ILR Show Division

FLEECE COMMITTEE Minutes
January 16, 2012 

Committee Members Present:         

Pamela Tait - Chair
Rawna Hamann - Secretary
Mary Jo Miller
Jenni Jimmerson
Fran Soukup                             
Judy Ross

CALL TO ORDER:

Meeting was called to order at 8:14 pm EST. All 6 committee members were present.

MINUTES:

Minutes from August 10, 2011, meeting - approved by email and sent to office for posting. 

AGENDA ITEMS:

Note: All motions approved by the Fleece Committee still need to be approved by the Governing Board before they go into effect. 

1.                  Fleece committee member introductions: Welcomed new member, Jenni Jimmerson from Bellingham, WA

2.                  Election of Committee Chair and Secretary:

a.       Chair: Pam was nominiated; no other members were nominiated; Motion made by Judy to accept Pam as Chair

b.       Secretary: Rawna and Fran both volunteered. In a 3-2 vote, Rawna will continue as Secretary

Old Business:

3.                  2011 Gathering show recap

a.       Number of entries:

Fleece on                   51         Shorn                13

Adult products            21         Youth products  0

Composite                  13

b. Discussion followed:

i. It was felt that this was a good number of entries for a first time show, except for youth.

ii. How to encourage more youth to enter products? One suggestion is to submit an ILR-e-Bulletin with an article to encourage youth to enter. Other suggestions were shared and Fran will connect with Norris with these suggestions.

iii. Fran shared: there was a communication break-down that is being worked on for 2012, regarding transfer of results, changes & additions, between the office & the fleece clerk.

iv. Suggested that as Divisions are completed, awards are recognized and ribbons given

v. Space was good; display of products was great.

vi. 2012 - Judy is the Fleece Judge; she, Fran and Norris will have conversations on how to improve from last year 

c.       Transfer of results to Show Manager: Fran has been testing other ways to use Show Manager by first using spread sheets (Excel) Once all changes are made by judges, then enter the information into Show Manager. This should both simplify and speed up submission of results.

4.                  2012 Gathering ideas:

2012 Gathering dates are June 15, 16 & 17. Fran Soukup is the fleece show superintendant, and Judy Ross is the fleece judge.

Workshops, Demo's and Displays - getting more information out there!

a.       Fran will do a basic clinic on identifying Fleece Types

b.       Judy has a new education display board that will be finished in time for the Show: Samples of each fleece type: Raw - Yarn - Knitted Square, Felted Square and Woven Square

c.       Knitting Guild there all 3 days in 2011 - see if they can also do it again in 2012 and some demo’s

                                                   i.      Fran will coordinate with knitting guild and Norris for demonstrations, etc.

d.       Handouts with descriptions of different fleece types - Flow Chart style

                                                   i.      Judy is writing an article and after published, will share with us and see if it can be used for this purpose

5.                  Get & Produce classes for Fleece Division  Discussion

a.       Pam will research other fiber animals (alpaca, sheep, goats, rabbits, etc.) to see if they do this and if so, how they handle it

b.       The Committee will work on developing guidelines & judging criteria for a Division for 2013

c.       Fran and Judy will 'judge' own animals that qualify for this and see how the process might work for more concrete ideas, and report back to committee.

d.       Must be already in Shorn Class(es), and scored, to compete in this division

e.       More discussion to follow: will be open to both Shorn and/or Fleece On animals?

New Business

6.                  Discussion of method to review Annualized Weight Point Charts

a.       Current Weight Chart needs to be sent to everyone.

b.       Discussed reason to include it as one criteria of overall points: Production!

c.       The committee discussed possible survey methods for evaluating fleece weights. Judy shared that out of 10 larger farms in her area, only one weighs the fleeces.

d.       It was also suggested that members could relate totals and other information from past ILR-SD score cards as they would have the correct information.

e.       The drawbacks were also discussed: type of cut and we won't have eyes on to determine amount of skirting  (+/-).

f.        Once all information is collected, then information will be examined and discussed for the score cards and weight charts for 2013 year.

7.                  Minimum amount to be submitted for Shorn Division

a.       Judy brought up that there needs to be a minimum amount of fleece weight in the Shorn division. There was a discussion and a motion made by Judy; Second by Fran: "For the Shorn division of a fleece show, the minimum amount of fleece weight is to be 6 ounces for any age and for any type of fleece." Motion carried for the 2013 guidebook.

8.         Mary Jo commented that ILR is forming several Focus groups - fleece/fiber being one of them.  

Next Meeting:  Date to be determined; 8:00 EST

Motion to adjourn was made by Judy; Fran seconded. All ayes, motion passed. 

Meeting adjourned at 10:19 pm EST

Note: All motions approved by the Fleece Committee still need to be approved by the Governing Board before they go into effect.

Minutes submitted by Rawna Hamann, ILR Fleece Committee Secretary.