ODS President Column November 2008

It is hard to believe time has passed so quickly since the last column which was before the championship show. The show was a great success again this year; in fact, I think I enjoyed it as much as I have any of the previous years I have attended. I don’t have figures yet to report on income from the show or the silent auction at the awards banquet. The special awards winners are announced in Joyce Stride’s column in this same issue.

I would like to say another huge thanks to our Show Committee and our Banquet Committee. These people work all year long to put on this quality event for us.

Our rider awards chair persons, John Craven for licensed shows and Gene Hall for league shows are currently working on the results for the awards plates. With the help of new computer capability from USDF and the hard work of John and Gene we should have the awards out in a timely manner this year.

One thing we need is a person or group of people to prepare and mail the awards out. This is a job Corinne has been performing for several years that is really not a part of the ODS Office Administrator’s job. If you could spare some hours with a few friends and take this job on it would be a huge contribution to ODS. Please contact me directly if you are interested as I am recruiting people for this job.

The Annual ODS Membership Meeting and Quarterly Board Meeting will be held November 8 at the Springfield Mall. Everyone should have received a mailed notice of this event. Please rsvp the ODS office and plan to attend. We will be welcoming a few new board members as the election results will be final by that time. I was extremely happy to be able to fill all the openings with at least one candidate each this year.

We are preparing to attend the USDF Convention and Board of Governor’s Meeting later this month in Denver. There will be a special meeting with the USEF Dressage Committee about the performance standard proposal which should be interesting and is the topic of most of the discussion among delegates on the national level. We have heard there will be an increase in the USDF Participating Membership fee for 2010. We have also heard the changes in the representation for USDF will not be presented at this meeting.

Our ODS Librarian for the last 12 plus years, Janie Steinbock, is resigning. I would like to thank Janie for doing this important job for so many years. According to Janie there have been over 1,100 items checked out of the library in that time and every single item was returned. She wanted to commend the membership on making her job easier. I’m impressed with the number of people using the library. It seems to be fulfilling a large role in the education part of the ODS Mission. We have a new volunteer for the Librarian position, Claudette Fitzgerald. Claudette is a member of the Cascade Chapter also and comes highly recommended by Janie. I know Claudette and am happy to appoint her for the position. New information regarding the library contact information will be available as soon as we can make an official transfer of the library.

Here in Central Oregon we have been challenged with the “Pigeon Fever” outbreak. While not a life threatening disease in the vast majority of cases, it is a messy, contagious bacterial infection that seems to have hit a significant number of horses this late summer and fall. It can’t be prevented and is not transmitted by air but lives in the soil and can be transmitted by flies. COC Chapter cancelled our last league show of the year this past weekend because of the outbreak. Only one of my four horses has been infected and I am hoping we are past the danger point with the others since our freezing temperatures are taking care of the flies. Apparently it will remain in the soil for years and come back when the conditions are right.

I think I can have a report about the convention in the December issue as I will return home before the deadline. Please have a Happy Thanksgiving holiday and be safe in your travels.

Please remember it is time to renew your ODS membership!

Marsha

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Dear ODS Members,

I feel like time has just flown by this summer and maybe I am not the only one who feels that way!! Our annual ODS Awards Banquet less than a week away and not many of you have signed up to attend this year.

We set aside this date each year for our members to acknowledge and celebrate some of the hard working and dedicated people within ODS.

Our host hotel has been gracious enough to again extend our deadline to give them a headcount late Wednesday (tomorrow) evening.  That means that there are a few more hours for you to make banquet reservations!  You can make reservations over the internet from the banquet page (www.oregondressage.com/banquet.html) or by e-mailing me (see my e-mail address below - please don’t hit “reply” as the message will be delivered to the ODS Office not to me).  We still have table goodies and wine available for a few more VIP tables if you are interested, on a first come-first served basis.

LaNora Long is organizing a terrific Silent Auction that will be held during the banquet - we are still accepting contributions to the Auction as well.  Donations can be dropped off at the ODS/Awards Tent during the Championship Show on Friday and on Saturday through noon or brought directly to the banquet.  It is helpful if LaNora knows about the donations prior to your dropoff so that she can get the paperwork ready - please drop her an e-mail at barnbum4eva@yahoo.com.

We hope to see you at the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville this coming Saturday evening.   Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions!

Sincerely,
Rose Newman
rose_newman@yahoo.com

Hello ODS!We need your help! Our ODS Open & Championships Shows are just over a week away (Sept 12-14, DevonWood Eq. Centre), and we have many volunteer vacancies yet to fill. Your support has been amazing in years past, and has made this show what it is. With more than 150 horses entered this year, and FOUR ARENAS for much of the show, we need your extra hands more than ever!

Starting Thursday afternoon for competitor arrival, we have vacancies in all positions, including scribe, e-scribe, gate, warm-up, runner (must have OR Drivers License), parking and more.

If you are available to dedicate even just a few hours, we would LOVE to hear from you. Please contact Carla Pusateri at cpusateri@profirefighter.com or Jennifer Milburn at jennifer.milburn@oregonstate.edu, (541)231-7247.

Each of our volunteers will receive a nice thank you gift for their time. Come enjoy the show if you can - we would so appreciate your help!

Thanks in advance, we hope to hear from you,

Jennifer Milburn
Show Manager