banner to enhance the visibility of your cat at shows and other events. Our committee has developed the very first coloring book for CFA and we have many more projects in the works. This is a great time to be an asset to your breed and to CFA and to be an A-Cat.
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Jim Flanik with his A-Cat set up |
The only requirement we need from you is your commitment to attend your local shows and share your cat and your knowledge. Some of our A-Cats have gained great popularity and have gone on to be in advertisements and videos. Maybe you have a "Feline Star" at your house.
Please contact Karen Lane for more information at [email protected] or you can download an application here.
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by Karen Lawrence
Kathy Pritchard, and her Fashionista Cornish Rex, will be visiting the Feline Historical Museum on Friday, January 19
th
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Gia, and her daughters Eva and Zsa Zsa, will be showing off the latest in their stylish wardrobe of vintage, historical, period, and Victorian designs, dresses, and even outrageous hats.
The cats' dresses, designed both by the owner herself and by several companies who specialize in animal "couture", each represent hours of sewing and beading work. Many of the outfits are reminiscent of Victorian times, featuring antique lace and exquisite, time consuming finishing with beads. It can take up to three months to complete an outfit from start to finish. Even the hats, some designed by a company in Israel, match perfectly with the dress design.
The CFA Foundation booth headed to the Houston Cat Club show earlier this month. The show, at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, was exceptionally well attended by several thousand spectators and we were delighted with the attention paid to our exhibit.
We're in the process of collecting items to be used in our next breed display - on the Abyssinian. This display will feature the history of the breed, many photos and pieces of artwork, as well as a slideshow of winners from the past. This extremely popular breed has a long history, tracing back as far as 1872, and was often the photo choice for magazine covers. The exhibit will run from April 1
st
through October 31
st
.
As always, donations to the Foundation are welcomed and much appreciated. The Feline Historical Museum is located at 260 East Main Street in Alliance, Ohio and is open 10am-4pm Tuesday-Friday and 9am to noon on Saturday.
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by Carmen Johnson-Lawrence, Chair
The Youth Feline Education Program was designed to let the young people of CFA determine their own path through various activities in hopes that they will find themselves in the hobby we all love and in life in general. Some of the activities and projects are designed by the youth themselves, based on their location and resources available to them. When our youth participate in the various activities they receive credit which at the end of the season is calculated for regional and national awards.
This month, I asked our youth to share with you about some of the activities they've been participating in, and what being a part of the fancy means to them.
Sophia Barnard-DeCann, Great Lakes Region Cubs Division
2018 Siberian Cat Calendar Fundraiser for Lollipop Farm - Humane Society of
Greater Rochester - For the new year of 2018, my mother and I created a Siberian cat calendar. We
invited people to submit photographs of their Siberian cats. We received many amazing photographs to build the Siberian cat calendar!! The donations from the Siberian cat calendar sales not only helped the cats at Lollipop Farm, but also increased the overall awareness of the Siberian breed. All 50 of the calendars that were printed were sold in less than 2 weeks!! Overall, we received $510 USD, but a wonderful couple was willing to DOUBLE our donation!! In the end $1,020 USD went to Lollipop Farm's cats, for supplies and training for those who are fostering cats and kittens!! The Siberian breed now has more recognition and pets in need have been helped!! The cats at Lollipop Farm will be able to have a better life, thanks to all of the WONDERFUL caring people who share their lives, homes, and hearts with these AMAZING Siberian cats!!
Evangeline Gulea - North Atlantic Region Cubs Division
My family and I have three pets. Two of the three are cats. We got the cats for Christmas of 2016. Before we got them, I was asking for them for about two years trying to convince my parents to get cats. When I finally got them for Christmas I had no idea! My cats are also rescue cats. I volunteer for South Jersey Rescue at our local Pet Valu on Monday nights with my family. I fostered a litter of four cats for about three days. I've been wanting to foster more cats since then.
Christopher Gulea - North Atlantic Region Lions Division
I started helping my community by volunteering at a local Pet Valu. We would scoop the litter, change their food and water, and in the process we love them. We've been doing this for about a year, and not to mention we fostered four kittens at once. That is how I've been involved with cats.
