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Fellow District 9 Members,
Do you remember the last time the ARBA National Convention and Show was
in District 9? For those of you scratching your head, the
answer is York, PA in 1976. Gerald Ford was president, we had quite a
few less breeds in the ARBA, and folks were listening to ABBA for “pop”
music. I am pleased to inform the members of ARBA’s second largest
district that after approximately three decades, we have begun to set in
motion the process of organizing, bidding, and hopefully hosting an ARBA
National Convention & Show.
The Mid Atlantic Rabbit & Cavy Shows (MARCS) was formed at the 86th ARBA
Convention & Show in San Diego, CA. It is a cumulative effect of many
individuals that have had the idea of bringing a convention back to the
east coast (in particular District 9) for many years. Our target for
hosting the convention will be in the next 3-5 years at the Pennsylvania
Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA. For those of you who have had the
opportunity to visit the Farm Show Complex, many people exit the
building admitting that “this place was designed to host an ARBA
Convention.” We couldn’t agree more!
Hosting an ARBA Convention is a monumental task and involves thousands
of hours of planning before hand, during, and after the actual event. It
will be a DISTRICT ENDEAVOR implying that we will be soliciting help
from members across District 9. Leading this meteoric undertaking will
be Brian Bell. For those of you who don’t know Brian, he is a large
reason why the PaSRBA Convention is now one of the largest rabbit & cavy
shows in the country.
Beginning in 2010, MARCS will begin hosting benefit shows to start the
process of generating funds for our treasury. This is a precedent set by
many former convention hosting organizations. Leading this task will be
Travis Finkle and Stacy Hindt from Maryland. Local clubs, state clubs,
fairs, and specialty clubs in District 9 are welcomed to affiliate with
MARCS for a fee of $25. Our goal is to evenly spread the shows across
District 9 from the northeast to southeast. Many of the judges in our
district have already indicated that they will be willing to judge pro
bono for many of these benefit shows.
It is important to realize that hosting this event is one that requires
MANY volunteers. I urge you to contact us at your earliest convenience
to indicate in what capacity you would like to serve on the association.
The next 1-2 years will be focused on hosting benefit shows and
determining convention personnel. Our bid will be presented 2 years
prior to our target date so we need a strong, sound organization years
before we intend to actually host the convention.
It is my sincere pleasure to make this general announcement on behalf of
MARCS. Like Brian, I have all too often suffered the “convention itch.”
We have a wonderful group of talented, hardworking, and dynamic
individuals in District 9. I leave you with the following:
D9 – IT'S
ABOUT TIME!
Respectfully submitted,
Jay E.Hreiz, VMD
District 9 Director
The MARCS logo is the property of MARCS and may not be
duplicated
or used without the express permission of MARCS.
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