Dear Members,

The board and I want to thank you all for voting in the Annual Election. For some, it will be hard to accept that the majority of members voted the way they did, and for those who will be pleased at the results, it definitely shows how the democratic process really works.

I also want to thank all the members who have sent the many emails, letters of support and offers of financial support during these horrendous times of activities placed upon us.

We have experienced the same thing each year and now for the past three years, the percentages in the difference of the ballots have been nearly the same.  President 74-30, Treasurer 68-35, and the 2 Board members were elected by the top highest numbers, respectively, 71-61-28-24-21. There were 122 ballots cast, 17 had no member identification on their outside envelope, and 1, when opened had not been placed in the small envelope. I believe last year there were 124 ballots cast.

President-Roger Pritchard -Treasurer-Susan McCoy-Board-Lynn McKee-Janice Pardue

The members are to be congratulated for having the insight to be sure our organization continues on the track for success.  This board is committed to doing the best we can, follow our Constitution and By Laws, promote the breed in any way we can, and hopefully, bring a camaraderie that the members will enjoy and deserve.  On a sad note, many individuals who disagree, cannot discuss their problems with an open mind, and give the things they don’t like a try and judge it later, may never find common ground to help the organization.  Working and contributing to committees and giving support to those who work very hard, is so needed for us to be successful.  I challenge those members who have negative attitudes to adopt the concept of supporting the ATFTC with high enthusiasm.

The attacking of members who don’t accomplish what a few individuals want and developing behaviors of ridicule and flippant attitudes has much to do with a society of detached, non-commitment to an organization that should have compassion for all members.  The growing inability to relate, one with another, has reached frightening proportions and affirms that many a dog club is devoid of many human needs, which in turn affect the many breeding programs.  The end result is that the dogs are not getting our full attention to assure we are addressing their needs.

There are a lot of rumors floating around and being published.  You should be informed these rumors have not been confirmed by both parties.  I want you all to be fully aware we are not at liberty to discuss the details of the lawsuit until we hit the courts.  At that time, I will release the information as it materializes.  In addition, once the board was informed that some members had obtained a lawyer in a separate matter, we could no longer communicate with them, only through our lawyers. Therefore, we were unable to offer a defense during the time of the election process. 

Again, we want to thank those who stood by the board.  The lawsuit has been filed in the State of NY and our attorney has written the brief to be filed by the law firm in NY.  Many questions have come up concerning this matter, and unfortunately all the questions cannot be answered until the trial is set for court.  I want all the members to understand, this board will do everything possible to protect this club, and as soon as the lawsuit has been resolved, I will proceed to recover any monies the ATFTC has had to spend.  Presently, I have personally paid the attorneys, and the club is covered by insurance, which will kick in as we proceed. 

I would like to remind all the members to submit items you would like the board to look at this year when preparing our agenda for the year.

The National will be coming before we know it.  Please offer suggestions of educational activities you would like added to the program of activities.

Members one way you can help support the ATFTC and the Newsletter to get your kennel out to the public by advertising in the Newsletter.  All this helps the organization.

I personally want to thank:

Linda Wilkins - Vice President - taking charge of the committee's and getting as many reports as she can
Sharon Pothast - Secretary - for all the many chores and paperwork that she has to do daily
Susan McCoy - Treasurer - Keeping the $'s in order and keeping the books as they should be
Lynn McKee - Board - for her wonderful success with getting trophies and donations
Cindy Enroughty - Board - Membership roles and working so closely with Rescue
Lila Fast - Board - earnest work on getting the yearly T Shirt's for the National
Dorothy Kendall - Board - who took on the endless job of producing a quality Newsletter for the members.
John David Zieba - Board - Words cannot explain what a wonderful job you have done with the Website

Respectfully submitted,

Roger S Pritchard,

President ATFTC