2017 July August

Bulletin Board
ASCA National Specialties
e The 2017 National Specialty will be hosted by the 2017 Texas
Consortium: Hill Country ASC, Central Texas Working ASC, Heart of Texas
ASC, Eastex ASC, and New Hope ASC on October 27 – November 4, 2017,
at Brazos County Expo, 5827 Leonard Rd., Bryan, Texas. There is a
Facebook page and a Facebook group, as well as a website, asca2017.
com.
Special Presentation for 2017 Nationals
This is ASCA’s 60 th anniversary and the 2017 Nationals team is be
showing a video presentation of ASCA history. If you have pictures from
the early days of ASCA, we would love to include them in our 60th Birthday
slideshow to be shown at the 2017 Nationals Banquet. Please email your
photos (with captions) to Lyndsay Smith at the following address:
ASCAHistoryPics@gmail.com.
Hotels for 2017 National Specialty
We have blocked rooms at the following hotels, but there are many
more in the area that accept dogs. Please check our website for more
information, as two of our blocks were not ready for publication as of the
deadline for this issue of the Aussie Times. Please verify dog policies when
making reservations. Blocks will be released on September 1, 2017, after
which these special rates will no longer apply. Early reservations are
STRONGLY recommended. October 28, 2017 and November 4, 2017 are
Texas A&M HOME GAMES. Rooms will be EXPENSIVE and hard to get
these two nights and the Friday nights before them. When making
reservations, make sure you identify yourself as part of the 2017 ASCA
Nationals.
LaQuinta Inn
607 Texas Ave. S, College Station, TX, 77840 $80.10/Sun-
Thurs. $125.10/night Fri. & Sat.
Call the Group Reservations Department at 1-866-527-1498 and identify
yourself as a member of the 2017 ASCA Nationals, reservation block
confirmation number 05391668. This is an old motel, but it where the
Texas exhibitors stay when we come to College Station for shows.
Quality Suites
3610 Highway 6 South College Station, TX 77845
(979) 695-9400 $89 King/night; $99 Two Queens/night; rate for
10/27/2017 and 10/28/2017 is $170
Group Name: ASCA Nationals
$10/per pet/per night fee. All rates are base rates and do not include
tax.
e The 2018 National Specialty will be hosted by the 2018 Consortium:
Colorado ASA, Hill Country ASC, and ASC of Texas on September 21 –
September 29, 2018, at Island Grove Regional Park, Greeley, CO. There
is a Facebook page and a Facebook group. No website yet.
e The 2019 National Specialty will be hosted by Central Valley
Australian Shepherd Club in Bakersfield, California. Please contact Denise
Creelman for information.
Please contact the executive.secretary@asca.org for the materials your
Club needs if they are interested in hosting the National Specialty or as
part of a consortium.
ASCA Committees
Agility Committee
All ASCA agility competitors are invited to join the ASCA Agility
Enthusiasts list at ASCAAgilityEnthusiasts@yahoogroups.com. The list
is available for questions from competitors, rule discussions, ideas for
trials and a place for the Agility Committee to ask opinions of the agility
community. Anyone having questions or comments may do so on the
list or by contacting any Agility Committee member. Their email
addresses are on the ASCA website
Conformation Committee has a newsletter (free to join) where we
post motions that are under discussion. The CC looks for member input
on motions. Go to ASCA_CC_Newsletter@yahoogroups.com to join.
History Committee
The History Committee needs members interested in helping to
preserve our ASCA past and or just learn more about it and possibly
share it with their local Affiliates and the general public. You can send
your resume’s to Kalla at executive.secretary@asca.org.
A Call for Additional Members for the ASCA Legislative
Committee
The Legislative Committee is in need of members. These members
should be
• Familiar with the animal rights agenda that threatens the right to
own animals, including pets, service animals and domestic
livestock.
• Willing to keep up to date on the progress of problematic
legislation at the federal level and in their respective states.
• Immediately available when critical legislative initiatives surface
and be able to respond and work with the other committee
members so the committee is able to meet time-sensitive
deadlines.
ASCA Legislative Committee Mission Statement
The Legislative Committee will serve the membership of ASCA by
providing education, up to date information regarding legislation
affecting pet ownership, and foster communication with the public as
well as global, national, state, and local decision makers in such matters.
The Committee advocates responsible animal ownership and will
inform the membership of any threat to our animal ownership rights.
The Process
Typically the committee will become informed of some legislative
threat, usually backed by animal rights groups. Committee members
need to read the proposed legislation, often onerous with vague
definitions, and respond by a certain deadline, usually with very little
time. Members then need to draft ASCA’s comments or position
statements. Since we only communicate by e-mail, this can be a fast
and furious process of data gathering, researching the comments of
fellow organizations, possible communication with the legislative or
deciding body and drafting our response – all with constant re-writes
and editing. Once we feel we have the final draft, it must be vetted by
the BOD and legal counsel, which can entail more time and editing.
Meeting the comment deadlines for pending legislation and getting
information to our membership so they can also comment is critical.
If you are willing to serve the very valuable work of this ASCA committee,
please respond to Susan Beals, Committee Chair at susan@
cailleachaussies.com.
36 AUSSIE TIMES May-June 2017