Edward Goatseay - Great Lakes Region Lions Division
Recently, my mom and I received a new Exotic for premiership, who surprisingly shares the same birthday as me. When she came to live with us, she was already a grand champion. Now our goal was to grand her in premiership. We had high expectations for her, and we expected she'd be an easy grand. Since we haven't needed to grand a cat in a couple of seasons, we totally forgot about the challenges of granding a cat, and how earning 75 grand points isn't as easy as 75 regional points. Our first couple of shows have been a challenge, but have earned her some good points to go into the New Year. Drives and shows have been tough. Not every show has the best count, and of course, it's December and January, so we must apparently deal with snow. Otherwise, looking on the bright side, she has been a joy to show, and I guarantee that once she has her GP title, we will have tons of fun.
Special thanks go out to Debi Gomez from the Southwest Region. Debi was gracious to design a new logo for the Youth Feline Education Program, giving it a fresher, more youthful appearance. We are always grateful for the time and talent our parents offer our program!
If you know a youth that is interested in the Youth Feline Education program, you may contact Carmen at [email protected] or reach out directly to your regional coordinator!
North Atlantic Region - Lynda Smith
Northwest Region - Sande Kay
Gulf Shore Region - Anne Paul
Great Lakes Region - Lorna Friemoth
Southwest Region - Kelsey Friemoth
Midwest Region - Cathy Dunham
Southern Region - Chandler Bussey
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| Our friends at Motel 6 would like CFA to continue to receive the 10% discount at participating locations by using the new updated reservation code of OAPHHT. There is a dedicated reservation site for CFA at https://www.motel6.com/en/cp/cat-fanciers-association.html or you may call 800-466-8356. |
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Discounts Available to You!
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by John Adelhoch, Regional Director
Happy New Year to of you! Yes it's a new year as per the calendar, however not for all of you out there campaigning your kittens and cats. As we know our New Year doesn't start till May 1st. I attended the Finicky Felines show the last weekend in December and as it would be on that Saturday morning snow began to fall. However like any other day of a show, exhibitors braved the stormy weather and safely made it to the show. The club had a good entry and I heard quite a few cats granded. Congratulations to all those who granded, and to all the exhibitors that braved the weather to support the club. As we enter into this New Year, let's all try out best to make some new friends in the fancy.
As with every January for many years the Vermont Feline Fanciers and Club Felins Fleur de Lys held its show in Burlington, Vermont on January 13, 14 weekend. It's a really nice hotel and as tradition has it the club sponsors a auction on Saturday night to help support a local shelter..
In closing always keep in mind "These are the Best of Times" so get out there and show!
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Terri Zittel, Regional Secretary
It has been a while since we have had a show in Region 2. Our traditional show the first week in January was cancelled this year due to date and changes at the show hall.
Poppy State is holding a one day show in Auburn, California on January 20
th
. This is a new location for the show. It is at the Gold County Fairgrounds which is a nice show hall.
Valley Cat Fanciers along with Willamette Valley Cat Club is holding a show on February 3
rd
in Longview, WA. Be aware that this is a change in show hall as the Chehalis site had double booked.
Call of the Wild will be holding their annual show in Santa Rosa this year on February 17 & 18.
All of these shows have their flyers posted on the CFAnorthwest.org show calendar. You can enter from this location also.
As an additional sideline, the McKenzie River Cat Club is planning a show the 2
nd
week in March 2019. The show will celebrate Betty Denny's 100
th
birthday. She will be attending the show so you will want to mark this date on your calendar 3/9 & 10/2019.
I am just putting the finishing touched on the March 10
th
Regional Fundraiser flyer. The show will be at the Double Tree at Lloyd Center. It is a one day, six ring show to benefit Region 2 activities.
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by Kathy Black, Regional Director
Happy New Year from the Gulf Shore Region.
We finished the year out with a fun Christmas themed Show & Tell Cat Club in Cleburne TX. Exhibitors wore Christmas themed costumes, there was a gift exchange, Christmas music filled the hall, a huge pot luck luncheon, and lots of Christmas spirit all around. I was contacted by a new exhibitor who was so impressed with everyone being so welcoming, the handling of her cats by the judges, and the warmth of the show that she is hooked on CFA showing.
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Steve McCullough with his Siberian
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The first weekend of January brings us the Houston Cat Club show. In the past the club held shows at the George R Brown convention center for many years. But due to construction the club has been unable to hold their shows there for the past few years. This year Houston Cat Club was back at the George R Brown with a two day show.
