Past meeting minutes:
Jan. 30th 2008
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The meeting was called to order at 8:05 by President Todd Breitenfeldt.  Members present were, Todd, Jan, and Skye Breitenfeldt, Tana and Eric Kradolfer, and Alex Burks.  Bob Myers via cell phone.

The minutes of the last meeting, January 30, 2008, were approved.

Jan Breitenfeldt, treasurer, reported that we have $985.00 in our account at the present time. 

Membership:  Jan reported the following people as paid members as of March 12, 2008:
Charter Members:  Alex Burks, Jo Ann Kish, Tana and Conrad Kradolfer, Todd and Jan Breitenfeldt and Don Vondra.

Annual members:  Rod Richardson, Bob Myers, Leslie Andreas, and Brandon Moss.

Annual Family members:  Robert and Barry Bartlett and Eric & Melody Kaelin.

Concerning dealing with our large state, we have decided to have three regional officers, breaking the state roughly into thirds, East, Central, and West.  Alex Burks is the Eastern Regional Director, we are hoping to get Terry Courtright for the Central Region, and someone from the Missoula or Kalispell area for the West.

Concerning meeting by conference call or Internet we decided the best we can do for now is to use our personal cell phones on speaker mode.  This was done at the meeting to contact Bob Myers from Helena.  Bob Meyers offered that we might want to look into a new internet service called Go to Meeting .com.  Alex Burks had also heard this service advertised and said they are offering a free one month trial.  Apparently everyone logs into the same site on their computers and sees the same screen; I believe you still need the phone or some sort of vocal connection.  If we needed to look at a lot of graphics, charts, printed material this might be of interest. 

On the topic of club fund raisers the following projects are in the works:  A Mike Okamura clinic scheduled for May 17-18 in the Helena area.  At the present time we think this will be held at the White Earth Campground close to Winston, MT.  Bob Myers is the point man on this clinic for our club, (the clinic is being co- sponsored by the Montana German Shorthair Club and our Club), and is sending out the information on this by e-mail and any changes as they occur.  Bob says the maximum number of people we can have for this is 40.  Bob attended a previous Okamura clinic sponsored by a Helena dog club and they had 18 in attendance.

Fund raiser # 2 is a raffle for a Garmin GPS, “Astro” dog collar.  Tana is doing a great job on this and already had tickets printed.  She distributed them to everyone at the meeting.  We are selling the tickets for $5 each or 5 for $20.  We discussed sending a few tickets to all paid members for them to sell and return by mail.  Bob Myers wonders if Sportsman Warehouse would help us sell the tickets.

Fund raiser # 3 is a Rattlesnake avoidance clinic, otherwise known as a snake breaking.  The well known trainer Butch Nelson is going to handle this for us at the Kradolfers in Bozeman.  The date that was chosen for this is July 12, 2008.  The details will follow concerning times and fees.  Tana Kradolfer offered to do a dog dental care presentation at the snake breaking to fill some time as people waited for their dogs turn.

Fund raiser # 4 is still in the planning stages.  We are considering offering a porcupine avoidance clinic as well.  Todd has researched this a little and thinks he can come up with a porcupine at short notice.  He is going to check into the legal aspects of this with his local game warden. He says he has even found “domesticated porcupines for sale on the internet and suggested this might be the way to go is if it is against the law to use a wild porcupine. Stay tuned for more info on this, in the past I have has some serious porcupine problems with certain dogs and one of my friends had some expensive vet bills last year with one of his dogs. 

The last fund raiser on our plate at this time is the possibility of providing lunch for an AKC Hunt Test sponsored by the Montana German Shorthair Club to be held at the Three Forks Trial Grounds on April 18, 19, and 20th.
Todd Breitenfeldt, Conrad Kradolfer, and Bob Myers thought they could handle this, if the German Shorthair people wanted us to help.

Website:  Todd reported he has added a counter to our website and the last count was 123.  Bob Myers asked about listing his upcoming litter on the website and Todd told him to get his pictures and information sent in.

E-newsletter:  We received articles from Jan Breitenfeldt and Alex Burks.  Alex Burks is going to attempt to convert these articles into a PDF and get our first e-newsletter out. 

