President's Messages
January 2011
May 2011
Late Summer 2011
October 2011
January 2012
Presidents Message
January 2012
Your Board of Directors and I hope that you enjoyed the holidays and you got to spend time with friends, family and loved ones. We'd like to welcome Darlene Sutton back to the Board and thank her for stepping up to serve again. Special thanks also to outgoing BOD member Lee Ann King for her service to the organization. We also ask members to think about serving on the BOD for next year where we'll have three positions open again in the fall election.
Our big Christmas meeting, dinner and white elephant fund raiser at Roberta's Catering in Coshocton was a big success, one of our largest turnouts in recent memory. It was a great chance to see old friends again and meet some new ones. I think the kids enjoyed spending their Llama Bucks on items just for them (something we plan to do again in 2012) and the adults were able to take home some great silent auction items donated by their fellow ORVLA members. However, I'm still not sure how I ended up with eight bottles of wine!
Your Board of Directors have met already and are planning activities for this year, starting with a summer meeting at Kris and Russ Miller's farm with an educational theme, this based on your survey input. If you have some ideas for a fall activity drop any member of the BOD a note with your thoughts. Due to a very crowded spring activity schedule the annual ORVLA show will be moving to the early fall with a new name but the same fun time. Be looking for details in an upcoming Topline.
This year it will again be critical that you continue your support of all facets of the llama industry... your registry, the ILR; the show associations; rescue efforts, your state and local associations and your local and national llama and alpaca shows. Speaking of support, if you haven't renewed your ORVLA membership for 2012 please do so right away, so you don't miss any of the fun this year.
“ORVLA, where the fun begins”... again in 2012.
Bill Safreed
We just returned from the ORVLA Llama hike, what a great day to live in Ohio! The weather was a perfect 80 degrees, the trees were starting to wear their best fall colors and the turn out by members was fantastic. I counted twenty one llamas (and one packing alpaca!) with many more owners and families who hiked the trails at Rob, Donna and Brian Spencer's beautiful farm near Beloit. The almost three mile hike through fields and woods worked up a good appetite that chef Brian's steady hand on the grill was able to satisfy. I'd like to thank the Spencers for the use of their farm and facilities, our NEOLA affiliates for providing the food and especially Char and Libby for putting it all together for us.
For many of the membership the llama show season concluded with the Coshocton County Fair show, however, the last gasp for the year is in Louisville, KY and the big North American Llama Show the first weekend in November. ORVLA members always turn out in numbers and represent us well.
To conclude the year for ORVLA, please plan to join us at Roberta's Catering in Coshocton for the big Christmas meeting, dinner and white elephant fund raiser (see this issue of Topline for details). Many of you know Roberta for her excellent food and hospitality at her facility and the feast planned for our day will be no exception. We have the entire place for all day and it promises to be a time to renew acquaintances with old friends, make some new ones, and raise a little money for the ongoing ORVLA projects and events.
Your Board of Directors is already thinking of next year and we invite your input as to what you would like to see ORVLA do in the coming year. Write a note to us on your BOD election ballot or your membership renewal and give us your thoughts.
Speaking of renewal, you ARE planning to renew in December, aren't you? As an organization we live by those memberships and your support, so don't forget!
“ORVLA, where the fun begins”, for the rest of 2011 and into 2012.
Bill Safreed
President's Message
Late Summer 2011
Hope this finds you keeping it cool at your farm, especially your llamas or alpacas. I probably don’t need to tell you that heat can be deadly so make sure you are doing all you can to help them out.
The late summer shows have started and I hope you have been able to participate in a show or two this year already. The ORVLA sponsored Summer Solstice Show was a big hit and was enjoyed by all. Also, our summer meeting at the Ohio State University Vet School was well attended. Thanks to Dr. Lakritz for hosting us and providing a wide ranging overview of camelid medicine at OSU. For some new folks at the meeting it was their first time at the vet hospital and the tour of the facilities was well appreciated (and how cool are the new aluminum gates on the stalls?).
ORVLA will again be representing Ohio camelids at the Farm Science Review in September. Contact Doug and Gail Targett if you’d like to participate this year. The ORVLA Picnic and Hike will be held October 9th at Rob and Donna Spencer’s farm. There will be food and games, the opportunity to visit with other llama owners and about a mile of mowed trails to hike with our llamas. Hope you can join us for a fun day in Northeastern Ohio. (October 16th is the rain date). To finish out the ORVLA year, our December meeting will be held at Roberta’s Catering in Coshocton, Ohio.
After ten years of great work on Topline, editor Donna Spencer is hanging it up after this year. Our thanks to Donna for the super job she’s done on this publication fall far short of what is deserved. We hope to have a new editor to carry on production of Topline by the time you read this, if not soon after.
A reminder to you to visit the ORVLA website, www.ORVLA.com to check out the latest changes and go to Facebook to check out our page The Ohio River Valley Llama Association.
Your Board of Directors wish you a safe and happy late summer/early fall of llama and alpaca activities! ORVLA is “Where the fun begins” so go have some!
