A brief history started in the 1930's when our family adopted our first cat. A rescue with a curly tail. I was six and fell in love with him on the spot. Since then we as a family have had cats throughout most of my early years. Also two dogs. In 1995 my wife went to Florida to look after her ailing mother and then was the executrix of the small estate. During that time I signed on as a foster care giver for the North Shore Animal League. It was during the time of the publicity about the queen that rescued her kittens from a burning building in Brooklyn, NY. My work was with kittens found in garbage containers usually by sanitation workers. I would come home with a litter of five or so day old kittens and foster them through about eight weeks old. That is more than a full time job at least for the first three weeks. By the time they were fed every two hours and cleaned it was time to mix the next batch of formula.  They occasionally went with me to a restaurant that I had pre-arranged to have a power outlet available so their box could remain heated while we dined.

The work lasted over 18 months and I raised 65 kittens with better than 90% survival. This was in part due to careful monitoring. Each kitten was weighed and recorded on a spread sheet daily. The graph of the weights gave early warning of any problem.  During that time I also received a queen and her kittens. She put two of them under my bed and howled until I took them to the NSAL vets at two in the morning. I kept one of these kittens that had been on IV for several days. She and Mom were most likely Maine Coons.

I started a breeding program shortly after the turn of the century with a queen and sire from a midwestern breeder who was also my mentor. Silvertoes was my cattery founder. She has had 21 kittens before being retired and now watches over our operation usually from a perch over the kitchen counter. My mentor insisted that I show a cat but not hers so my first show was the Annual in Syracuse, NY, three years ago with one of Silvertoes' kittens. She brought home several rosettes and the seed was planted.

Over the next several months I showed UpperValley Olwyn P in a number of shows and apprenticed as a ring clerk, earning the license just in time for the Hannover Annual. The cat that I took to Europe later moved to Blueblaze and I will now be showing one of his kittens.  As you can see I have not been at this very long and do not have much to brag about, yet. I have championed one queen who now has four kittens and I was voted best Head Ring Clerk in NE for 2007.

As a Professional Engineer I have always been ready to tackle the unexpected My 40+ year career has been in communications primarily with a major common carrier in the Northeast where I was handed projects that had no guidelines to work from. This includes building multiple transmitter radio systems. Sixty years as a Ham Radio operator has enhanced my professional work. I also built the very first FM Ham radio repeater and a network of stations from New York City into Vermont and then to Montreal.

In addition to the Head Ring Clerk license I hold an FAA commercial/instrument ASEL&S pilot license, FCC commercial radio engineer's license and the Professional Engineer license.  When the Master Clerk for the Augusta show was grounded by a storm in New York I was handed the job with no previous expedience. I'm now working on that license.

I am asking to be considered for the Maine Coon Breed Committee to bring my many years experience, mostly outside of TICA,  to the group and to TICA.. There are many things I would like to see implemented  within TICA. Among them I can see new ways to set up the show rings that would improve the operation and eliminate possible errors. As for our Maine Coon breed I look to strengthen and improve the breed through  maintaining the breed standard as well as bringing in new blood lines. Genetic diversity is very important to maintaining good health.

Adding a relative newcomer to the Breed Committee will also improve the working of the Committee and the Group. I will be a voice to be heard and will vote what I believe is correct regardless of my personal feelings. Also I believe no committee member should influence breed group members by directing them how to vote on any issue that comes before the Group.