Dog and Pony shows:  OK just dog shows, Todd suggested we should do a “Supported Entry” at the 2009 AKC Dog Show in Helena.  Jan thought we should try doing a fun match first.

Field Trials:  Tana reported that Terry Courtright of Great Falls has offered his training grounds on a private ranch for a fall trail.  Terry says this is great Hun country and we could eventually turn this trial into an ABC Hungarian Partridge Championship like the ABC Chukar Championship.

Todd and Tana’s research so far, points to us having a late summer trail in far eastern Montana.  Ed Tillson is training north of Circle, MT and we believe he might attend a Montana Trail that was handy for him before he leaves for the first trail of the Midwest circuit in  Bonesteel, SD.  So far the West Coast Pros have not expressed any interest in coming to Montana for a trial.  Tana is going to ask some West Coast Field Trail people about coming to a Montana trail  at an upcoming trail she is going to attend.

Concerning field trail equipment Tana told us she had purchased three sets of walkie talkies that are available for club use when we have our field trails.

Networking:  Todd recommends that we get to know our local dog clubs, AKC, NSTRA, and breed clubs.  Let them know what we are doing.  He is going to check with the American Brittany Club and see if they will provide us with a membership list for Montana.  We are developing a very good relationship with the Montana German Shorthair Club as evidenced by the joint sponsorship of the Mike Okamura training clinic.

Annual Meeting:  Tana suggested that we could work in our annual meeting for the club at the time of the snake breaking in July.  This could be a BBQ or Pot Luck lunch after the snake breaking at the Kradolfers home and kennel.
 On behalf of the club I want to thank the Kradolfers for hosting the meetings and offering the use of their kennel and facilitates for the snake breaking and annual meeting.  They have a wonderful home and kennel and have been extremely generous with the club, THANKS.

Dues:  As you can see the club has been making steady progress and we are moving toward being AKC and ABC sanctioned.  If you have not yet filled out the membership application and mailed you dues in we would really appreciate it.  One of the first things we have to do before holding any events is secure liability insurance and that is the main reason we could use your dues at this time. 

Next meeting:  The next meeting will be held on April 19, 2008 at the Three Forks Training Ground, Missouri Headwaters State Park, Horse Pasture.  This is the German Shorthair Pointer Club’s Hunt Test where some of our folks are planning on providing the lunch as a fund raiser.  The meeting will take place around the noon break at the trial. 

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Minutes of the Montana Brittany Club, 12-04-2007

Members present:  Todd Breitenfeldt, Skye Breitenfeldt, Sari Breitenfeldt, Tana Kradolfer, Conrad Kradolfer, JoAnn Kish, and Alex Burks.

President Todd Breitenfeldt called the meeting to order at 7:27 PM.  A general discussion was opened about the progress the club has made so far.
 Tana Kradolfer noted that the By Laws were completed.

Todd Breitenfeldt told the club he has submitted the application to the state of Montana for our non-profit status but had not heard back yet.

Tana Kradolfer and Joann Kish mentioned that we couldn’t really do much as a club until we secured some liability insurance.  Tana stated that the Board Members would be held responsible for liability if the club didn’t have insurance.

Tana noted that to get the insurance and to order birds for events we need to raise some money.  At that point we all brain stormed on different fund raising ideas, including holding field trails, raffles, training seminars, and perhaps a Corporate Sponsored event for Handicap hunters.

We talked about the number of members in the club so far, Todd said we have the names of about 25 people and about half have sent in their membership dues.  He is holding the money until we gain the non- profit status from the state of Montana.

Alex Burks suggested we do a survey of the 25 or so people to see what activities they are interested in and what they think the club should offer its members.  As a group we came up with ideas for the survey form and the questions we would ask.  We agreed there should be two category’s, what activities are you interested in and what activities would you be willing to lead or help with.  In a nut shell we came up with a list of things under the headings of “Show Events” and “Field Events”.

Alex Burks agreed to put this survey together and e-mail it out to our members and prospective members.  Todd said his wife Jan had the “official” list with the e-mail address and he would send it to Alex .  The plan is to do the questionnaire before the next meeting and see what kind of response we receive.  We will then take a look at the responses and then plan to follow up by phone with people we didn’t hear back from. 

