This year's AEA Annual Membership Convention was held in Oklahoma City, OK., at the Hilton Northwest Hotel. Approximately 120 members and families attended. Even though the attendance was small, the enthusiasm was there.
On Thursday, the Presidents' meeting convened at 1:00 p.m. 16 presidents attended so we had a quorum and continued with our business meeting.
John Southern presented a marketing package that include a 60-second film clip and a strategic marketing plan. Included were copies of the new AEA Oil and Meat brochures. (Copies of these brochures will be sent to all TEA members with the next newsletter.) Everyone was enthused with this plan and optimism was high. A new Trademark was announced for this marketing endeavor: Emu, THE Natural Alternative
Joy Reavis presented updates on the recently completed N.E.W. activities. She also updated the members on the USAIP (United States Animal Identification Program). She described what was happening in Wisconsin, and I brought the members up-to-date with what was happening in Texas.
I presented a proposal which I had previously emailed to the Presidents' List and the Members' List. This was to allow ex-AEA members to rejoin the AEA by assuming the membership of a person who had decided to leave the AEA for various reasons. The presidents discussed this and then a motion was made and passed to present a proposal to the AEA Board that all previous members of the AEA could rejoin at the $100 renewal rate. This passed 14 - 2. The AEA Board later approved this proposal and presented it to the general membership meeting Saturday evening, but they put a time limit of 31 May 2005 at which time the Board would then re-address the matter. It is now up to the states to contact previous members to see if they would like to take advantage of this offering.
I brought the presidents up-to-date with what was happening with GIPSA (Grain Inspectors, Packers and Stockyard Act).
I also brought the presidents up-to-date on the N.P.I.P. efforts.
A few other items were discussed. A copy of the minutes for this meeting were not available prior to my departure from the convention, but they will be sent to all the presidents within the next few days and at that time, they will be posted to the web site.
The general membership meeting opened on Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. At that time the new board was introduced. They are:
President: Gerald Edwards (GA)
Vice President: Nettie Button (PA)
Secretary: Mickie Burris (MS)
Treasurer: De McCleery (TX)
Parliamentarian: John Southern (AL)
Though they were not announced at the general meeting, the following committees were also confirmed:
Presidents liaison Gerald Edwards (Chairperson)
CBM liaison John Southern (Chairperson)
Agriculture De McCleery (Chairperson), Mike Martin
PR Committee Myra Charleston (Chairperson), Joy Reavis
Membership Committee Mickie Burris (Chairperson)
Grants Martha Hendricks (Chairperson), De McCleery
Strategic Planning Committee John Southern (Chairperson), Steve Pounder, Nettie Bunton, Martha Hendricks
Bylaws Committee John Southern (Chairperson), Charles Ramey, Margaret Pounder
Policies and Procedures Committee John Southern (Chairperson), Charles Ramey, Margaret Pounder
Oil Refiners Liaison Cyril Klein (Chairperson)
Oil Research Committee Cyril Klein (Chairperson), Tony Anderson, Carl Gardner, Paul Binford
All the proposed bylaw changes were passed with the exception of one. Article 3.5 was rejected as it had mistakes. It will be reviewed for the next convention.
Friday evening, we had a social function with Captain Jack Parker, a western humorist as the entertainer.
At Saturday's meeting, Kansas Farm Bureau President Steve Baccus gave all a cordial welcome to the convention and Oklahoma. Scott Showers from Cargill Feeds then spoke on the 'Value of Good Feed Nutrition'. Robbie Canada of RR Consulting, LLC, then spoke on grant writing. Bill Burton of OK State University spoke on the US Animal ID Plan (USAIP). Dr. Kerry Cranmer spoke on controlling pain naturally in nursing homes (and even though this was a serious and sometimes grim subject, he inflected humor into his talk keeping our attention). Dr. Frank Orthoefer provided an update on oil research. Finally, Pauline Henderson, president of the South Africa Emu Association gave us an update on what was happening in South Africa.
The AEA Board announced that the 2005 Convention will be held in Mobile, Al. The dates will be July 15-17, 2005. More information will be announced shortly.
Saturday's banquet included a meal of chicken-fried emu steaks provided by Hazel Daley. It was very good! Entertainment was provided by Emmy Award winner Jody Miller.
Mickie Burris presented the American Emu Association Leadership award to Gerald Edwards. This award is given in acknowledgement of the effort and work done by the volunteer in the previous year.
The Bitsy Cartwright Pioneer Award was presented to Tony and Christi Anderson. Duncan Cartwright was there.
The AEA 2004 quilt was won by Peter Duncan from South Africa. He and Pauline Henderson had traveled a long way to attend the convention and had provided quite a few items to the silent auction. Everyone felt it was good that he won the quilt. It can now be considered an international level prize.
The state baskets were judged during the day and the winners were announced during the banquet. They were:
1st - Region 1
2nd - Oklahoma
3rd - Georgia
Honorable mention - Texas (thanks for all who donated to this basket, and to Carl and Gayle Gardner, Marcia King, Rita Bitz and Deb Howe for setting it up)
A break down of the monies raised by the silent auction, quilt, state baskets and donations are as follows:
Silent Auction - $2,743.50
Quilt - $2,000
State Baskets - $4,352.50
Donations - $3,825
Total - $12,921 for oil research
The convention ended Sunday morning with a quick meeting with the board of directors. Comments and recommendations were solicited from the attendees and were passed on to the board.
Thus ended another annual convention. Our thanks and congratulations go to the Oklahoma and Kansas associations for organizing and putting on this year's convention. They did an outstanding job.
I know I did not cover everything that went on and more news will be forthcoming in the next issue of the AEA newsletter.