November 19, 2009

Greetings Area III Members,

As an ASPC/AMHR member living in Area III, you have received a letter concerning the recent election of the Area III Director. Simply stated, the letter indicates that an insufficient number of votes were cast to officially elect an Area Director. Only 81 members voted out of 876 eligible members. The votes were tallied at the Area III meeting held in Conyers, GA, which many of you were unable to attend. Many of you have contacted me, as the Area III webmaster, to state that you felt that you did not have a voice in the election. This has changed and is the reason for this letter. As of now, every Area III member has the opportunity to Ratify or Not Ratify the vote for the Area III Director election.

Please know that this letter is NOT supporting either candidate, but is an attempt to insure that the person representing this area is elected appropriately and to give you ALL an opportunity to vote for your candidate of choice.

With that being said, let me try to better explain where Area III stands in our election of the Area III Director. If you check “The Election of Alicia Slocumb Should Be Ratified” there will be NO further election and Alicia Slocumb will be the Area III Director. If you check “The Election of Alicia Slocumb Should Not Be Ratified”, you WILL receive an opportunity to vote for the Area III Director in a New Election. If the majority rules “Should Not Be Ratified”, you will then receive information regarding a new election and have the opportunity to vote for the Area III Director. It is anticipated this election will be by Ballot sent to ALL eligible members.

The election of the Area III Director is extremely important and I am hoping that each of you in Area III will Vote NOT to ratify the election, so that you will then have a new opportunity to vote for Steve Henderson or Alicia Slocumb for our Area III Director for the next three years. With the outstanding members, clubs, and shows in Area III we are really growing strong together. We have a Voice in Area III, so lets use it. So “To Ratify or Not To Ratify”, the choice is yours. But, Please make that choice as a Member of Area III. Your ballot must be returned inside two envelopes, the Ballot must be placed inside the ballot envelope and that envelope placed in the envelope addressed to Howard & Howard, Attys and postmarked NO later than Dec 1.

This ratification information and the results, after the ballots are counted, will be posted on the Area III Website. www.shetlandminiaturearea3.com

I thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I felt the need to share this information after I heard of this situation after Convention. I look forward to seeing Area III grow stronger with more members and exhibitors. I have enjoyed working with so many of you while managing the website. And, look forward to meeting many more of you in the future. The Future looks Great for Area III and I am very excited!

Sincerely,
 

Missy Richardson

Concerned Area III Member

Area III Webmaster

misrchrds@aol.com

Georgia Horse Owners Urged to Vaccinate Against EEE 
by: Edited Press Release 
June 14 2009, Article # 14358 
Two horses in Long County, Ga., have tested positive for Eastern equine 
encephalitis (EEE). The Coastal Health District is encouraging all horse owners 
in Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn, Liberty, Long, and McIntosh 
Counties to vaccinate their animals against EEE. 

EEE is a mosquito-borne virus that causes swelling of the brain. In horses, it 
is fatal 70 to 90% of the time. In 2008, there were at least 12 cases of EEE in 
animals in the state of Georgia. 

"EEE can be fatal but there is a vaccine readily available. We strongly 
encourage horse owners to get their animals vaccinated to protect them from this 
disease," said Robert Thornton, Coastal Health District epidemiologist. 
"Mosquitoes are more populous in the summer and there is a greater risk of 
animals being infected this time of year." 

Because mosquitoes breed in water and horses drink out of buckets and troughs, 
horse owners should also keep an eye on watering sources and clean them often. 

For more information on EEE, see CDC.gov/diseasesconditions. For more 
information on obtaining the EEE vaccine, contact a veterinarian.