Houston Cat Club celebrated its Sapphire Anniversary, its 65th Charity Cat show. 233 cats were entered and, although the flu hit us hard, the club members pulled together to hold a wonderful event. The club did an outstanding job providing loads of fun and interesting activities for spectators and
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Becky Galloway & Donna Fuller
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exhibitors. The CFA Museum, Feline Agility, Meet the Breeds ring, Educational Area for the children, fantastic raffle table, "pet me" cats, and many vendors. Our gate was phenomenal thanks to a big Facebook promotion and we had many first-time spectators. People were lined up around the block to get in. Our two-day, eight ring format allowed for plenty of time for the judges to talk to the
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Judge Don Williams with the Agility winners
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guests about the cats they were judging and gave the exhibitors more time to talk to the guests, as well. Congratulations Houston Cat Club!
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by John Colilla, Regional Director
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by Lisa Marie Kuta, Regional Director
Winter chill gotten you frozen to the core? Come thaw out in the
Southwest Region!
We have two wonderful shows coming up perfect for winter getaways.
San Diego Cat Fanciers is up first on January 27-28. This is the largest
show in our region, and the club works hard to make it an event. This
show has it all: crowds of spectators, agility, education rings all in
beautiful Del Mar, CA.
Up next is Friends & Family along with the Victor Valley Cat Club in Palm
Springs on February 10. I can't think of many places better than Palm
Springs in February, especially when there's a cat show there!
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by Mary Auth, Regional Director
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Janet Marr took advantage of financial help - both from the Region and CFA - to put on the show.
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Janet Marr should be saluted for her efforts to step outside the box and present a 4-ring all specialty show. While there were only 79 entries, the quality of the entries was quite nice. The show was fun, relaxed. At least two cats came into the show needing a few points to grand - and they did. The gate was substantial and the town of Lawrenceburg, Indiana was glad to have the event. Many of the spectators commented that they were happy to see the show - and they were reminded that another show will happen in the same place in July.
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Janet Marr single handedly put on the show in Lawrenceburg, Indiana and assembled all the rosettes from her collection.
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Janet conducted a survey about the format and learned that exhibitors would like to have a blended format (some all breeds rings alongside the specialty rings).
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The Three Amigos cat show was held January 13 in Gardner Kansas
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The three Amigos followed the next weekend (January 13) with their show in Gardner, Kansas. The show was put on through a joint effort of Frontier Felines, Topeka Cat Fanciers and Tornado Alley Cat Club. The show was surely fun if Allene Keating has anything to do with (show was held immediately following the deadline for this newsletter - so photos and full report to come in February issue).
More shows coming in the Midwest Region: Saintly City - January 27-28 in St. Paul, MN; Hawkeye State - February 10 in Altoona, IA; Lincoln State - February 24-25 in St. Charles, IL and Illini Cat Club - March 3-4 in Urbana, IL.
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by Jean Dugger, Regional Director 
The Southern Region welcomed the new year in traditional style of the Nashville cat club's new years show, with a great club raffle with lots of prizes, and a lot of fun for everyone. Despite dire weather predictions earlier in the week, it was only cold, with no precipitation to dampen spirits!
The following weekend, Absolutely Abyssinians held their Jacksonville show and the much anticipated annual wine and cheese party. Attendees were not disappointed, as a huge variety of wines were served, along with smoked salmon, cheeses, and delicious desserts. each year they out-do themselves, and the club along with their many special friends are to be commended for their hard work, generosity snd true southern hospitality.
MLK weekend took the Southern region to the relative warmth of Ormond Beach FL, where still lower-than-normal temperatures did nothing to diminish the fun at the show. The show had a larger than normal spectator turn out, and they were enthused to see and hear about all of the breeds in CFA.
Upcoming Shows
- January 27-28 - Star City Cat Fanciers (also Central Carolina Cat Fanciers); Roanoke, VA
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January 27-28 - Birmingham Feline Fanciers; Irondale, AL
- February 2-3 - Pawprints in the Sand; Newport News, VA
I look forward to seeing you at a Southern Region show!
A Perspective on Annual Funding
(the following was originally a post from Mark Hannon on the Southern Region's list and is presented here to offer information on what the region and what CFA is responsible for at the CFA Annual Meeting and is used here with his permission)
When the Annual was last in the Southern Region, in 2011 in Reston VA, the Region was liable for funding much of it. We raised a lot of money. Since then the Board has agreed to have CFA at the corporate level take on much of the responsibility for running the Annual and paying for the Annual. The 2017 Annual in Chicago cost CFA more than $132,000!! A big chunk of that used to be the Region's responsibility, but no longer.
Today the Region is responsible for providing delegate bags and they have the option of hosting one night's hospitality event. CFA ran the past two Annuals and in both cases the Region hosted a hospitality event. Since it is optional, some have asked what happens if the Region opts out and does not host a hospitality event? At one point we thought CFA would step in and host it. With such a heavy investment already undertaken by CFA, the decision was made not to do this. CFA will host hospitality on Saturday night. If there is to be a hospitality event on Friday night, the Region will host it ... or there will not be hospitality on Friday.
