Meeting:  April 21st, 2007

The picnic to be held at the Andeways on June 16th,2007 will also be our business meeting to elect officers and discuss any business concerning the Heartland Group. Please plan on attending if you can as there are several matters which need our attention. We will also be cleaning show equipment and repairing it at the meeting.

We will be purchasing a new trailer for Heartland. A committee was appointed to find one. The committee consists of: Tony Andeway,Bill and Holly Frosch and Bob and Vicki Merritt. The old trailer was leaking and would not hold our show equipment and tables. If anyone is interested in purchasing the old one it will be done by sealed bid at the meeting. Bids open to Heartland members only.

Final plans for our October 20th claiming show and January 5th 2008 Heartland show in Boone,Iowa will be decided at the picnic . Heartland is proud to again host the 2008 Empress National Show in St. Louis,Mo. Details for the national will be discussed at this meeting also.

We discussed the reasons why we joined Empress. The main reasons were:To be part of a professional organization,accurate information,knowledge to be gained from other ranchers,to learn to pelt and competition at shows.

Tony gave a very informative talk about the growing pains associated with becoming a full time rancher. He said about 300 breeders will generate the same income as a full time job if properly managed. It is very important for full time ranchers to pay attention to details ,such as record keeping for tax purposes and holding down overhead exspenses. A CPA that specializes in tax preperation is worth every penny you pay them.

After the meeting Bob Merritt and Tony Andeway evaluated animals and Bob gave a pelting demonstration.

We got to meet in person the newest member of our group, Jonah Frosch. Thank you to Dan Jenson and his Mom for having all of us there.

Heartland Secretary
Vicki Merritt