From the President’s Desk: A Message from TICA President Vickie Fisher
Welcome TICA friends to our first newsletter of 2020!
As we ring in the New Year, TICA would like to welcome the following new Board members:
- Akiko Ishimura (AE)
- Steven Meserve (ES)
- Brenda Russo (MA)
- Elaine Weitz (NW)
We would also like to thank the following Directors who are leaving the Board for their dedication to TICA:
- Shunichi Kuroda (AE)
- Steven Corneille (ES)
- Anthony Hutcherson (MA)
- Ellen Crockett (NW)
We would also like to bid farewell to TICA’s longtime Business Manager Leslie Bowers. You may not know her, but I’m sure you know her signature! Leslie retired at the end of 2019 and our Executive Office will never be the same. She has been signing all those certificates for more than 33 years!!! Please help me extend to Leslie our very best wishes for a wonderful retirement and thank her for so many years of dedication to our Association.
Thank you for sharing your fabulous felines and helping us create the fun and friendships that make TICA unique! We look forward to more adventures in 2020!
Vickie
In This Issue
TICA Bids Farewell to Retiring Executive Office Employee Leslie Bowers | TICA Winter Board Meeting Set for Jan 15 -16 | TICA Welcomes Three New Clubs into Our Family | TICA 2019 Yearbook Available for Order Now | Join TICA and AKC to “Meet the Breeds” January 25-26 at the Javits Center in NYC | Reminder: TICA Trend is Available Online, Anytime, Anywhere! | Winn January 2020 Update | TICA Regional Updates
TICA Bids Farewell to Retiring Executive Office Employee Leslie Bowers
January 1 not only marked a new year and a new decade for TICA, it also was the first day in 35 years that TICA’s Executive Office was without Executive Secretary and Business Manager Leslie Bowers.
“Leslie has been a fixture in TICA’s Executive Office for more than three decades,” said TICA President Vickie Fisher. She started her run at TICA using a typewriter with carbon paper and quickly became key to the operations and inner workings of TCIA. To say she will be missed will be an understatement.”
Leslie joined TICA in 1984 as a secretary and quickly learned all the ins and outs of TICA. “When I started at TICA, we typed everything,” said Leslie. “We had three IBM Selectric typewriters and we typed blueslips five at a time with carbon paper between. I filed the registration 201’s (6×9 envelopes) that held all the information on all the cats we had received. The outside of the envelope had the same information on it as the certificate, so I learned breed codes, registration numbers, sire and dams, and dates required. Then I started typing the registrations. Blueslips came first because they were the easiest, the individual cats, litters and kittens off the litters. Somewhere in the mix I also learned how to fill out a DAR, which at the time were done by hand.” She went on to handle bookkeeping, bank reconciliations and was later appointed Executive Secretary and Business manager, the position she held until her retirement.
Her fondest memories working in the Executive Office was her time spent with TICA Founder, Georgia Morgan. “She was such a delight to work with and be around, she was a true southern LADY, but she was also a flirt. One day we had gone to Luby’s Cafeteria to eat lunch and we were sitting at a small table with another small table close by. A distinguished older man walked up behind her with a tray in his hands and asked if he could join us. She looked up at him and said: “I don’t know, what are you eating?” I nearly choked. She was fond of chocolate and would rather have a chocolate sundae for lunch than a sandwich. She always said that if she ate a meal, she wasn’t hungry for dessert, so she’d eat dessert first.”
Leslie grew up with both cats and dogs. “Somebody’s cat had kittens and we’d go get one or someone had puppies and gave us one. She currently has six cats and three dogs, all of them rescues. Her cat Dooley is a big cat and rules the roost by keeping all the animals in line. “I think the neighborhood knows that I will take in cats or dogs, because there have been too many animals who just showed up on my property, yowling that they were hungry. For me, that’s all it takes and they’re mine.”
