Hello and Happy New Year to all our Welsh Pony and Welsh Cob friends in the Southwest Region!
We decided it is time to do an “update” as your WPCSA regional representatives, as we work to keep all of you “informed” of national and regional “happenings”, and encourage you to provide us comments and news. We need feedback from everyone in California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico to really make this “blog” work. It’s for everyone! J
In the event that you have missed up-dates from the WPCSA, we’ll give you an overview of information from them. Again, the WPCSA websites are welshpony.org and wpcsamembers.com, the latter where you need to use your membership number to establish a user name and password, then log in – very easy.
The WPCSA American National show in Tulsa, Oklahoma was a huge success this past fall, but the Board of Directors is now looking at, and seeking input from both the host club OKWPS and all WPCSA members, on whether this show should continue to be held in Tulsa, rotate among regions as it used to do, or something else. The show has built a huge turn-out and been a great success the last four years, with 218 ponies from 130 farms from 18 states in 2015. There has been extensive discussion among the Board members and on the Yahoo group lists about the future of this show. One proposal to give exhibitors who are unable to travel to Tulsa more opportunities to earn points for year-end high-point awards is to 2X, 3X or 4X points at various shows to make exhibitors who don’t attend the American National show (or other shows) more competitive for year-end awards, to level the playing field, so to speak. Stayed tuned to this discussion and be sure to check the minutes from Board of Directors meetings and committee reports (see https://wpcsamembers.com/about-wpcsa/minutes/) for further information. Letters and on-line comments received from members are included with the minutes and committee reports, so reading through this will really give you a good sense of the society’s discussion. Responses from the OKWPS club indicate that they will be unable to contract with Tulsa to host the show in 2016 and 2017. And as a reminder to our southwest region members, Jackie Verkuyl and Megan Burtness (both from California) are on the WPCSA Board of Directors, and Patricia Cochran (Northwest Region) is also a Board member. Feel free to contact any of the board members with questions and ideas.
The 2016 convention and annual general meeting (AGM) for the WPCSA will be held in San Antonio, Texas, February 25 – 28. If you have not visited San Antonio, this is your chance! It is a wonderful city and the host Embassy Suites hotel is not that far from the famous “River Walk” along the San Antonio River, where the Alamo is located and lots of wonderful shops and restaurants. Registration information for the meeting is available at http://wpcsamembers.com/about-wpcsa/annual-convention/. You can register on-line! To get the convention discount room-rate at the hotel, you need to book by January 20, 2016 with the Embassy Suites San Antonio Northwest host hotel. The suite rate is $119 which includes a fully cooked breakfast each morning, a manager’s reception with complimentary drinks each evening and complimentary wireless Internet in each guest room. Book your room today by calling 1-800-HILTONS and use the code WPC to receive our special rate. For those who would like to extend your stay, the hotel will honor the $119 rate for 3 days prior and 3 days after the scheduled dates in the contract.
And as announced earlier, it looks like we in California will help host the 2017 WPCSA convention and annual meeting. The sites looking most promising are currently San Diego and San Francisco – stay tuned!
Now – on to regional news – and this is where we need you to share with us in the blog so we can all learn what is happening across the southwest region.
We invite you to check out the WPCAC website at any time. http://wpcac.com As you scroll down, you will see a large box telling you that the latest issue of the Bulletin is available. If you are interested in older Bulletins (aka Newsletters), please go to the “News” section under the Site Menu, and you will find them there. Those who work on the Bulletin put a great deal of work in it for your benefit. There’s always news, pictures, and articles that we are sure will be of interest to you.
If you wish to become a member of the WPCAC, please go to the “Membership Form” under the Site Menu, print it, complete it, and mail it to the club’s PO Box. There’s a wide variety of memberships available, and they are outlined on p. 2 of the Membership Form.
We in California are currently planning our 2016 activities and shows, also working with our good friends in the northwest region to know what Oregon and Washington shows we might be able to participate in. Pam Christensen and Cindy DiBrino are the WPCSA northwest regional representatives. We should have a show/event calendar soon, and will post that to this blog by mid-February or so.
Right now we in WPCAC are getting ready to hold our annual meeting and awards luncheon on Saturday, February 6 at the Bartley Cavanaugh Golf Course Clubhouse, 8301 Freeport Blvd., Sacramento (right off I-5). We held this fun event there last year, and it is a beautiful site, with Rebecca Kirtlan serving as the capable hostess.
What is happening is Colorado with the Welsh? What is happening in Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, and Arizona with your Welsh? Please let us know what you are you doing with your ponies and cobs. We know that many of you participate in open shows, do trail riding, combined driving and other things. We would really love to hear about some of your activities.
Please remember, we have a WPCSA Southwest Region Members Page on Facebook. Go to http//www.facebook.com/groups/1391422291178354 to see that page, add comment and photos, etc.
Questions? Please ask. Contact Debbie (deborahelliottfisk@gmail.com) or Judy (jph@softcom.net). Please share with us what’s happening “in your neighborhood”. Happy New Year to all! Debbie and Judy