2nd Quarter, 2003 - NFSS Board Meeting

The 2nd quarter Board Meeting was conducted online and included discussions on AWA, the Animal Welfare Act, END (Exotic Newcastle Disease), appropriate sizes for banding certain avian species, regional shows, band sales and expenses.

Two motions were as follows:

Motion 2003-03: Motion by Paula Hansen, Band Secretary, "I'd like to make a motion to the Board to increase the Band Budget, an increase of 1540.75." The motion was seconded by Martie Lauster.

Motion passed. 9 YES, 1 NO.

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Motion 2003-04: Motion by Martha Wigmore, Shall the proposed Star Finch Standard by approved as the official NFSS standard? Motion seconded by Martie Lauster.

Motion passed. 10 YES, 0 NO.

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A note from the 2004 Election Committee shows that we are currently without a candidate for Region 1 Vice President and Membership Director. If any NFSS member would be willing to serve the NFSS in either capacity, please contact me or Darla Dandre. E-mail addresses are listed on Board of Directors List. Region 1 VP must reside within that region. Thank you for your consideration!

Reports from the departments of NFSS follow.

Respectfully submitted,
Patrick Vance, Executive Secretary

1st Vice President, Armando Lee
(Regional V.P.'s, Education)

Ginny, Ron Castaner, and myself are gathering some photos of various finch/softbill housing to send to regional VPs along with a suggested manner in which to display them for events/shows.

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2nd Vice President, Harry Bryant
(Publications, Legislative Attache)

Legislative Update: Proposed legislation that would affect bird-owners - HB-2328 in TX & AB-202 in CA, the "END" crisis, and the never-ending assault on aviculture by the "animal-rights" groups keep me occupied - updates on all of these matters can be found on the "Legislative" pages of the NFSS website.

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4th Vice President, Martha Wigmore
(Judges Panel/Standards/Research)

RESIGNATION OF CIVITARESE FROM NFSS JUDGES PANEL
NFSS has regretfully accepted Jacqueline Civitarese's resignation from the NFSS Judges Panel, effective the end of April 2003. A knowledgeable cage-bird hobbyist as well as a parrot judge, Jacky has brightened NFSS show benches since her name was first published as an NFSS panel judge in "The NFSS Journal" in Jul/Aug 1997. Our best wishes to Jacky!

NFSS JUDGES PANEL
NFSS currently has 25 panel judges and one apprentice judge. One judge has not paid the annual judge's fee for 2003 and has been contacted by certified mail. Two judges are entering their fourth straight year with no reported NFSS shows and may be asked "to submit to evaluation prescribed the Panel Director," per "The NFSS Judges Handbook" (pg. 2).

STANDARDS
A slight revision of the remarkable draft NFSS General Standard has been submitted for publication in "The NFSS Journal" for member comment. The General Standard has not yet been formally approved, although it is widely referenced by breeders and judges. The proposed Star Finch Standard has been submitted to the NFSS Board for adoption, following publication for comment in the Nov/Dec 2002 "Journal." No additional input from the membership was received. Thank you to Clarence Culwell, Harold Bowles, Stephen Hoppin, Gene Miller, and Bill Parlee for their thoughtful contributions to this standard over the years.

New standard committees will form this summer! Members are asked to please contact me if you are interested in contributing to any of the following: Society Finches - New color standards and classifications for Euro-Society colors; Gouldian Finches - new color standards and classifications for rarer mutations; Ringneck Doves; Parsons Finch;; Pearl Headed Silverbill. Always interested to hear your standard recommendations!

JUDGE FOR 2003 NATIONAL SELECTED
Armando Lee has been accorded the honor of judging NFSS' upcoming 2003 National Show, which has been held in past years in conjunction with the National Cage Bird Show (this year planned for 11/21/03 in Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas).

NOMINEES FOR 2004 GABS JUDGE
At the 1st Quarter 2003 NFSS Board meeting, the following three NFSS Panel Judges were nominated by the NFSS Board to judge the 2004 Great American Bird Show: Sally Huntington, Julie Duimstra, and Dale Laird. Further details about GABS next year (in 2004) will be shared as soon as they become available. This year's GABS is being held in Tinley Park, Illinois, on 10/04 and 10/05. NFSS Panel Judge Patrick Vance will be the NFSS sponsored judge on "Day 1", and Dr. Al Decoteau will judge on "Day 2." See you there!