Leslie claims she will never get bored with her newfound spare time, as her “to do” list is quite long. In addition to sleeping in, she hopes to volunteer at the VA Hospital near her home. She also intends to devote a large chunk of time to artistic projects, such as pen and ink drawing; oil painting; crocheting; redesigning her home, refinishing furniture, and designing and executing stained glass projects. Catching up on reading ranks high on her list and possibly even following in her mother’s footsteps by taking a stab at writing (her mother wrote several books for kids).
Please join us in thanking Leslie for all her years helping TICA members and wishing her all the best as she enters this new chapter of her life.
TICA Winter Board Meeting Set for Jan 15 -16
The TICA winter Board meeting will take place on January 15th – 16th, 2019 at 7am CST via teleconference. The upcoming meeting agenda is full with many proposals, including those involving the judging and clerking program as well as registration and standing rules. Click here to view the full agenda.
TICA Welcomes Three New Clubs into Our Family
TICA continues to grow with the addition of three new clubs to our growing family. Please help us welcome the Dream Cat Club (Osaka City, Japan) joining our Asia East Region, Hillbilly Cat Club (Canada) joining our Northwest Region and the American Cat Club (Brazil) joining our South America Region.
TICA 2019 Yearbook Available for Order Now
Now is your chance to reserve your TICA 2019 Yearbook and preserve the 2018-2019 show season.
Prices are as follows:
U.S. addresses: $75
Canadian addresses: $85
All other countries: $95
Order forms are available on the TICA website. Click here to download the form. Please contact TICA Yearbook Editor Chris Unangst at chris.unangst@gmail.com with any questions or for a fillable PDF order form.
Join TICA and AKC to “Meet the Breeds” January 25-26 at the Javits Center in NYC
TICA will join The American Kennel Club (AKC®) to introduce the public to our world of pedigree cats and Pedigree dogs at the annual Meet the Breeds event. This year, the event returns to the Javits Center, January 25-26, 2020 in New York City.
In an effort to have all TICA’s breeds represented, TICA is offering an exciting $500 financial assistance to each Breed Booth attending Meet The Breeds with your fabulous felines. Those wishing to participate in the event and represent their breed should immediately contact Cheryl Hogan at Cheryl@glory2glory.com or Jackie Rose at cuddlebugpersians@msn.com. They need to hear from you immediately as time is short! Final attendance must be logged no later than January 15.
Attendees can interact with almost 200 breeds of dogs and cats in elaborately decorated booths with elements from the breeds’ history creatively displayed as well as opportunities to learn from experts representing the TICA breeds in attendance.
There will also be numerous and fun demonstrations both days, including The Savitsky Cats of America’s Got Talent fame. They will perform both days of the event on stage in the Cat Area and twice for a meet & greet time following first and second performances on both days.
Reminder: TICA Trend is Available Online, Anytime, Anywhere!
TICA would like to remind all of our friends that in addition to the printed copy of the Trend they receive that their membership also includes online access to a digital version of the issue. Membership includes access to the most current issue of the Trend and the entire library of digitally-published issues since the end of 2012. That’s right, members can access the Trend online, anytime, anywhere!
The latest issue is available now! You can start reading and enjoying the Trend before it reaches your mail box. To access the TICA Trend library, please create your free TDS Online account by going to TDS Online. Once your account is set up, simply choose TICA Trend from the menu.
Want to go paperless? Click here to send a request to the Executive Office to discontinue future paper copies of the Trend.
Winn January 2020 Update
Planned Giving by George Eigenhauser – If you wish to name Winn as a beneficiary in your estate plan, but need help finding the right language, the following is one possible wording:
“I give to the Winn Feline Foundation, Inc., a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the District of Columbia and exempt from tax under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3) with its headquarters at 637 Wyckoff Ave., Suite 336, Wyckoff, NJ 07481, [choose either: the sum of $__________ OR ________ per cent of my residuary estate] to be used for general purposes.”
