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The American Romney Breeders Association (ARBA), is the registrar for and promoter of Romney sheep in the United States and Canada. ARBA registers both white and natural colored Romneys. We welcome your visit!
Our site is organized into the areas shown in the navigation bar at the top of the page. Explore! Learn about the American Romney, our organization, and what our members have to offer you!
Our latest articles are shown below: (for older articles, please check our Site Map)
by Site Admin on April 26, 2013
The 2013 ARBA Show and Sale will be separated into two different events held at different venues in the Midwest, in hopes that more members will be able to attend one or the other ( or hopefully, both!)
For more details, see the Great Lakes Show & Sale Catalog. (Romney sale info is on page 7 of the PDF.)
The National Sale will take place over Memorial Day Weekend at the Great Lakes Sale in Wooster, OH, on May 25-26, 2013. See the following links for more information:
National Sale Information
Online Entry Forms (scroll down to the Great Lakes Sale info)
The on-time entries closed on March 15, but late consignors are still able to enter until the catalogue is printed. Call Greg Deakin at Banner Sales for more information: (309) 785-5058. A portion of the sales price will go towards ARBA. Currently there is transport available to both coasts for purchases. This is a great opportunity to sample outstanding Romney genetics from across the country, so please plan to attend, either in person or by placing a phone or mail bid. Catalogs other information will become available soon. Joanne Mast / Southern Oregon Romneys will be transporting to and from points west, and there should be several trailers to and from the Eastern US, including Charlene Carlisle / Little Hooves Romneys.
The dinner for the National Sale will be Saturday evening, May 25th at 6 PM at TJs and Melvins, 359 West Liberty St., Wooster, OH. The restaurant is only a couple of minutes from the sale facilities. Everyone will be ordering from the main menu that includes dinners, sandwiches and brick oven pizzas. Price ranges from $8-15, and there is a with a children’s menu. A bar and outdoor patio is also available. Space for 20-25 people has been reserved. There will also be coffee, soft drinks and donuts on both Saturday and Sunday morning for exhibitors and potential buyers at the pens. For questions, contact Ed Julian at 330-325-9150.
The 2013 National Show will be held at the newly resurrected Michigan State Fair (known officially as the “Fifth-Third Bank Michigan State Fair”, since it is now a private event not sponsored by the state) in Novi, MI over Labor Day weekend (August 29 – Sept 2). This brand new facility features spacious pens and aisles, climate control and numerous excellent restaurants and hotels located nearby. The show will include open, youth and showmanship classes. The show committee is busy arranging the show schedule, judge, annual dinner and other events to make your trip worthwhile. Here is a link to the 2012 event, which was billed as the “Great Lakes State Fair.” www.greatlakesstatefair.org More information will be forthcoming as it becomes available. Please mark your calendars for these events and plan to attend.
Please keep checking this site, as well as our Facebook page, for more information to be posted as it becomes available.
by Site Admin on April 10, 2013
Members present:
Ron Andress, Jane Caulfield, Charlene Carlisle, Carol Pasheilich, Margaret Van Camp, Tracy Haslem, Hilary Chapin, Chris Posbergh, Ed Julian, Scott Culver, Randy Thompson, Carolynn Avery
- Secretary
- Report was approved.
- Dues reminder — was sent via e-mail, put on website and on Facebook. It had also been in the last Ramblings both as part of Secretary’s column as well as in ad format.
Motion: Secretary will send out postcard reminder to those who have not paid by Monday using same wording as e-mail reminder.
Moved by Randy
Seconded by Chris
Passed
- It was decided that the Board needs a calendar of tasks to be completed during the year. Jane and Chris agreed to work with Carolynn to have one to present at April’s meeting.
- Directory problems—24 names left out, many more appear to have errors.
Motion: Secretary will create addendum of missing and corrected entries and send now as part of the next Ramblings
Moved by Carol
Seconded by Margaret
Passed
- Treasurer’s Report
Motion: Accept the report.
Moved by Jane
Seconded by Scott
Passed
- Old Business
- Banner Breed Notes — are a review ARBA’s recent activities written for the general public. Length about 125 words (1/2 page)
Responsibilities for the months are:
February – Charlene
March – Ron ( Morris Culver Scholarship)
April – Tracy
May – Ed
June – Randy
July/August – Margaret
September – Scott
October/November – Chris
December/January – Hilary
- Mentoring Program – Chris brought this to the Board for discussion. In light of that discussion, Board asked for Chris to continue work on this topic and bring back to the Board at the next meeting.
- Directors’ Duties – Ron has list from 1995. It was noted that Jean used send a package to new directors. Each director had a notebook with guides and notes to be passed to next director. Primary duties were listed as:
- Act as contact point for breeders within their region
- Oversee regional promotion and administer the the regional promotion budget
- Represent their region at all meetings of the Association
- Supervise the Regional and National shows held within their region
- Coordinate the nominating for regional director position
- Education Committee
Motion: Accept the report.
