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Terry
Wright, Membership Secretary-Willow, Alaska
In the
beginning for me…..
No not
that far back! Not the ol' ancient history stuff….
The
beginning for Terry started with an article in the
Anchorage Daily News on July 28, 1993. It featured
Linda Spurlin and her kennel in Wasilla, Alaska with
these amazing small adorable dogs called Alaska Klee
Kai, Alaskan Huskies in miniature. At that time
Terry and her husband had been retired for 3 months.
They got on the waiting list and waited.
Fast
forward…
It's
August 1996 and Crystal Nakit Alasco has just
arrived at the Wright Place in Willow, Alaska on
Crystal Lake.
Moving
ahead a tad…
On
December 21, 1996, Terry and her husband, Jim became
AKKAOA family members and the rest is history. Oh
ok you want to hear the rest of the story… right?
Sure you do!
In
early 1998, Terry started serving on the AKKAOA
Board of Directors as an alternate director
(non-voting), quickly learning the ropes with the
help of her fellow board members. Soon there was a
position available on the board and she was voted in
as the Membership Secretary on May 10, 1999. She
developed and maintained the membership application
forms and the recently developed membership cards.
After
inquiring if there was anything else she could do to
help the Association, on December 27, 1999 Terry
took over the duties of the editor of the AKKAOA
Alaskan Klee Kai News. This is one part of what she
does for the Association that she dearly loves.
Moving
right along…
There
were many long late nights and early mornings in
which she and other board members worked long and
hard on the UKC Bylaws, probably one of the most
memorable and most educational times for her. The
Bylaws were signed on July 30, 2002 and they were
shortly approved by UKC making AKKAOA a Provisional
Conformation Club.
In
December 2002, the Board of Directors approved the
Logo committees suggested AKKAOA Logo.
But
Terry didn't stop there. On April 23, 2003, Terry
became an integral part of the newly created Public
Relations committee. They have been working on
AKKAOA's official website (which you've now seen)
with other goals to have an official AKKAOA
pamphlet. With the website and the pamphlet, it is
our goal to promote the Association and the Breed by
educating the public and AKKAOA members about health
concerns, the Alaskan Klee Kai Association of
America, Inc. history, the breed history, the
Association's rescue commitments, and all future
events that AKKAOA plans to participate in.
Still
moving forward…
On
June 7, 2003 AKKAOA held their R & R Seminar.
Again, Terry had the pleasure of being the
chairperson for the Seminar/AKKAOA Reunion/Annual
Meeting Weekend Committee. She headed the planning
and scheduling of all the activities which included
the Annual In-person meeting, the newly elected
Board meeting, the meals, raffles and contests and
arranged to have the UKC Judge Sandi Drake come to
Peyton, CO to present the UKC Rules and Regs Seminar
for the members in attendance.
The
Amendment (Article III, Section 5, Electronic) to
the bylaws was approved by UKC on July 22, 2003
making AKKAOA a Fully Licensed Conformation Club.
And….
marching toward the Future…
AKKAOA
hosted events:
§ their
first Specialty on October 31, 2003 in conjunction
with the Mason Dixon Multi-Breed Dog Association in
Lexington, KY;
§ their
second Specialty on October 29, 2004 in conjunction
with the Mason Dixon Multi-Breed Dog Association in
Lexington, KY;
Terry
served on the Event Committee as the Event Secretary
to help plan these shows and attended these exciting
events.
§ their
first Specialty and Multi-breed shows in Kiowa,
Colorado, March 11, 2005;
Terry
served on the Event Committee to help plan these two
shows and attended to act as Co- Event Secretary and
assisted the Event Chairman.
§ first
Specialty and Multi-breed shows in Lucerne,
California, June 24 and 26, 2005;
Terry
served on the Event Committee to help plan these two
shows, she attended and assisted the Event Secretary
and Event Chairman.
§ AKKAOA
is working on their third Specialty in November 3,
2005 in Lexington, KY on November 3, 2005;
Terry is on the Event Committee to help plan this
show,
she
plans on attending to assist the Event Secretary
and
Chairman.
§ AKKAOA
is also in the planning stages of working on their
scheduled upcoming shows, annual meeting and reunion
picnic in 2006.. stay tuned.
Other
activities Terry is involved in, showing her support
for and being an ambassador of the AKK and promoting
the AKK Breed are:
§ serving
on the Golden West Group Committee;
§ serving
on the Show and Events Committee;
§ helped
to develop the Alaskan Klee Kai Advocates'
discussion board;
§ developed
and maintain the AKK TLC Chat on Sunday evenings;
§ hosting
an Alaskan Klee Kai picnic each summer since 1997;
§ attended
six (6) AKKAOA Picnics/Board of Directors and
General Membership meetings, one in California,
three held in Colorado, one BOD Meeting in
Pennsylvania and one picnic in Alaska.
So see
what a seemly innocent newspaper article can do to a
person's life.
Terry
was recently re-elected for another term as
Membership Secretary – 2007 and she looks forward to
serving the Alaskan Klee Kai Association of America,
Inc. for many more years in any capacity the Board
and/or the membership sees fit. |
