AMERICAN BRACE
BEAGLING ASSOCIATION
Russ Arend
“TO PROTECT AND
PROMOTE TRADITIONAL BRACE BEAGLING”
February 10, 2009
Dear Member:
We are finishing another year and I want
to bring you up to date on ABBA
activities. In 2008, ABBA was registered in the
State of
profit corporation. This required us to adopt by-laws and
submit an annual
report.
Our membership increased by one hundred
from 250 in 2007 to 350 in 2008.
With everyone’s help, we should
be able to increase our membership to
400 in 2009. I hope every member will try to enroll a
new member this year.
ABBA has made it possible for us to
have a united voice when working
with the AKC. We had input in the Advanced Judges
Seminars and our
members served on every judge’s
panel. This cooperative
relationship is
important to the future of our
sport. Several of our members are
now
representing member clubs as AKC
delegates which is extremely
important.
For the second year we sponsored the
National Brace Beagling Breeders
Hall of Fame. Last year five beagle breeders and seven
beagles were
honored with this award. ABBA will sponsor this program again
this year.
Last year was the first year ABBA
sponsored a Participation Award
Program which is designed to recognize
beaglers that have attended all
traditional brace beagling federations
at least one time. Forty four
beaglers
received this award in 2008. If you meet this requirement be sure and
apply
for the award in 2009.
ABBA worked with three beagle clubs to
co-sponsor three “derby”
classics”. They were held in
Despite some rough weather for two of
the events, they were still
successful. Every attendee received a “
ABBA. As classics are scheduled for 2009 we
will keep everyone informed
as to the dates and locations.
It has become increasingly difficult
for clubs to get judges books.
Consequently, we printed and
distributed hundreds of books. If
your club
needs judge’s books, let me know
as they will be available at the
federations this spring.
Richard Butterworth has taken over the
website and is doing a great job.
If
you have not been there please take a
look as it currently provides some of
the most valuable information about our
sport. Richard is now working on
getting the picture portion of the site
up and running. This should be
completed in the near future.
A lot of time was spent this year
working with Purina and beaglers who
belong to the Purina Pro Club to obtain
funds to help our sport. A grant
request has been submitted by ABBA to
Purina to help the federation host
clubs with their rabbit habitat program. We hope to get a positive response
prior to the Southern Federation.
A treasurer’s report is enclosed
for your information. Also enclosed
are
two membership applications. One is for you and the second is for you
to
find a new member.
There are a lot of positive things
going on with traditional brace beagling.
2009 should even be a better year with
all of us working together.
If you have any questions or need
additional information, please do not
hesitate to contact me.
Sincerely,
Russ Arend
President