Moved by Hilary
Seconded by Chris
Passed
Hilary will be Chair and will have the committee members by next meeting. Directors’ duties and district events to be decided.
- NAILE Superintendent – Ron will make phone calls looking for volunteer
- New Business
- National Sale Report (Members List) needed. 2013 sale will be Sunday, May 26. Entries due March 15. Ed and Margaret Sale and Show info for Website and Ramblings by end of month.
- National Show Report (Members List) needed. Soliciting donation from companies in the area. Margaret, Cindy Cieciwa, Hilary, Ann McIntyre, Christiane Payton will meet in February.
- Nomination Committee – Nominations due to Secretary 90 days prior to annual meeting. Districts 1, 3, 5
- Volunteers: 3/10 – 4/10
- Committee looks for other candidates: 4/1 – 5/1
- Nominations due: 5/1
- Biographies due: 5/15
- Ballots mailed: 5/25 and due back by 6/10
- Results published: 7/1
For national slate need President, Vice President, Director-at-Large. Nominating committee: Scott, Randy, Chris
- Lifetime membership
Motion: Make Colette Culver, Bessie Kalina and Thelma Barnes lifetime members.
Moved by Tracy
Seconded by Scott
Passed
- Committee reports
- Carol reported on Advertising Committee which consists of Carol, Hilary, Carolynn, Dee Hendricks, Joanne Smith. The committee in working on large projects that still need completion.
- Carol reported on Website activities. Committee members are Carol, Charlene, Margaret, and Randy. Call to Board for new pictures, pages need cleaning up, changes to directory list, make competition of registration and membership forms on line for printing. Include more items in archives.
- Scott reported no action taken with Policies and Procedures
- By-Laws no action taken
- Randy reported no activity on AI
- Charlene reports no activity for Youth Committee
- District reports
- District 1: Maggie Howard coming to NH festival for education talk on recessive genetics
- District 2: No news
- District 3: National Show and Sale preparation. NAILE Junior and Open shows came in under budget.
- District 4: None
- District 5: Sent Ramblings to “lost” members. Participation in Mother Earth Fair iffy because of raise in fees.
- District 6: Spin-In in fiber show using Romney fleece.
- Redistricting
Motion: Create a committee to do research on redistricting.
Moved by Chris
Seconded by Jane
Passed with a 6 to 5 vote
Committee formed to include Chris, Scott, Jane, Tracy (chair), Ron with voice but no vote.
Question: how many members in each District?
- Budget requests needed before next meeting, when the budget will be proposed for a vote.
- Next meeting date and time: Saturday, April 6th, 1:30 PM EST
Motion: Adjourn meeting.
Moved by Scott
Seconded by Jane
Passed at 5:00 PM EST
by Site Admin on March 31, 2013
There is a new commercial yarn, available nationwide, that is all pure American Romney. This yarn is shipped to the mill, washed, carded and spun into yarn. It is then sent back to the yarn designer who dyes it and sends it to the wholesale distributor. This product is an opportunity for Romney breeders to sell their wool to the designer. There are certain quality control issues such as micron count, staple length and cleanliness that will be taken into consideration. If you, as a breeder, are interested in participating in this project, please contact Carolynn Avery, our secretary, for details. The wholesale distributor, Fancy Tiger, is very enthusiastic about this new product. See the Fancy Tiger website for more information.
by Site Admin on March 28, 2013
John Landers passed away on Thursday, March 7, 2013, in Albany, OR, with his daughter by his side. John was hired by Oregon State University’s Department of Animal Science in 1950. He served 27 years at OSU, principally as a State Extension Livestock Specialist traveling across Oregon helping farmers and ranchers. He also was a livestock judge at numerous county fairs and the Oregon State Fair for many years. In addition John ran the annual sheep shearing school at OSU for decades, as well as doing his own custom shearing in the Central Willamette Valley.
In an article in the agriculture newspaper The Capital Press in 1998, Suzanne Johnson wrote:
“He hasn’t owned a sheep since 1946. But his meticulous recordkeeping kept John Landers on the job as secretary of the American Romney Breeders Association for 37 years.”
As part of his position as secretary and registrar John wrote several pieces on the history of the Romney sheep in the U.S. and the quality of Romney wool. John was an active mentor to many beginning shepherds and wool producers.
John was involved in many organizations and activities during his long life ranging from ARBA to Kiwanis to the Benton and Linn counties Master Gardeners.
See this article for further biographical information and information on the memorial service, or contact Carolynn Avery, ARBA secretary (info in the ARBA directory).
