A message from NAHRA President Frank Plewa.

My fellow members,

With 2011 drawing to a close, I thought it was time to send a message to you all as well as wish each of you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a safe and prosperous New Year. This has been one of those messages that I have been trying to complete for some time but hunting seasons and holidays just kept delaying the process. Oh well, better late than never!

While the testing seasons have been over in most parts of the country for a few months, the Southwest is getting started on the new year. In particular, Senior handlers who will be trying to get their dogs qualified for the 2012 NAHRA Invitational to be held May 29 through June 1, 2012 at Foxboro Ranch Estates near Munds Park, Arizona. I would like to thank the Copperstate Hunting Retriever Club, Lenda Barker and the rest of the Invitational Committee for taking on this event. I know this will be another successful NAHRA Invitational and I hope that all handlers from across the country will make every effort to attend.

I would like to take the time to congratulate Lenda Barker for reaching the milestone of 100 judging points in 2011 and also apologize to Lenda for this “atta girl” being so late. But even after the fact, it is no less important or significant as Lenda is one of only five judges in the history of the NAHRA program to reach the 100 point plateau. Of greater significance is that she is the first lady to attain this status. Attaining 100 points speaks directly to her enduring and continued service to the program, and also to the confidence of so many clubs that continue to request her to preside over their events. Congratulations!

There are a bunch of other kudos to hand out as well. I would also like to congratulate and thank the 2011 Invitational Committee for a highly successful and enjoyable event at Chichaqua Bottoms this year in Iowa. Members of the Central Region teamed up to put on a great event on some very delightful test grounds. I personally was able to attend this event and as always, found the company and the dog work very enjoyable. It was great to see some folks who have labored for some time with their dogs and finally get that long sought after qualification. It was a testimony to a lot of hard work and perseverance.

It was even more special to see Dakota Tilleraas become the youngest handler (male or female) to qualify a dog in an Invitational Event. Her achievement caused a bit more water to flow on an already wet day and there were no shortage of hugs administered. A big “Atta boy girl” to Dakota!

It seems that there will be no Regional Director position elections as one incumbent and two new folks ran unopposed in their respective regions. Congratulations to Patsy Hove in the Central and Tom Rourke in the Northeast. I look forward to working with you both. Thanks to Matt Arndt for staying on in the Alaska Region.

On the other hand, a very special thanks to outgoing Directors Dan Tongen and Bill Preston for your service to NAHRA. On behalf of the membership and the BOD we all thank you for giving your time to the organization and your regions.

It has been a pleasure to see the continued resurgence of NAHRA in the West Region under the leadership of Regional Director Harry Williams. We all thank you Harry for all you have done in just a couple years. Without the extra effort, this would not have been possible.

Thank you to all the clubs and members for supporting our program by putting on a generous number of events this year despite the economy. NAHRA did pretty well considering the shortage of funds in many households and in light of the competition for entries with those limited dollars. I made it out to three regions running dogs or judging this year. As always, it was great to see old friends and make a few new ones along the way.

My wife Valerie and I had the privilege of judging in Alaska this summer and had a great time. We took the opportunity to combine the judging assignment with a vacation. We are indebted to Kody and Kent Bull for making this possible. What a great bunch of folks at Midnight Sun Gun Dog Association. It was nice to see that even that far away from home the people and dogs are all pretty much the same. Great hospitality and a breathtaking view wherever you looked. I think this was a great preview to the 2014 Invitational Event. Thanks Midnight Sun!

Thanks to the Rappahannock River Retriever Club for their return to NAHRA. I was able to attend this event held at the Shady Grove Kennel Hunting Preserve near Remington, Virginia. Thanks to Bradley Sisson, the test committee and landowner Neil Selby for making this happen. I am hopeful that this is the first of many tests to be held again in Virginia.

As for the state of NAHRA, just where are we?

I am happy to report that NAHRA remains in good shape financially mostly due to a great job of management by our BOD and especially treasurer Dan Hove. NAHRA operated in the black again this year and at the same time, eliminated over 83% of our long term debt mostly in the form of repayment of outstanding loans incurred early in the last decade. Under Dan’s watchful eye on the budget, NAHRA has paid back $11K of its long term debt since December of 2010 leaving approximately $2250 to repay which will put all unresolved historic debt behind us.

Our progress in the financial area has been steady. We have achieved the short term goals of reducing our expenses and eliminating most of our long term debt while continuing to operate the business of NAHRA. NAHRA now has other sources of income through our sponsorships and sale of Banner Ads on our website.

Through the hard work by Dan Hove and others, NAHRA has several National Sponsors already on board for 2012. Native Performance Dog Food will once again be a NAHRA sponsor and has actually upped the ante by increasing their 2012 contribution. In addition to a cash contribution to NAHRA, the Regional Events and the Invitational will receive product for fundraising of their choosing.

Tri-Tronics continues to be a NAHRA Sponsor contributing potentially significant product to us. I say potentially significant because the monetary amounts of the seven e-collars and discount coupons they have contributed have not yet been realized. As presented in an earlier message, two collars will be contributed to the fundraising efforts for the 2012 Invitational and also one each for the five Regional Events. In addition, each club will receive a 30% discount coupon for Tri-Tronics products. The clubs can use these as they see fit.

With some of our short term goals having been realized, we have turned our attention to long term goals which will help us build our membership by providing other avenues to finance NAHRA growth. While it has been a slow start, efforts to construct the NAHRA Educational Foundation (NEF) is well underway. Tom Johnston has been leading the effort to create what we hope will be a tax exempt organization to assist NAHRA in its conservation goals through the use of trained retrievers. We hope to file for 501C3 status with IRS in the first half of 2012 if things continue on the current path. This will enable the NEF to receive donations that will be used in various educational programs that our clubs may become involved to put forward NAHRAs mission in promoting trained retrievers as conservation tools. By providing these programs to the public, NAHRA clubs will indirectly benefit from membership generated through the exposure the events will provide. Thus, this will give NAHRA clubs another avenue to increase membership in addition to their normal activities and events they participate in currently. I hope all clubs will participate in this effort. For more information, please contact Tom Johnston.

It seems communication between the BOD, Regional Directors and members has been adequate as I have not heard much in the way of complaints on the subject. However, if there are problems please let us know as soon as possible so we can try to make any necessary corrections. Please let your RDs know if you are having problems or are not getting all of the information you need. You can also email me but it is preferable to go through your RD.

As you know, the BOD and the EBOD make changed to our administrative processes when warranted through the development of policies. We try to make these known through your RDs, our website and via email. Please make sure you and your clubs are staying current with the most recent information. We would like to avoid any problems due to the lack of communication.

I believe that is a pretty good overview of NAHRA for 2011. Now on to 2012! I wish you all a safe and prosperous New Year. Pick em up clean!

Frank Plewa
NAHRA President