When adding Winn to the beneficiary designation for insurance, pensions or other payable on death benefits you should use Winn’s legal name “Winn Feline Foundation, Inc.”. If requested you should include our address and if needed Winn’s Federal Tax ID # 23-7138699.
2019 Winn Feline Foundation’s Year End Appeal is underway. Announcements have been mailed out and we will also be providing more information about this important fundraising piece via email notification, social media and articles.
Winn Feline Foundation FIP Symposium: PURRsuing FIP and WINNing was a huge success! Winn would like to thank all who attended in person and online. Winn is currently processing transcripts from the two day event and the Education Committee is coordinating a group of individuals who will be creating articles, white papers, consensus statements, etc. to get all the great information that surfaced at the event to as many people as possible and build awareness surrounding the most current information on FIP prevention, treatment and research that is out there around the world. Watch for much more to come in 2020!
Bria Fund End of Year Message from Susan E Gingrich, Founder: 2019 was one of ups and downs for the Bria Fund and me personally, but fortunately, many more, pretty high ups! As I prepared to speak at Winn’s FIP Symposium, I reflected on the amazing FIP progress since we lost Bria in 2005.In 2005, there was little to offer and no hope for FIP. This was unacceptable to me, and in Bria’s memory, I decided to do something about it, writing a proposal for the Bria Fund for FIP Research. I approached the Winn Feline Foundation with it, and several months later it was accepted by the board, with the understanding that I primarily would be responsible for its success, and if donations stopped, the stipulated fund would be closed. I took that challenge seriously. Through the Bria Fund and other funding sources, Winn continues to be the non-profit supporting more FIP research studies, than any other. Thanks to generous donors, both the Bria Fund and FIP progress are flourishing! When the Bria Fund started, I never thought a cat would be cured of FIP in my lifetime. That miracle is happening, and many precious lives are being saved. Big pieces of the FIP puzzle are solved, but others remain in our goal of ending FIP. To end FIP, we need more research, more FIP researchers and increased donations to support it. Cats all over the world continue to die daily from FIP and misdiagnosed FIP. Most people still never hear of FIP, until it happens. Support and education for the scared and confused are important, as is sharing new information. With FIP, knowledge is definitely power. There is a lot of FIP information on the web today, some dangerous and unreliable, and many more FIP support groups, some with their own agendas and some with very limited focus. For many years, I helped lead the Facebook FIP Fighters Group, started by a small group of Bria Fund supporters. I was saddened when the owner decided to close this highly respected group. I used this group to share a lot of research and other feline related information, as well as Bria Fund news and fundraising itself. To continue communicating, sharing information, offering support, and functioning like an FIP clearinghouse, Helen of Tanya’s CRF fame, and I recently started a new FIP group. We both needed this new endeavor like a hole in our heads, but a serious void existed. We continued the name of the former Yahoo group, FIP Cat Support, and you are invited to join us. I cannot wait to see the FIP progress that will be made in 2020 towards curing and ending FIP.
Thank you FIP and Winn families, researchers and everyone else who contributed to the Bria Fund’s over 14 years of success and significant FIP progress. We are still in the fight of our lives to end FIP, and there is much left to do. If your cat has benefitted in any way from FIP research funded over 14 years, including using new antivirals curing cats, and you never donated to the Bria Fund directly, please do and pay it forward to help end this evil, unforgiving disease. We are still in the fight of our lives to end FIP, and there is much left to do. Because of other FIP related priorities, we did not run a big Bria Fund fundraiser this year, so please donate now to help us be able to continue funding more important studies next year.
