i will definitely get the answers to your questions, evan. personally, i admit that, until this year, i thought the amateur futurity was heading toward a dismal failure. in all honesty, the venue itself didn't change my mind - one individual did. that individual was nancy macdonald who judged the amateur at this year's mid-pacific futurity. she handled her assignment SO well and SO professionally that i think people began to forget that it was an "amateur" futurity. i stewarded for both nancy and peggy that day and will say that both venues received support and there was an "energy" to the amateur i had not seen before. so, whereas last year i probably would have said that i was against the continuation of the amateur, i no longer feel that way. diane Diane Silver-Strasser Silstra German Shepherds _Skatiebug'z_ (http://skatiebugz.shutterfly.com/) The online store for everything German Shepherd and then some! _http://skatiebugz.blogspot.com_ (http://skatiebugz.blogspot.com/) Skater's Blog In a message dated 8/5/2010 8:32:06 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, ELG440@xxxxxxx writes: Now I see that it is going to be mandatory in 2013. Was this voted on by the board, the membership, or even discussed? I don't mean to denigrate Carole who I think does a fantastic job for us. But, I don't agree on this one. ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2010. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================