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Issue 1, No. 3 September 1997
Deb Kimball, Editor
Note: This article gives a nice history of the beginning of a formal organization that later became known as the Icelandic Sheep Breeders of North America (ISBONA)
The Icelandic Sheep “Club” of North America
In following up on the first breeder’s meeting held at Jager Farms, it was agreed to form a “club” rather than an association. This club would be less formal, hopefully avoiding some of the political problems that have plagued other associations. Below is our (Deb and Rich) interpretation of what was agreed on at the meeting. Also included are some issues that will need to be decided upon soon before the Icelandic sheep community gets too big.
The Name: Icelandic Sheep Club of North America
Breed Registration: It was unanimously agreed to continue to register sheep through the Canadian Livestock Records Corporation, as well as being members of the Canadian Sheep Breeders Association. The club would not be directly involved in the registration. The CSBA does an excellent job of record keeping and double checking registrations. Susan is checking into their acceptance of electronic registrations, what several breeders are moving toward. Barbara has checked into the registration of Ai offspring and they will do it.
Our Charter: The main intent of the ISCONA is to provide for information exchange among Icelandic Sheep breeders as well as provide general information to those interested in the breed and/or their various products. It was clear we would not get involved in breed registration nor write or enforce breed standards. It was felt that we should follow the guidelines and standards developed in Iceland (Published in the July ‘97 newsletter).
Fees: It was suggested a nominal fee of $10/year be charged for the newsletter. At this time there are no dues fees.
Decision Making: As a club, how do we make decisions? It is important that we have a simple and fair way of reaching decisions on issues facing the club. As an example, we were asked by Elite Genetics if we would run a reciprocal ad for them in our newsletter (they put our club ad in their catalog, and we used their ad in the newsletter). Is this OK with everyone?
Dealing with Issues: An idea suggested to us is for the newsletter to post the issues on which decisions need to be made. Breeders would then respond to an individual who has volunteered to collect and make a response statement for the next newsletter. It would help if that person was online, thus they could receive email (many Icelandic breeders are no online), regular mail, as well as phone responses. Any Volunteers? To keep things simple for the results person, there should be a deadline. All those interested in that issue should respond by the deadline.
Breeders Listing: Those who sign up for the newsletter and state they are an active breeder and wish to be on the Breeders Listing will be added. Currently there are several names who either no longer breed Icelandic sheep or who wish not to be on a breeders listing. Wee will update the breeders listing in December for the next newsletter.
Services provided by the club:
Quarterly Newsletter
Maintain Breeders Listing
Collect and Disseminate Information about the breed, which now includes: Iceland’s Breed Standards; Iceland’s Sheep Judging Guidelines; Previous Newsletters
Maintain a Website
- Online Breed Information
- Pictures
- Links to other sites
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