Back on the topic of fund raising, it was suggested that the questionnaire ask whether the members would be willing to sell raffle tickets.  JoAnn and Tana made plans to call on the Bozeman Sportsman Warehouse to see if they would contribute in some way to a fund raising effort for our club and Todd offered to do the same at Bob Ward’s.  Tana is going to investigate the proposed NSTRA trial for Billings and see if it is still a go and if there is some way the MTBC could be involved.

This meeting did not follow formal meeting protocol but was really an open discussion and brainstorming session.  

Plans were made to hold the next meeting at 7:00PM on Tuesday, January 8, 2008 at the Kradolfers home north of Bozeman.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:20 PM.

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MTBC July 24th, 2007 meeting minutes:

Minutes of Meeting on 7/24/07 at Whitehall.

Meeting was called to order at 7 p.m. with Todd Breitenfeldt presiding.  Todd, Jan, Sari, Sky Breitenfeldt, Alex Burks, Tana Kradolfer, and Kerry Kammer (cell phone) in attendance.

Motion to approve the minutes of the last meeting as posted by Todd, seconded by Alex.

A club mission statement was discussed and a list created of key ideas to be included.  Using Mission statements borrowed from other Brittany clubs and the list we created Todd will try to incorporate the key points into an appropriate paragraph to be posted on the internet for membership feedback.   

After a brief discussion regarding the memberships section the Montana Brittany Club Constitution and By-laws were adopted as written.

After some discussion about the amount for membership dues it was agreed that the club will start out setting the dues the same as some of the other Brittany Clubs in neighboring states.  It was moved and seconded by Jan and Tana that dues be set at $30 for individual (gets 1 vote)  or $40 for a family membership (gets 2  votes) and for those members interested in being designated as Charter Club Members a Charter Member designation will be available through 12/31/07 for a donation of $200 or the equivalent in goods and /or services.

Election of Officers and Board members:  Since no one volunteered or offered any nominations for officers and directors before the meeting, the officers and directors were nominated and elected by the members present at the meeting.  The board and directors were elected as follows pending acceptance of the position by those not present at the meeting:  Todd Breitenfeldt, President; Tana Kradolfer, Vice President; Eric Kaelin, Secretary; JoAnn Kish or Jan Breitenfeldt, Treasurer; Alex Burks, Eastern region Director; Jack Duffy or David DeCan Western Region Director;  Terry Courtright, Central Region Director. 

The web site was reviewed.  Alex suggested a puppy link be added.  Also, Jan suggested the possibility of a page to display and thank the Charter Members.  Also, a newsletter Coordinator will be needed to produce a quarterly newsletter.   Since the newsletter falls under the duties of the club secretary Eric Kaelin will be asked to produce the newsletter or find a qualified newsletter coordinator.   The quarterly news letter will be emailed to all members and sent to Todd to be posted in the web site.

Steps for obtaining AKC and ABC approval:
Todd will submitted the newly approved Club Constitution and Bylaws to AKC and ABC.

Work will have to begin setting an event calendar for the next 2 years to include the appropriate meetings as per the constitution and show/field events as per AKC.  Tana agreed to begin working on the events calendar with help from Todd.  Some events to be scheduled include the club annual meeting and a field and show fun event for ’08, and a supported entry or specialty and a hunt test for ’09.

Todd will attend the Idaho Brittany Club trial in September and observe how the Idaho Brittany Club and the Idaho Shorthair Club work together for the event so as to gain some info for our own combined event with the Montana Shorthair Club at some point in the future.   All are invited to come along on this trip.

The club checking account will be established in either Whitehall or Bozeman depending on whether Jan or JoAnn accepts the treasurer position.   The club bank account is needed soon since membership applications and dues can now start being accepted since the Constitution and Bylaws have now been accepted.  Members are encouraged to send in membership dues as soon as possible instead of waiting until January because the club needs the money to get going.  As there are no events scheduled for the later half of ’07 the board realizes that these dues are for all intents and purposes a donation to help the club get going.

Insurance for club events won't be purchased until we have the necessary funds.

