I have been told I should address this issue.  My first thought was to
just let it pass because I believe the people questioning the calendar
have never seen the calendar.
 
This will be the 5th year for the FML calendar.  In my humble opinion, it
is a very special calendar because it is real ferrets belonging to real
people.  This year, because I am in the middle of a move and my life has
been quite the mess, I guess I haven't 'promoted' this contest as I have
in years past.  I guess I have just assumed that everyone knows about
the calendar.  New people come and go and they don't know me, don't
know about Support Our Shelters and don't know about the calendar.  I
apologize for not being more clear with the details.
 
To be honest.....I don't want the picture you have laying there that
you took a couple of months ago or last year.  I want you to go get
your camera and you ferret and take some pictures specifically for this
contest.  Please....someone back me up here.....the pictures in the last
4 calendars are special!  There are some extraordinary shots!  Yes....
some probably were taken months ago and have just laid around....but it's
been my experience that a person will not spend money to have a picture
blown into a 5x7 unless it's a very good picture.  And we want very good
pictures!
 
In the past, the judging was done by actual, live human beings!  The
5x7's were all placed in a photo album and taken to both the Forum at the
Falls and the 2003 International Ferret Symposium in Atlanta.  Larger
pictures display so much better than the smaller prints.  The object is
to make your picture the best it can be...and if your picture is really
that good and worthy of one of only 12 spots in the calendar, why
wouldn't you want to blow it up so it displays better?  Unfortunately,
there is no ferret event that I can get to this year to have live humans
do the judging - but the rules will remain as always in hopes that we can
again vote at a ferret function!  This time, the winners will be decided
by SOS members.
 
Electronic submissions - to be honest, the real reason I don't take
them is because most people don't know what they are doing.  I tried
electronic submission once....but since I needed the pictures to put into
the photo album, that meant I had to print the pictures into 5x7's - and
almost every picture I printed did not come out with the clarity and
crispness needed.  It added entirely too much extra work and was not
worth the effort.  But...there are services out there you can use -
Shutterfly comes to mind!  Upload your picture there...they will print it
and sent it to me!  If your picture is that good and worthy of a place in
the calendar....is it not worth your effort?  If it's not...that's fine!
There is no one saying you have to enter this contest!  It is purely a
personal choice!  If you want to go to the effort to share a special
picture of your ferret - that's wonderful!!  Please...send your pictures
on!!!  If not...that's fine too!!!  Go hug that special ferret instead!
 
Money.....100% of the profit goes to SOS.  This calendar is not cheap to
produce!  It is not done by a professional printer.  Over the years, I
have talked to three different professionals and each time I am told the
same thing - they cannot reproduce the look I want.  And I'm sure it's
just me being picky...but this is the look I want!  Again, if you have
never seen the calendar - you'll have no idea what I'm talking about!
The entry fee helps to offset the initial start-up costs.  It cost me
about $9.50 per calendar...and I sell them for $16.00.  I try to keep
them reasonable so more people can afford them...but the cost of paper
has again gone up this year!
 
Each year for the last 4 years, the calendar has raised between $700-800
for SOS.  For those who don't know, Support Our Shelters is the
organization that through the tireless and never-ending effortsof their
few hard-working volunteers, raise and disperse funds to needy shelters
all over the country.  I am very proud to be a member of this fine
organization and I am equally proud that the Ferrets of the FML Calendar
is one of their annual fundraisers - and I hope it will continue to be
for a long time to come!
 
If you want to show off your ferret and support SOS at the same time,
please, follow the rules and enter your photo.  If you just want to see
some amazing ferret photos and support SOS, the calendar should be ready
to purchase by mid-Sept.
 
To everyone who has been involved in this project for the last 5 years -
Thank you!!  This is one of those things that would never work without
wonderful people like you to support it!
 
Judy Cooke
Support Our Shelters
[Posted in FML issue 4938]