Duck Hunting Retriever Trial
The following is a message from the NAHRA President, Frank Plewa.

My fellow members,

We have reached the middle of the testing season and with the heat generally slowing things down a bit, I thought it would be a good time to catch up with you all – especially in light of the fact that so much has happened for NAHRA in the past six months or so. I am hopeful that all of the important news of the past few months has caught up to you from our Regional Directors or by the website.

If you are not getting information, you need to speak up so we can remedy any problems. In any case, I want to take the time to review what has happened this year and where we stand currently.

1. 2010 NAHRA Invitational – Unfortunately, I could not be in attendance at the event this year but from all accounts, the participants had a good time and the event was very successful financially. The Spokane Bird Dog Association and the Invitational Committee apparently did a bang up job of fund raising and secured a nice profit for themselves and NAHRA. It would also indicate that the new policy of sharing the profits from the event between NAHRA and the host club or region was a good move as it apparently provided the motivation for Invitational Committee’s to work and manage things a little harder. Many thanks to this year’s host group!

I see from the test results that half the field made it through due to some challenging tests set up by this year’s crop of judges. Lastly, a big thank you to all the people who had smaller parts in the success of the event. Your assistance, no matter how small, should not be overlooked and definitely contributed heavily to the overall effort. It takes a team effort to pull off this kind of event. Now get those dogs ready for Iowa in 2011.

2. NAHRA website – The web site is up and running with most of the bugs out of the system. I am still hearing that a few people are having some issues using the site or getting in altogether. Please contact us if you are still experiencing problems as we want all of our members to get maximum use of the site. It has also been challenging to our team of administrators and Rosemary who are working hard to master “the backside” of the new system. However, I believe they are all on the down slope to making it reach its potential.

3. Rulebooks – By now, all current NAHRA members should have received a copy of our re-print of the rulebook. If not, please contact your Regional Director if you are a club affiliated member. Non-club affiliated members should contact the NAHRA Office. If you wish to have an additional copy of the rulebook, the NAHRA Office has them available for $10.00.

4. NAHRA Sponsor Solicitations – It has come to the attention of the EBOD that members have contacted our current national sponsor regarding donations for a weekend event. While no harm was done in this instance, future contacts could jeopardize our relationship with a sponsor. Therefore, I would like to reiterate or clarify the steps should be taken prior to contacting a sponsor. Please keep in mind that our sponsors will likely be donating substantial funds or products directly to NAHRA and therefore, additional solicitations may not be possible.

In the case of products offered by our sponsors, they will be distributed to the regions or clubs in a similar manner as was done this year. Members and/or clubs should not independently contact our sponsors unless approved by the EBOD first. NAHRA Treasurer Dan Hove is your point of contact and must be contacted before attempting to solicit donations from a NAHRA sponsor.

5. NAHRA Free Outreach Memberships – The NAHRA BOD recently approved the issuance of Free NAHRA Outreach Memberships. This action was taken in response to a suggestion and request by a NAHRA member. This program is intended to provide NAHRA members and Clubs who are affiliated with other organizations the opportunity to recruit new members. In addition, NAHRA clubs, as part of their fund raising at regular events may also assist in promoting NAHRA and recruiting new members through this opportunity. The target recipients are peripheral participants (non members) in the NAHRA program as well as hunters and others who may attend events offered by other organizations (i.e. Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, etc.). The program will be conducted in the following manner.

NAHRA members or clubs may request a free membership certificate by contacting the NAHRA Office by email. All requests will be made at least three weeks in advance to allow adequate time for processing. The minimum information to be submitted will include the type or name of the event, location and date. The NAHRA EBOD will approve all requests and notify the requesting parties. The rules and eligibility for the Free Outreach Memberships are as follows:

a. The membership is good for one annual, individual membership starting from the date of receipt. Recipients will activate the membership by mailing the certificate to the NAHRA Office.

b. All requests must receive the approval of the NAHRA EBOD and receive a certificate to authenticate the Free Outreach Membership. Free memberships awarded by clubs or members without the consent of the EBOD will not be honored.

c. NAHRA clubs are eligible to receive one Free Outreach Membership per event (i.e. test banquets, clinics, etc.).

d. For non-NAHRA affiliated events, one Free Outreach Membership may be issued per event per year. Specifically, one membership per Chapter, region or state depending upon how the organization is set up (i.e. Pheasants Forever, DU, Delta, etc.). The request must be made by a NAHRA member who is affiliated with the event or organization. If you have questions about this condition, feel free to email me personally.

e. While the memberships may be purchased by a current NAHRA member at auction, raffle, etc., the Free Outreach Membership may only be redeemed by a non member.

