Letter from APA President David Anderson
Regarding the National Qualifying Meet for Black Copper Marans, held in
Belvidere IL on 9/12/09
This
letter was presented to the Marans Chicken Club USA on Tuesday,
September 22, 2009. It is reprinted with permission from Mr. Anderson.
There was a very nice
turnout of birds and exhibitors for the Black Copper Marans qualifying
meet in Belvidere, Illinois. I believe there were 82 birds shown
by 14 exhibitors. I had the honor of judging and the APA Standard
Revision committee accompanied me. Once the judging was complete,
we caucused and agreed upon a recommendation to the APA Board of
Directors which they accepted. The recommendation was to neither
accept nor reject the breed/variety but to suggest that they conduct
another qualifying meet sometime in 2010. The birds were right on
the borderline of being accepted and the committee and I felt that if
the next generation were equal to or better than the young birds shown
at Belvidere there would be no problem accepting them. No
reapplication is necessary as the current application is still valid.
As an individual and APA President, my
interest and goal is to see that the Marans, and any other legitimate
breed, are accepted into the APA Standard as I believe it will result
in a win-win situation for both the APA and the breed and will provide
a boost to the exhibition industry in general. Having said that,
I also want to make sure that their acceptance is done correctly and
only when they reflect the quality necessary to warrant their inclusion
in the Standard. I was impressed with the young birds shown at
Belvidere and with the enthusiasm and sincerity of the exhibitors and I
am confident that Marans will be a valuable addition to our Standard
and our showrooms.
Dave A