Sincerely,
Susan and Jim,
The Bria Fund
www.briafundsupporters.com
https://winnfelinefoundation.salsalabs.org/briafund
TICA Regional Updates
Click here to read updates on the following TICA Regions:
- TICA Europe South Regional Update
- TICA Great Lakes Regional Update
- TICA Mid Pacific Regional Update
- TICA Northwest Regional Update
- TICA South America Regional Update
- TICA South Central Regional Update
TICA Europe South Regional Update:
TICA Europe South is proud to announce that this February, LondonCats will host their first show outside of the UK as TICA returns to Portugal for the first time in more than 25 years! LondonCats 19th International Show will be held on February 15 – 16, 2020 at the Mercado de Santa Clara, in the Alfama District, which is one of the biggest outdoor markets in Lisbon. Additional information can be found online at www.londoncats.org.uk.
TICA Great Lakes Regional Update:
Spotlight on TICA GL Judge of the Year: Dr. Nikki Crandall-Seibert Nikki (with her then future husband, Cory) started showing Japanese Bobtails in 1989, although in a different cat association. Their first litter was born on June 12, 1991 and Rockinashi Japanese Bobtails was established. Based on a love of “silver” Japanese Bobtails, they later partnered with Jennifer Reding (California) and established Ginchika Japanese Bobtails. Although very successful in the other association, in 2006 Nikki & Cory began showing in TICA.
In addition to Japanese Bobtails, over time they have shown Somalis, Birmans, Himalayans, Maine Coons, Norwegian Forest Cats, Siberians, Oriental Shorthairs, Household Pets, and Khaomanee. However, Japanese Bobtails continue to be their heart breed.
In 1995 Nikki graduated from the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin (Madison) with her DVM degree. With her love of knowledge, Nikki also learned acupuncture (for animals) and continues to learn more about “natural” ways of healing.
What has remained constant is her love for cats, her love of showing cats, her knowledge of cats, and her ability to handle cats, so it was no surprise when Nikki applied to TICA’s judging program. Nikki was accepted into TICA’s judging program in 2014, and her first judging assignment was in Waukesha, WI that September. She then advanced to All Breed in January of 2018. If you ever watch Nikki as she judges, it soon becomes evident that this is where she belongs … she loves the cats, she loves handling the cats, she loves being a cat judge. Congratulations Nikki in being voted TICA GL Region’s 2019 Judge of the Year!
Mark your calendar for the following shows/events:
- Glass CiTICAts, February 7-9 in Maumee, OH (Early Bird registration through January 20)
- Showcats, March 13-15 in Columbus in Columbus, OH (Early Bird registration through February 1)
- Great Lakes Friends of Felines, March 20-22 in Arlington Heights, IL (Early Bird registration through February 15)
- Wisconsin-Illinois Cat Fanciers, April 25-26 in Racine, WI
Moving from Yahoogroups to Groups.io – With the closing of Yahoogroups, the GL Region has created a regional group on Groups.io. You can join by creating an account on groups.io, searching for TICA Great Lakes and then requesting to join or by sending an email to: TICAGreatLakes+subscribe@groups.io
TICA Mid Pacific Regional Update:
The TICA Mid Pacific Region wishes everyone a happy new year. We hope 2020 is everything you wish it to be.
Mark your calendar for the following shows/events:
- Wine Country Cat Club invites you to the 10th Annual Cat Show, March 21-22, 2020, in Ione California. Click here to view more information online.
The following Super Early Bird special expires on Jan. 24, 2020:
- Three cats in two double cages PLUS a groom space for $245 (yes, that’s not a typo!! Practically giving entries away!)
- One cat in one double cage for only $95
The following Early Bird Special expires on February 24, 2020:
- Four cats in two double cages for $270
- Three cats in three double cages for $230
- Two cats in two double cages for $170
- Two cats in one double cage for $145
- One cat in one double cage for $100
- Additional entries other four for $45
Click here to enter your cats and kittens.
Those interested in sponsoring a ring should contact Shauntay Burris at ShauntayBurris@hotmail.com.
TICA Northwest Regional Update:
The TICA Northwest Region would like to wish all our members a Happy New Year! With the New Year brings the following changes to the Northwest Region:
Thank You Ellen Crockett – We would like to thank our outgoing Regional Director, Ellen Crockett for her representing the Northwest Region on the TICA Board for 15 years. She has a wealth of knowledge about the history of our organization, so we hope she will continue to share her thoughts with the region.
