I‘ve just returned from our May board meeting in Bend where the Central Oregon Chapter of ODS, (COC), hosted the board to a potluck lunch.  Afterwards, COC members were invited to attend the board meeting, greet their representatives and ask questions.  I appreciated the opportunity to meet new and old friends as well as to share information about ODS.  Life-members Alice and Lynn Loomis came by to say hello and make sure ODS is still on track.

The meeting was held in conjunction with a scribe training session for COC.  Lisa Koch generously donated her time and expertise during the morning to judge videos while chapter members practiced their scribing skills.  Thank you, Lisa!  It was great to see a good turn out for this activity. The newly acquired skills will be put the tests, (quite literally), during the four league shows COC is sponsoring this year.  I understand COC is considering a recognized show next summer in Bend.  It would be great to add another competition to the schedule.

We spent considerable time during the board meeting discussing the convention delegates, ODS regional representation, and our bylaws. I’ve asked the board to look at our current bylaws and suggest changes that might better serve our organization.  Some housekeeping revisions are already required to line up our membership categories with the last USDF changes. The election of ODS officers is problematic as well.  Currently, in order to be an officer of ODS the member must first be a director—either a regional director or a director-at-large.  Since only two of the director-at-large positions are guaranteed be in office when the board elections are held next fall, it is very difficult to draft a slate of officers, provide for continuity of leadership, or to make commitments for convention delegates prior to the fall meeting.

We continue to have difficulties finding representatives from the South and East regions.  This has been an issue for the past six years I’ve been involved with the board.  I suggest that we revisit, or revise the “region” concept and either provide for additional at-large directors elected by the entire membership, or an option where the president, and/or board, can delegate a region’s proxy.  I welcome input from all members as we undertake this review process.  Please send your thoughts and comments either to me directly, or to the office.

This year at the USDF convention, Gaye McCabe will step down from her Region 6 Director duties.   Despite her regional duties, Gaye continues to mentor the ODS high school dressage program, manages the ODS youth team show and the adult team show, and is the co-chair of the ODS League Championships. Thanks, Gaye, for your many efforts!  I believe we will have two candidates for her position from the region. I expect that the board will invite the candidates to an informational Q&A session in the fall in.  I hope to share further details with you regarding the candidates and the election in a future column.

Until next month,

John