Respectfully submitted,
Martha Wigmore

NFSS Membership Director,
Martie Lauster

I apologize to all for somewhat over-inflating the membership numbers in my 1st Quarter Report. While we did experience a significant increase, I neglected to eliminate from the figures those memberships which had expired during December, 2002. We have seen a decrease in membership numbers this time due to this error - and as well as a high percentage of non-renewals during December, January, and February. All members receive a 60-day grace period to renew their memberships, which is the reason this decrease is showing up in our numbers now. The following are the membership numbers to report for the 2nd Quarter, 2003 - as of May 3 ("Dual" are second names on Dual Memberships):

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NFSS Treasurer's Report,
Mark Phelps

Nothing exceptional to report, other than confirming that the 2002 tax forms have been filed with the IRS and the 2002 books will be available for audit by the time this report is published.

CASH IN ACCOUNTS:

Checking:
       - Main & Bands - $3,848.00
       - Membership - $1,762.72
       - FinchShop - $100.00
Savings - $21,094.77
Advances - $800.00

Total Cash In Accounts - $27,605.49
Total Income - $18,111.18 (39,305.00 Budgeted)
Total Expenses - $13,284.00 (40,058.00 Budgeted)
Total Gain/Loss - $4,827.19 (-$753.00 Budgeted)

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Liaison Officer,
Ginny Allen
(Club Delegates/Show Dates)

Affiliations continue to arrive. Reminders were sent by email to all 2001 and 2002 affiliated clubs that had not contacted NFSS. Several clubs have disbanded. On the other hand, new clubs are forming and the future looks bright. As of May 1 we have 46 affiliated clubs.

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Region 3 Vice President,
Darla Dandre
(Mid-Central - AR,IL,IN,KY,LA,MI,MO,OH,WI, Australia, Bermuda, England)

Illini Bird Fanciers is gearing up for their show which is the regional show this year on June 7th. We had 2 clubs ADD the NFSS division to their already existing show line-up. WINGS will be hosting their second year and WCBS is hosting thier first on June 28. Both shows are in Wisconsin. Please e-mail me for more details on either show.

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NFSS FinchShop Manager,
Sue Haberkorn

The second quarter saw the completion and marketing of the Photo CD w/Screensaver, adjustment of pricing for the video, "Finch Husbandry", kick-off of the Cookbook campaign, and design changes to the FinchShop web page index. Fourteen (14) CD's were sold in its first week of release. Ten (10) copies of the video were produced and a reduced price of $15.00 was posted to the web site. Three (3) videos have been sold since the price reduction. A draft of FinchShop Talk announcing the Cookbook was posted to the Officers' Forum for review prior to publication in the May/June Journal. Myra re-designed the FinchShop web page index to include thumbnail photos of all items sold by FinchShop. Sales for the month of April have been brisk. I attribute the additional activity to these new and reduced price items plus the more user-friendly web page.

I will represent NFSS at the Baltimore Bird Fanciers Bird Mart on May 17, 2003. I've reserved a space for $55.00 and will offer FinchShop items, NFSS information, and Memberships. I'll be ordering a half dozen of the Gouldian posters for the Mart as these were a big hit at previous events. In addition, I'll be making up a collage to display some of the photos available on the CD.

Respectfully Submitted,
Sue Haberkorn

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Awards Manager,
Darla Dandre

We have been receiving awards forms at a rapid rate - thanks to all for sending them in early, however, there is a decrease in overall awards orders as compared to last year at this time. I am hoping most have not decided to cancel shows or go elsewhere for awards, but remain with NFSS and continue to purchase our beautiful awards.

I have found our new ribbon supplier! I have just ordered 30 Novice ribbons from our new supplier and they look FABULOUS! Instead of paying $4.50 per ribbon we paid $1.75 per ribbon and a 1 time die fee of 20.00 (for the 10 finches logo - thank you Kerry for the artwork!) that we can use on all the REST of the ribbons that I will be ordering from now on!!! Feico is fast, friendly and on the ball. The cost of our rosettes is going to drop dramatically! I will be proposing a NEW PRICE LIST for NFSS awards next quarter. I do believe that more clubs will purchase NFSS awards and more of them, if we decrease the prices. Also, one final word, I am now developing with Feico a new Rosette for the YOUTH award to be offered in 2004. This will make it more affordable than the 25.00 plaque that we are offering this year.

NFSS Finch/Softbill Forum Moderator,
John Wilson

There are currently two hundred and twenty-seven subscribers to the Forum. Since July of last year message volume has not dropped below 400/ month except for march at 393 messages. This month will exceed 600 messages. My experience with listservers suggests that nowhere on the web is there an avian list with both the message volume and level of civility found on our Finch/Softbill Forum, (I expect smiles here). I would like to thank those board members who've been active on the list for their participation. Our quality and success rests substantially on the active participation of our more experienced members.

Region	# Memberships	Dual Members	Total Members
1	142	14	156
2	141	19	160
3	136	16	152
4	57	13	70
5	33	3	36
6	115	20	135
7	7	0	7
8	9	0	9

TOTAL	640	85	725