Dear ILR Members,

The ILR Board will be meeting at the Face-to-Face at the ILR office on June 29, 2009 thru July 1, 2009.  There are many items already on the agenda include Domestic Screening, revisiting DNA options, review ShowManager, website upgrades progress, finalize and award the ILR-UAP and ILR-IF for 2008 and discuss any changes needed for 2009, ILR-SD development, by-laws review, financial statements year to date and budget evaluation and ILF discussion.  If you have comments on these agenda items or additional agenda items you would like to have discussed, please contact the ILR office at [email protected].

For those of you signed up for the ILR-UAP and the ILR-IF for 2008, please remember to enter your information on the Activity Log on the website by June 20, 2009,  www.lamaregistry.com  – click on ILR-UAP for the link to the log. 

All members are reminded that you can use this same Activity Log to enter information for the Lifetime History of Achievement for animals in your herd.  This option is only available through the end of 2009.  After that time, only current year information can be entered.

The ILR Annual Meeting will take place at 12 noon on Tuesday June 30, 2009 at the ILR offices in Kalispell, MT.   All ILR members are welcome and encouraged to attend.  Please RSVP to the ILR office at [email protected] or call the office at 406-755-3438 so that we may have adequate seating available for those in attendance.  Following the ILR Annual Meeting, there will be an open forum to discuss the ILR-SD.

A famous quote by an unknown author is “Life is not about the Destination, it is about the Journey”.    The Destination is clear:  a positive thriving llama industry where all the varied uses of llamas are acknowledged and appreciated and creating an environment to encourage new llama owners to join the llama community.  The Journey is how we as individuals and organizations conduct ourselves toward our destination.  Right now there are many obstacles on that journey that we as an organization, and as individuals, have to tackle.  Our country is in a war, the economy is on a downward spiral, every time we turn on the local or national news we are bombarded with all the negative things that are happening in the world, and our industry is in conflict.  Although many of us “see the glass half full” and look for opportunities to strengthen our industry and organizations, there are others who “see the glass half empty” and focus on the negatives and try to divide the industry and organizations.

The ILR Board of Directors has always had two guiding forces on our journey, the by-laws of the organization and the input from the membership.  The ILR has members from all facets of llama ownership:  commercial packers, fleece enthusiasts, recreational users, pet therapy interest, breeding stock producers and owners interested in showing, and we consider the impact on all of you in our decisions.  The ILR-UAP, ILR-IF and ILR-SD were all developed and implemented in accordance with our mission to “provide services in response to the needs of the membership”.     We rely on the By-laws of the ILR to direct our decisions.

As always, the ILR Board welcomes and encourages your comments, concerns and questions sent to [email protected] .   Please take this opportunity to guide us on the journey towards a thriving industry.   The decisions made at the Face-to-Face and discussion of the Annual Meeting will be posted in the ILR Board minutes and in an e-bulletin after both events.

Sincerely,

The ILR Board of Directors:  Mark Smith-president, Mary Jo Miller-vice president, Kathi McKinney-treasurer, Kristy Brown-Secretary, Father Ryan Scott-member at large and Jan Wassink-Registrar.