April 2008 Newsletter

This year's Canadian National Sale and Futurity is shaping up to be another outstanding event. So far, we have a record 255 futurity entries, representing 65 herdsires and 65 farms. They will be competing for over $70,000 in prize money awarded by our judges, Lyn Dickson from Australia and Kristin Buhrmann from Canada.

Late entries are being accepted until April llth and will be charged $200 each (i.e. twice the normal fee).

The Herdsire Calcutta is now a part of the CNASF weekend. Prior to the start of the Futurity, we are giving all participants a chance to bet on who they think will be the Herdsire of our Colour Champions and Supreme Champion Huacaya. Some of the bets will be in the form of a Silent Auction and some will be available in blind envelopes. Look for more info at the Welcome Booth.

A new twist will be a BEST HANDLE Class, that will be decided by a blind-folded judge!! It should be fun.
Please note: All alpacas entered in the futurity MUST have their CLAA registration complete by Show date. The barn will be open for animals on Thursday afternoon and can arrive as late as Friday afternoon at 3:00pm

The CNASF Select Auction Sale April 19, 2008
Sale animals can be previewed on the website at www.cnalpaca.com/sale.htm

The Western Livestock Exchange is powering a live internet broadcast with real time bidding for our sale. To register for on-line bidding contact Mark Shologan at: 780-699-5082 or by e-mail: info@wlex.ca

If you are interested in telephone or Internet bidding, please contact John at (403)938-7639 prior to April 14, so we can help you with temporary boarding and alpaca transport if necessary.

We also offer the services of several certified judges who will be at the event and can give an evaluation of sale animals once they are on site.
Sale animals must be in their stalls for the vet check on Friday afternoon.

And don't forget the 2 Wild Card Entries in the Sale. If your juvenile male or female wins a 1st place ribbon on Saturday, you will be asked if you want to put that alpaca up for a chance at one of the Wild Card entries. Another new twist to the always innovative CNASF.

Seminars & Meals
The schedule of events for the Futurity Weekend is up on the website. Pre-registration is required for meals and seminars. Two seminars are being offered for the price of $75.

  • Photographing Alpacas for Marketing Purposes
    Presented by Tyler Allair, this seminar will provide information and techniques that will significantly improve your alpaca photography no matter what type of camera you are using. There will also be a bonus info session on the CNASF Sale Selection Process by John MacLeod.
  • Gentle Spirit Behavior & Training
    Cathy Spalding's focus is on the understanding of alpaca behavior as the very foundation for training and herd management. This seminar includes a classroom introduction and then a lengthy hands-on training component.

    On-line registration for seminars and meals is available until April 15th at www.cnalpaca.com/schedule.htm with payments (by cheque or cash only) to be made at the Show Office in Red Deer.

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    Caps for Cancer!!
    Alice Groeneveld is once again collecting donations of your hand-knit Alpaca hats or alpaca yarn that she will have knit into hats for recovering cancer patients. Please consider helping her out in this very worthy cause!!

    CNASF TV Commercial
    Thanks to the efforts of Rick Derksen, Global TV has produced a 30 second commercial for our event. It will be running on the Red Deer Global station up to and including April 20th. You can view it on our web site home page. Make sure you have your speakers turned on!

    We are looking forward to a great weekend. See you all in 2 weeks.

    John & Val MacLeod
    www.cnalpaca.com
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