6. Test Results – I know that we have fallen behind in keeping the test results current. This will be remedied shortly. Test Results will be updated on a regular basis in the future. Unfortunately, we have inundated Rosemary with so many other items that this has slipped. Thanks for the reminders from the members.

7. The NAHRA Public Relations Position is once again open and the BOD would like to fill the position as soon as possible. One of the primary tasks of this position is to recruit new clients and maintain a good working relationship with them regarding advertising space on the website. The BOD will also consider having Regional PR Positions if the individuals wish to work strictly within a specific geographic area. In the case we have several Regional people, a coordinator will be appointed to maintain consistency and manage our efforts.

8. Financial Stability – I am very pleased to announce that NAHRA is well within the black and it appears, at least in the short term, we have stabilized our finances, which has been a very big priority. This is due to a lot of hard work by our EBOD members who had to make some very tough decisions to allow us to get to this point. We have eliminated several of our biggest expenses, paid off all of normal operating bills to date and currently have a nice sum of money in the bank. A mid-term Profit and Loss Statement will be posted on the NAHRA website very soon.

As I reported to you some time ago, former NAHRA BOD members loaned the organization cash to continue to operate. These loans occurred prior to 2004 and have remained unpaid since that time. Now that we have some money, it is the intent of the BOD to start to reconcile these loans and pay them off as finances allow.

So where do we go from here? Now that we have realized many of the goals set by this BOD, we look to the future and will now strive to complete some new goals. While we have not as yet established any firm timelines, they are as follows:

1. NAHRA will pursue an electronic-entry system to offer our members an easier and more efficient way of entering our events. At least initially, the BOD feels it will be easier to use an existing system and we have already begun to look into several.

2. NAHRA will be creating a system to allow members to renew memberships on line.

3. NAHRA will continue to grow our corporate sponsorships. We are working on several at this time. This is an area where you can help. If you have any contacts with potential sponsors, we would like to hear about them. Please forward any information to NAHRA Treasurer Dan Hove.

4. Now that we have righted our organizational finances, we plan to start to go out and “sell” NAHRA to the public. A big step in this process will be the establishment of an Educational Foundation to advance the goals of NAHRA, Inc. Newly elected member at large, Tom Johnston is heading up a committee to create the foundation. The Foundation will be established as a “non profit” organization to educate the public in the use of retrievers as a conservation tool. Through the Foundation, it is our hope to advance and grow the NAHRA program by presenting opportunities for members, clubs, regions and national to reach to those who share our conservation heritage.

5. Clean up our administrative issues. In the recent past, the BOD has been overly accommodating to clubs in the area of administrative reporting. Our intent was to keep us going by tolerating some very poor administrative responsibilities on the part of some clubs. Unfortunately, a very small number have taken advantage of the NAHRA Office and the BOD in this area. Consequently, additional hours have been spent by the NAHRA Office chasing down delinquent and incomplete applications, reports, etc.

Starting in 2011, fees yet to be determined, may be imposed for unnecessary additional work relate to the above. Currently, the only fees imposed by NAHRA are for late Field Test Reports and with a ceiling of $100.00. Unfortunately, these fees have not been enough of a deterrent to gain timely reporting on the part of a few clubs. In addition, numerous other deficiencies and inaccurate related to applications and reports have simply been tolerated without consequence.

It is not NAHRA’s intent to be punitive in imposing fees; we wish to reduce the burden and cost incurred by the NAHRA Office (which burns your monies) and to be fair to the vast majority of clubs who take care of their administrative responsibilities in an accurate and timely fashion.

I am sure there are some others that I have forgotten and certainly some other goals that will come to light in the near future but this will give you an idea of what we are thinking. Stay in communication with us through your Regional Directors. We do not know what you are thinking unless you speak up.

I wish you all a successful second half of the test season and certainly a full freezer come the main season!

Pick em up clean!

Frank Plewa

NAHRA President