Our Region has been fund-raising for this entire show season. Karen Boyce is our Regional Treasurer and has been coordinating our fund-raising efforts. There has been a raffle, the sale of pins and kitty teases and other efforts. More is planned. We need fanciers throughout the Region, from the south of Florida to the northern border of Maryland, to join in assisting with this effort. We want to show the delegates our fine Southern hosp
itality on Friday night at the upcoming Annual in Atlanta. We need funds if we are to shine that night. Please say "yes" and step up with your help.
2018 Annual Fundraising News
At the Cat Club of the Palm Beaches show in Ormond Beach last weekend, we launched another fundraising raffle! We have a black "car go" Sturdi Cage and accessory that could be yours!
Dave Pete is taking the cage raffle on the road through the end of the show season. (We told Dave that his new title is "The Transporter"!) The Sturdi Cage display will be present at shows on the east coast, and there will also be opportunity to participate online to purchase raffle tickets. Sarah Sieffert, a new member of the Southern Region fundraising team, has agreed to be responsible for the raffle and the accounting of funds. Southern Region website will shortly have information on this fund-raiser and you will also be able to purchase your tickets there.
Tickets are $5 each or 3 for $10
In addition, by early February the Southern Region will offer the exclusive Southern Region Annual Pin. The price of this limited addition pin will be $100.00. With this purchase, you will be honored at the CFA Annual in Atlanta and invited to an exclusive hospitality suite.
ONLY 100 pins are available world-wide, so get your orders in early!
See you in Atlanta!
Jo Ann Miksa-Blackwell
CFA Southern Regional 2018 Annual Chairperson
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Kayoko Koizumi, Regional Director
Japan Regional Show
We had New Year first show by Japan Region on January 13-14 at Kobe. This show hall, Kobe Sanbo Hall, is new one for CFA. Its location is very convenient for exhibitors by car or train.
We are so sorry that exhibitors needed to pay a little bit higher entry fee than last year, because of expensive price of show hall. However, we were very satisfied with clean and big space for exhibitors. This year we will have one more regional show in April. I would like to make an effort to have a pleasant show with a cheaper entry fee for our exhibitors. Our show was 6x6 ring show and it got a good entry even though entry fee was not cheap.
I'd like to thank to our sponsor Royal Canin and many vendors. I also would like to say " Thank you" to all exhibitors/breeders and regional show staff. Our wonderful judges included three foreign judges, Pam DelaBar from Finland, John Webster from USA, and Suki Lee from Hong Kong, and 10 Japanese judges.
Every exhibitor enjoyed the show so much! To my surprise we had lots of spectators in new show hall location. Our show secretary, Ayumi Ueda did a wonderful job with the spectators who were students of Kobe Animal Care College. Many students came to show hall to see many kinds of beautiful cats. I was happy to see that they studied so hard at the show. Some of them will work for pets at the animal hospital, at pet shop, in the breeder's cattery and so on. I hope they will become good supporters for pet animals in the near future and hopefully will come to join CFA. Anyway, we need to get new cat fanciers/supporters and educate them about showing, breeding, and other things so that we will have more many exhibitors/breeders in this region.
We will have Takarazuka Cat Fanciers show in January 27. This is one day 6 ring show. See you again at Osaka Act III Hall.
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by Michael Hans Schleissner
No report
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CFA holds first cat show in India!
On January 7, 2018, The Cat Fanciers Alliance of India held their first show and CFA's first show in India in Maharashtra (near Mumbai). Their first show was 2 rings with International Division judges Allan Raymond and Douglas Myers from Thailand. Over 100 cats were in the show including 16 Bengals. The gate was over 50,000 visitors for a one-day show.
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| Judge Allan Raymond, Club President Saquib Pathan, Judge Douglas Myers |
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| Club members and show judges. |
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China Cat Fanciers, mainland China's first CFA club, held its 30th cat show in Beijing on December 9-10, 2017. Below, the cover of their first show's catalog.
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| Judges and club members of the 6x6 World Top Feline Club_Hong Kong Fanciers Club show in Kowloon, Hong Kong on January 6-7, 2017. This was the first 6 x 6 show held in Hong Kong. |
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Have a question or a comment about the CFA Newsletter?
Teresa Keiger
CFA Newsletter Editor
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