Bill Safreed
Hope this finds you keeping it cool at your farm, especially your llamas or alpacas. I probably don’t need to tell you that heat can be deadly so make sure you are doing all you can to help them out.
The late summer shows have started and I hope you have been able to participate in a show or two this year already. The ORVLA sponsored Summer Solstice Show was a big hit and was enjoyed by all. Also, our summer meeting at the Ohio State University Vet School was well attended. Thanks to Dr. Lakritz for hosting us and providing a wide ranging overview of camelid medicine at OSU. For some new folks at the meeting it was their first time at the vet hospital and the tour of the facilities was well appreciated (and how cool are the new aluminum gates on the stalls?).
ORVLA will again be representing Ohio camelids at the Farm Science Review in September. Contact Doug and Gail Targett if you’d like to participate this year. The ORVLA Picnic and Hike will be held October 9th at Rob and Donna Spencer’s farm. There will be food and games, the opportunity to visit with other llama owners and about a mile of mowed trails to hike with our llamas. Hope you can join us for a fun day in Northeastern Ohio. (October 16th is the rain date). To finish out the ORVLA year, our December meeting will be held at Roberta’s Catering in Coshocton, Ohio.
After ten years of great work on Topline, editor Donna Spencer is hanging it up after this year. Our thanks to Donna for the super job she’s done on this publication fall far short of what is deserved. We hope to have a new editor to carry on production of Topline by the time you read this, if not soon after.
A reminder to you to visit the ORVLA website, www.ORVLA.com to check out the latest changes and go to Facebook to check out our page The Ohio River Valley Llama Association.
Your Board of Directors wish you a safe and happy late summer/early fall of llama and alpaca activities! ORVLA is “Where the fun begins” so go have some!
Bill Safreed
President’s Message
A very big “Happy New Year!” to members and friends of ORVLA! By the time you read this, your Board of Directors is hard at work on several new and fun things for 2011. Planning is underway for the 2011 Summer Solstice Show, an educational event in conjunction with The Ohio State University Vet Hospital, a picnic and fun llama hike in the Fall, the Farm Science Review and the Christmas seminar and meeting. See the Calendar of Events and articles in this and future editions of Top Line for details. On a more serious and important note for the future of camelids in Ohio, our organization has been invited to participate in the Alpaca and Llama Subcommittee of the Ohio Livestock Care Standards Board. One of your Directors and a member agreed to attend the meeting scheduled the end of January. We should have a report on that first meeting for the next issue of Top Line.
As we begin 2011 I’d like to encourage ORVLA members on several fronts….
Membership: contact your circle of llama friends to join or re-join the organization and participate in the benefits and fun of ORVLA.
Participation: it’s just not enough to belong, your attendance and involvement is key to success. Get yourself and your llama group out to the meetings and seminars. You can socialize, make new friends, learn something new and have some fun too. Any member can also attend the Board meetings and provide input in the discussions. Members are also encouraged to run at the next election for open positions on the BOD.
Support: there are many worthwhile causes in the lama world, pick one or two and support them with your time and money.
Publicity and Public Relations: take every chance you get to promote llamas and alpacas to the public… be it a parade, a grand opening, a farm-city day, a fair or festival. Nothing gets people to love our lamas more than the “up close and personal” experience.
Shows: support your Ohio llama and alpaca shows. We still lead the nation in the number and quality of shows, but without your support we risk losing these important showcase events. Put aside any displeasure you might have for a certain judge or show sanctioning body and proudly display your llamas and alpacas at every show you can attend.
Your Board of Directors and I look forward to working on behalf of the membership and the lama industry in the Ohio River Valley.
Bill Safreed
President’s Message - May 2011
As I write this, Spring has not yet sprung, yesterday’s snowfall is still melting. Our earlier warm spell was just a tease for what is to come. We are all anxious to get started on those outdoor chores, grass mowing, cleaning out the winter bedding, shearing llamas and alpacas and generally hoping for warmer weather.
As you read this the llama show season has started in Ohio. I hope you will be able to participate in at least one show this year and certainly in the ORVLA Summer Solstice show to be held in Coshocton on June 11th. We are going back to the Ohio State University Vet School for our summer meeting on July 9th after a long absence. Hope you can join us for some socializing and to get an update on the latest in camelid medicine.
Your Board of Directors has commissioned a new ORVLA t-shirt that has been custom designed just for us. It will be for sale in at some of the shows and of course at our upcoming events. We plan to make them available in somewhat limited quantities and then change the design, so get yours right away. Thanks to Kris Miller for organizing this effort on our behalf.
If you haven’t visited the ORVLA website, www.ORVLA.com, lately, it has undergone a major overhaul with some great work by webmaster Pat Linkhorn. Your suggestions and contributions for content are greatly appreciated. Make it your link to all things ORVLA. And while you are on-line, checkout our Facebook page (search for The Ohio River Valley Llama Association) and make a connection with the llama and alpaca world.
Your Board and I wish you a safe and happy summer full of llama and alpaca activities! Remember, ORVLA is “Where the fun begins!”
Bill Safreed