Trial/event grounds still need to be located and necessary agreements for land use obtained.  This will have to be one of the first tasks for the new board members. Todd has been in contact with the BLM and will try to follow-up on his initial contact.

The new officers and board members will need to continue to pursue members and encourage them to get their membership applications and dues sent in.

Club assets: currently non-existent.  Club will have to rely on equipment borrowed from members until club assets can be accumulated.

French Brittany folks:  Have been contacted and a friendly dialogue started.  At some point perhaps some sort of combined field events could be held with the French Brittany folks in the state.

Next club meeting:  Tuesday, October 16th at True Grit Brits Kennel (Tana and Conrad Kradolfers in Belgrade) at 7:00 p.m..  Meeting Adjourned.
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April 10, 2007 
Montana Brittany Club

First Meeting of MTBC; April 10, 2007 at Region 3 FWP Conference Room - 7:00 PM

    Nine adults: Tana Kradolfer, JoAnn Kish, Eric Kaelin, Diane Bakun, Peter Bakun, Alex Burks, Jan Breitenfeldt, Alex Nixon, and Todd Breitenfeldt and three youths: Emma Gaineyrichardson, Sari Breitenfeldt, Skye Breitenfeldt, were in attendance at the first MTBC meeting. The meeting started with introductions by all present. Discussion as to why a Brittany Club should be started followed. Many ideas were given by all present as to what they would like to see happen with a new Brittany club.   After much pre-meeting research, and with available American Brittany Club & American Kennel Club literature, Todd Breitenfeldt informed all present as to what the guidelines and requirements were for starting a Brittany club and having ABC/AKC sanctioned events. After further discussion regarding a time line of progress, types of events, funds, insurance, trial grounds, a web site, membership and by-laws, there was a general consensus to establish all goals through the American Brittany Club as opposed to an affiliation with any other established club entities (although a formal vote was not taken).

    Eric Kaelin mentioned the Montana Shorthair Club as a possible “key” to assisting the MTBC in future AKC endeavors, as it would be mutually beneficial to both clubs.

    Tana Kradolfer discussed the future potential of holding ABC/AKC sanctioned events in both the show ring and the field. She also mentioned some of the rewards afforded a local club at these events. Tana and Todd stressed the fact that the Brittany is the only true “duel” breed left, and that the MTBC should be committed to maintaining that standard.

     JoAnn Kish discussed the challenge ahead of the MTBC with regards to funds and expenses. As former Treasurer to the Missouri Headwaters Gun Dog Club, she was able to shed some light on expenses such as insurance (covering firearms, horseback riders and officers), as well as limited income such as membership fees and fund raisers. JoAnn also brought up the point that an affiliation with the MHGDC would provide an alternative “umbrella” to assist with expenses and potentially expedite an AKC charter.

    Alex Burks, from Billings, brought up discussion about the MTBC being a truly statewide club, willing to hold different events all around the state. He also discussed the need to find trial grounds to facilitate the different needs of hunt tests, walking trials and “all age” or horse back trials. After further discussion about youth involvement and state wide membership, the following items were proposed and/or agreed upon:

Todd Breitenfeldt was appointed temporary Club President/Chairman.

Eric Kaelin was appointed Club Secretary.

Tana Kradolfer and JoAnn Kish were charged with putting together a draft of the MTBC by-laws to be reviewed by all future MTBC members.

Jan Breitenfeldt volunteered to put together a potential membership roster and propose a annual membership fee.

Alex Burks and Eric Kaelin volunteered to research potential future trial ground sites.

Todd Breitenfeldt volunteered to start construction of a MTBC web site.

Eric Kaelin was designated to contact Nancy Lane, Chairman of the Montana Shorthair Club, regarding being an “AKC Mentor Club” for MTBC and the AKC Walking Trial in August.

Tana Kradolfer said she would contact Butch Nelson and Fred Overbee regarding the potential support of the French Brittany breeders and owners.

Future business at the next meetings should include:
-Election of Regional Officers
-Use of “Roberts Rules” during meetings
-A vote on by-laws and membership fees
-A list of potential members, phone #s, and e-mails
-Progress reports

Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM

A future meeting was tentatively set for Tues. May 8th, 7:00 pm at the FWP conference room.

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