Welcome New Regional Director, Elaine Hawksworth-Weitz – TICA’s new NW Regional Director is Elaine Hawksworth-Weitz. You can contact her by cell phone at (206) 920 – 9214, via email at regional.director.nw@tica.org or elaine.weitz@comcast.net, or via mail at 5517 152nd St SW, Edmonds, WA 98026.
Communication – Formal communication and regional polling will take place via the groups.io on-line list. Approximately 75 percent of TICA NW members are not on our group list. Members are encouraged to subscribe in order to stay up-to-date with all the activities within the region. To subscribe, send an email to: ticanorthwest+subscribe@groups.io.
Regional Meeting – The first regional meeting held by new Regional Director Elaine Hawksworth-Weitz will take place on January 26, 2020 at the Holiday Inn in Portland, Oregon from 8:15 am – 8:45 am. All are encouraged to attend. An agenda will be published at least one week prior to the meeting.
New Regional Club – Welcome Hillbilly Cat Club (Edmonton, Alberta area) to the TICA NW Region. Their first show will be held in March.
Mark your calendar for the following shows/events:
- The New Culture Club, January 25 – 26, 2020 in Portland, OR. For more information visit the club’s website at http://tncc.org.
- The Evergreen Cat Fanciers, February 8 – 9, 2020 in Ferndale, WA. For more information visit the club’s website at http://evergreencatfanciers.org/upcoming.aspx.
- Hillbilly Cat Club, March 7 – 8, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta.
- The Calgary Cat Association, April 18 – 19, 2020 in Calgary, Alberta.
- SeaCats, April 24 – 26, 2020 in Issaquah, Washington. For more information visit the club’s website at www.seacatsclub.com/hoursevents.
- Click here to view the entire show calendar for the NW region.
Volunteer Email – Members should be on the lookout for an email from Regional Director Elaine Hawksworth-Weitz within the next week seeking volunteers for the various regional committees. This email will be sent to all TICA members who live in the NW Region. If you don’t receive the email, please email Elaine directly at elaine.weitz@comcast.net from your preferred email address.
TICA South America Regional Update:
The TICA SA Region is proud to announce that after a 15-year hiatus in São Paulo, a new club was chartered last month. The American Cat Club gained TICA charter and anticipates holding their first show this June or July. Together with Cariocat in Rio de Janeiro, that has already a show scheduled for May, the two biggest Brazilian cities will be covered.
TICA South Central Regional Update:
Mark your calendar for the following shows/events:
- Gulf Coast Feline Foundation, January 24 – 26, 2020 in Deer Park, TX.
- Econocats Cat Club, February 1 – 2, 2020 in Brighton, CO.
- TIFS-Ragdolls Around the World, March 13 – 15, 2020 in Corpus Christi, TX.
- Mission City Cat Club, April 4 – 5, 2020 in Seguin, TX.
- Garden of the Cats, April 25 – 26, 2020 in Colorado Springs, CO
Leslie Bowers, TICA’s Executive Secretary & Business Manager retired on December 31, 2019. Leslie worked for TICA for 35 years. The South Central Region presented her with gift cards and a congratulations card signed by several South Central members.
Meet the Breeds will take place January 25 – 26, 2020 at the Javits Center in NYC. If you are interested in participating, please contact Jackie Rose at cuddlebugpersians@msn.com for information.
The TICA Winter Board meeting will be held January 15 – 17, 2020. Please contact Vicki Jo Harrison vjhtx@aol.com with any questions or comments about agenda items.
Yahoogroups to Groups.io
With the significant changes of Yahoogroups, a regional group on Groups.io has been created. You can join by creating an account on groups.io, searching for TICA South Central and then requesting to join or by sending an email to: TICASouthCentral+subscribe@groups.io
