Welcome to our blog. Check back often for official news and announcements from the KGBA and articles on various topics of Kinder goat care, raising, breeding, showing and more!
Blog
The People Have Spoken…
We Need Photos!
The newsletter committee is working on the next newsletter, and would like to feature a few candid photos of our member’s goats to share and be appreciated. Photos that are not used may be featured in the Kinder® Communique as well. Please submit your candid photos to mgbfarms0211@gmail.com
We also need photos for the upcoming KGBA calendar! Lisa LaRose is hard at work creating another beautiful calendar for 2015, and is still looking for Kinder goat photos to include. The calendar will be available in December, but must be preordered. To submit your photos or preorder a calendar, please email Lisa at lisalarose77@yahoo.com
*** Please be sure to submit your name, your subject’s name and farm information so we can give you credit.
We Asked For It…
Well, we asked and you responded!!!
It is with a great deal of excitement that we announce our new Newsletter and Website Committees.
Paul Jones, Carla Durham and Kelsee Gibbs have volunteered to join our Website Committee. They will be working with the president to update and maintain our website and all associated media. They bring with them some great ideas and expertise, so please stay tuned for exciting changes to our website and the Communique!
Kathrin Bateman, Kim Evans, Simone Smith, Elizabeth Sweet, Chris Tuhy and Kay Spencer have volunteered for our newly created Newsletter Committee. Moving forward, they will be designing and distributing the KGBA newsletter. We have lacked the help needed to put out a newsletter this year, so this is especially good ‘news!’
Contact info for committee members will be listed on the website shortly. We welcome the donation of ideas, articles, artwork, newsletters and photos to be used in future newsletters and online publications, so please don’t hesitate to contact any of our new committee members with comments and ideas. These members are volunteering their time, knowledge and experience to make the KGBA great, and for that we thank you!!!
Extra, Extra! Read All About It!
As you may have noticed, we have not put out a KGBA newsletter this year.
We have had a number of amazing members take on the responsibility of editing the newsletter over the last few years, and owe them each a huge debt of gratitude. They worked hard and created beautiful, informative pieces that everyone enjoyed. However, working alone on the newsletter takes a great deal of time and effort. Not many of our members have a lot of either to spare, so instead of having a single KGBA newsletter editor as we have done in the past, we would like to try something new – we would like to form a newsletter committee that works as a team to produce future newsletters, but we need your help! We need volunteers to:
– Collect articles, artwork and photos for future newsletters
– Write editorial pieces
– Create artwork for newsletters and other promotional material
– Work on newsletter layout and design
– Print and mail quarterly newsletters to members
If you are organized, detail oriented and have a way with words, please consider volunteering for our newsgroup! For more information or to volunteer, please contact Sue Beck at sue@jabeck.com.
It’s Time To Vote!
By now, most KGBA members should have received their ballots in the mail, and we encourage you to vote!
Two current Board members have decided not to run for another year due to their many other responsibilities and commitments. Lisa Lamm, Lisa Naumann and Carla Durham have been incredibly positive, dedicated members of the board and have contributed immensely to the ongoing success of our association. Thank you, Ladies – we will miss you!
Luckily, we have some outstanding new candidates running for open positions on the board. Below are brief bios on each candidate. I encourage you to read them and get to know a bit about all of us.
While nominations are now closed, all members are still welcome to run if they so choose by simply announcing their intent to run and asking their supporters to add them as a write in candidate on the appropriate line. Please take this opportunity to support your association and voice your opinions – we welcome anonymous notes with your ballots and will read and consider them at a future board meeting.
Thank you all for you participation!
Missouri State Fair Show
It is with great disappointment that I announce that there will not be a sanctioned Kinder Goat show at the Missouri State Fair this year.
Lack of interest, exhibitors and volunteer help make it impossible to continue the long tradition of showing Kinders at this fair. Past breeders and show-goers worked very hard to make the show possible and to keep it going for years… with so many Kinder owner and breeders still in the area, it is incredibly disheartening to see that come to an end.
If we want the Kinder breed to continue to grow, we all need to take part in its success. It is my sincere hope that new owners and breeders will start to consider ways to promote their goats and farms in their own communities. Don’t know where to start? Here are a few ideas:
Begin the process of creating sanctioned Kinder Goat shows in your own community. Putting on a show takes hard work and dedication, but they are great fun and a wonderful way to meet other Kinder owners in your area! This year, Kinders are showing in at least three county fairs in two different states (Montana and Wisconsin). By next year we plan to have three new sanctioned shows in the Midwest, and there are talks of having another on the west coast.
Volunteer at local events! For the last two years, there has been a Kinder booth at the west coast Mother Earth News Fair that garners a great deal of attention including articles and photos in newspapers and magazines. Having a booth at this fair is a great deal of work for those that do it, but the exposure has been priceless for all of us.
Create a local Kinder/ goat group – work with your neighbors to create buck shares, herd health days, milk test groups, etc. Community members are a great resource, and shared knowledge and experience can be invaluable!
Write articles! Submitting articles and photos for publication in magazines is a great way for our Kinders to gain exposure. Just make sure that the information you include is correct and factual, so that we don’t accidentally misrepresent ourselves.
Finally…. volunteer!!! The Association is ALWAYS in need of volunteers and fresh ideas. I’ll be posting a “help wanted” list separately… please consider volunteering – the success of our Association depends on it.
Disclaimer: The opinions, views, and thoughts expressed by newsletter and blog contributors do not necessarily reflect those of the Kinder® Goat Breeders Association. Goat husbandry advice found in the newsletter and blog is not meant to substitute a valid veterinary relationship. Please request permission to share or reprint newsletter and blog posts.