It has been a busy couple of weeks since I last wrote.

Please look for election materials in the mail. They were sent out yesterday and should be arriving in your mailbox soon. We have also included the Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2006 in the same packet.

Clip contribution reports for the 2004 and 2005 clip should be coming out shortly - perhaps only a matter of days. We had hoped to have them included in the same packet, but it was just too much to squeeze into the time available.

Your Board often struggles with trying to divine the thoughts and opinions of the membership. We hear too little from too few members to really understand what is going on out there. So, we are going to try a little experiment.

Caroline Mixon, of Carodel Alpacas, emailed me not too long ago suggesting that we have a clip drop-off station at the AOBA National Conference in May. This is something your Board has kicked around several times previously, but we have always come away from the discussion feeling that it was probably not a feasible idea. Now, having heard it from a member, we need your input.

So, a poll has been set up on the member site (www.afcna.com). To access the poll, you will need to be a registered user, and you will need to log in. It will be right there at the bottom of the home page. Let us know what you think!

As with anything new, there may be a few glitches, so please don't get too upset with the tech guy (which is me). However, if this works in establishing some two way communication between the Board and the membership, we will consider it a success, and I expect that many more polls will follow. Everyone on the Board agrees that we need the input of the membership in order to establish a successful Cooperative.

Mendy reports that we are fully stocked with Extreme Alpaca ™ socks. Order some now! We also have some very low prices on clearance items. Be forewarned, these are going fast and only odd sizes and colors remain. Still, this is a great opportunity to get a wonderful deal.

Be sure to check out the new Designer Line, AlpacAllure, on our E-Store (www.AmericasAlpaca.com). The AlpacAllure Collection is not available in large quantities. Purchasing from the AlpacAllure Collection is like having you own private designer!

Spring has definitely arrived in the Pacific Northwest. The fruit trees are in bloom and the grass is growing. This morning I told my wife that all we needed was swallows to make spring official. She pointed to the sky where I saw a flock of swallows swirling and diving. So, I guess it is official now. I wonder if they remembered to set their clocks ahead last weekend?

John Merrell, President
Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America, Inc.