Minutes and Notices

Current Notices from the BCCA Recording Secretary

March 2026

Nominations Committee

The Nominations Committee (Kristin Barnes, chair, Debby Furlow, and Lucy Campbell) has met to nominate Officers and Directors for 2026-2027:

Courtnie Eastman, President
Molly McNamara, Vice President
Don Means, Treasurer
Casey Minner, Corresponding Secretary
Jennifer Waldeck, Recording Secretary

Class of 2027
Kirsten Andreassend
Carol Bond
Kristin Barnes

Class of 2028
Suzi Beddoe
Samantha Cotton
Anna Gracie

AKC Delegate (2024-2027)
Robert Lamm

The BCCA Bylaws, Article V, Sections 4 D & E, state “Each member may nominate a candidate for officer and director positions by signing a document that is sent to the recording secretary by a date to be determined by the board each year. The name of a candidate who receives nomination signatures from five percent of the members in good standing shall appear on the ballot.

1. Nominations for each office shall be submitted as a separate document.
2. A nomination document may contain the signatures of more than one member.

The nominating committee shall verify that each candidate meets the requirements for the position for which nominated and shall secure from each candidate a written consent to serve if elected.”
The BCCA membership number currently stands at 436 voting members, so 22 signatures (5%) are required to support each petition. All additional nominations should be emailed to Karen Norteman, Recording Secretary, webmonkey@bcca.us, by March 15, 2026.

2027 National Specialty Judges Selection

The final ballot contains the following nominees:

Regular Classes
Charlotte Laning Vrethammar (Old Smuggler’s, Sweden)
Bryony Harcourt-Brown (Orora, UK)
Nina Brusin (Memorylane, Finland)

Sweepstakes
Nicole Conner (Jenuwin)
Patricia Cahill (Starlight)
Maryann Szalka (After Dark)

The online ballot is here: https://forms.gle/bFC4M68QrisJyDdLA.

The printable ballot is here: https://beardedcollieclub.us/wp-content/uploads/2027-Final-Judges-Ballot.pdf

Bios of the judge nominees are here.

Paper ballots are due to the treasurer, Sue Jamison, and must be postmarked by March 31, 2026. Deadline for online voting is also March 31.
Questions? Contact Karen Norteman, the Recording Secretary: webmonkey@bcca.us.

2027 National Specialty Herding Trial Judge Nominations

Standing Rule 8.4.1 • After a bid to host the national has been accepted by the board, the specialty herding trial chair will request recommendations for judges for each trial, test, and herding instinct test in the Bagpipes. Recommendations must be in writing or by email and include why that judge is recommended. The person making the recommendation must include the highest herding title he/she has earned. The recommendation must be received by the BCCA Herding Committee Chair within 60 days of publication of the request. The BCCA Herding Committee will discuss and review each recommendation and the chair will forward a list of recommended judges, including commentary, to the National Specialty Herding Chair within 75 days of the publication of the recommendation request. The judge(s) for each herding event will be taken from this list. Should all recommended judges be unavailable, or in an emergency, the BCCA Herding Committee will assist the local chair in finding an appropriate judge(s).”

Please send your recommendations to the BCCA Herding co-chairs by April 15, 2026:

Elsa Sell
764 Liberty Road
Milner, GA 30257
beaconbb@bellsouth.net

Jack Szalka
913 Chaney Road
Franklin, KY 42134
jszalka@aol.com

2025 Member of the Year Nominations

Standing Rule 4.7.1 • Member of the Year. This award will recognize the BCCA member or group of members who, as a result of their activity, has made the most significant contribution to the advancement of the Bearded Collie Club of America or the Bearded Collie. The award will be publicly announced and presented in the year following the calendar year for which the honor is awarded. Nominations for the award will be accepted from any BCCA member in good standing. Nominations must be received by the recording secretary on or before March 21st of the year following the calendar year for which the award is made. Each nomination shall be accompanied by a 250 word (maximum) statement justifying the award for the particular nominee. Seated officers and board members are not eligible for the award.

Send your Member of the Year 2025 nominations to the recording secretary, Karen Norteman, at webmonkey@bcca.us.

Bid for Beardie Bulletin Editor

Bids are now being solicited and accepted for editing the Beardie Bulletin for 2026-2027. If you are interested, please contact the Recording Secretary for bid specifications. Send your completed bid, on or before March 15, 2026 to the Recording Secretary, Karen Norteman, webmonkey@bcca.us.

Show-Safe Membership

The BCCA is a Champion-level member of Show-Safe. Show-Safe (www.show-safe.org) is a community-funded, grassroots organization dedicated to providing a safe and supportive environment to members of the dog show world. Their services include courses and workshops to support juniors, clubs, and members of the community, a helpline and aftercare resources for victims of abuse or misconduct, and a leadership development program for juniors. They can bring information booths to shows, offer their education courses for Juniors on-site, or make presentations to clubs. If you’re a show or event chair and are interested in bringing Show-Safe to your event, contact Anna Gracie at annakgracie@gmail.com.