Message from the President
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Fall 2006 - By Aaron Esterline

Hello everyone! I hope you’ve all enjoyed your summer. The days are still quite warm here in Michigan, but the nights are getting colder – a sign of the fall weather that is soon to come.

As Susan Prechtl indicated in the last President’s message, elections were held resulting in two new PBA Directors. The Board held our first meeting in early June and elected officers. The new officers are:

Aaron Esterline President
Susan Prechtl Vice-President
Terri Naumann Secretary
Fran Bishop Treasurer

I think it’s appropriate for me to take some of this space to tell you a little about myself. I started raising goats about 17 years ago in 4-H. The first goats that I raised were dairy goats (Toggenburgs and Saanens), but I also had a few pygmies and angoras. After Theresa and I were married, we started breeding and showing pygmy goats exclusively. Shortly thereafter, I ran and was elected to the NPGA Board of Directors and have served as their President for the last three years.

I was introduced to the Pygora a few years ago, and became very interested in the fiber that they produce. Theresa and I have continued to build our herd and now have 18 animals (13 does, 1 wethers, and 4 bucks). I’ve had a couple chances to travel out west and have met a few of you. I plan on coming to OFFF next month and hope that if you have the chance to come you’ll take a minute to say hello. By that time I should have pictures of our new baby that is due to be born any day now.

There are a couple things that have my immediate attention. The first is the creation of an Operating Manual. This manual will contain the job description of each position in PBA, as well as procedures for various activities such as Director Elections and Disaster Recovery. Another is the Pygora Judging Clinic that the Judges Training Committee will be holding at OFFF. Participants will evaluate Pygoras and their fleece hands-on as well as practice comparing animals and presenting reasons to the audience.

The PBA Board will be holding our next meeting
Saturday night at OFFF. This is one of the few meetings that is held face-to-face. Most meetings are held online using e-mail. The President maintains a list of PBA members who are copied on the discussion and have an opportunity to provide feedback during the meeting. If you’d like to be added to this list, please send me an e-mail (amesterline@ureach.com).

Please feel free to contact me directly if you have any questions or comments about any matter concerning PBA. I look forward to working with each of you to promote and expand the Pygora Breeders Association, the Pygora goat, and the market for the wonderful fiber that they produce.

Aaron