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Dear
Fellow NLCA Members,
I would like to welcome the many new members to our club and thank our returning members for your
continued support of the club, and for your interest in the Norwegian Lundehund.
My term as President has
been both fascinating and rewarding. I have had the good fortune to sit
on many non-profit boards, but have enjoyed serving the NLCA because of
its diverse national membership.
In 1995 the club had
approximately 30 members. Today -- with renewals still coming in -- we
expect membership to surpass the 100 mark. The NLCA has proven that its
mission to benefit the Lundehund has been a success.
Debby Morris has worked
relentlessly on club and breed issues over the years, and is responsible
for spearheading medical research, answering unending breed inquiries
and helping pet owners find answers to their problems. Thank you Debby,
for your devotion to the club.
Many of you have never
met me. I would like to tell you a little bit about myself. I live on
Long Island approximately 30 miles east of New York City. I’m a Real
Estate Developer, but my education is in Civil Engineering, and I am a
Professional Engineer in New York State. My wife Cheryl and I have two
children. Our daughter is in high school and our son attends Stanford
University in California. Through the club we recently found a
Lundehund, Andy, who no one had adopted, who was in desperate need of a
home.
He is nine years old and is a wonderful addition to our family. I
have only owned adopted or rescued pets my entire life. We have another
dog and 2 cats. I am the President and Founder of a foundation that
promotes adoption from municipal animal shelters, which I named “Have A
Heart Adopt A Pet Foundation, Inc.”
have-a-heart.org.
I joined the N.L.C.A., Inc. in 1997 after becoming interested in the
breed through on-line correspondence. My club activities then consisted
of fundraising for future medical research for Dr. David Williams. If it
wasn’t for Debby Morris contacting Dr. Williams in 1995, when he was
working at Purdue University, he would not have known about the breed.
When Dr. Williams relocated to Texas A&M University, I visited him. He
gave me a tour and informed me he needed funds to hire a graduate
student to focus specifically on Lundehund research. As a result, today
we have Dr. Nora and other doctors here in the USA and Europe helping to
find solutions to Lundehund Syndrome. I have full confidence in Dr.
Williams and his work. Before I became President, I served as the club’s
East Coast Director.
I have attended a number of
Lundehund breed shows and events over the years. The first was on Vaeroy
Island in Norway in 1997. It was a great experience – a chance to meet
many Lundehund owners from all over Scandinavia. I also attended our
club’s Specialty shows in Allentown, PA; Indianapolis, IN; and last
year’s show in Aurora, CO; I enjoyed all of them.
As
President of the NLCA I serve as the head administrator, which requires
me to protect the interests of the club. The club’s focus since I have
been a member has been to create a venue for lundehund owners to meet
each other through the National Specialty, pursue promising Lundehund
research, and keep members informed of research developments. Working
together, we all make a positive difference in the quality of life of
Lundehunds. Our club has demonstrated over the years that it is a fair
and balanced club that promotes the health of the breed and the loving
companionship that exists between a pet and its owner.
If it wasn’t for Judy and
Harvey Sanderson’s groundbreaking work in forming the NLCA, we would not
have such a great club today. Thank you, Judy and Harvey.
My vision for the future of
the club is to continue our current agenda, review and act on any
consensus of opinions of the membership, promote Lundehund wellness
through a better understanding of the breed, raise funds for research,
and adopt a written membership privacy policy. In addition, I hope the
NLCA will be able to provide, for the first time, assistance to members
wanting to adopt or purchase a lundehund.
The National Specialty will
be decided upon shortly by the Board of Directors. Hopefully, many of
you will be able to attend.
It
has been a pleasure serving as President and I hope for peace and
happiness for all of you.
Sincerely,
Richard
H Schefer, President
Photo Credit:
Andy courtesy of
Rick Schefer
© 2004 NLCA, Inc. Rev. 7/04
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