hi all... Well, I've been off-line since Thursday due to my move from State College, PA to Gilbertsville, PA. Let me tell you, that was really nerve-racking. Worse than addiction to cigarettes or whatever. I was going crazy not knowing what mail I had...got online to find 69 messages waiting. I hope I responded to them all. The move was horrible, everything went wrong. However, the one thing that's fine is the animals; all 8 ferrets and 6 cats made it unscathed...well, the ferrets anyway, the cats are a wreck! The fish, however, didn't make it, but that's because I just couldn't safely move him. He's a 16 year old pink kissing fish, and I cried when I left him (the new tenants *really* wanted him) I'll post tomorrow if possible about the move; the ferrets have stories to tell you! I just wanted to update you all about my whereabouts, in case someone needs to reach the shelter. Temporarily, the Pennsylvania Ferret Rescue Association in State College is unable to be reached. Anyone who might be trying to reach (814) 867-8562 won't be able to do so. E-mailing me is the very best way to contact the shelter for either the Central branch or the new Southeastern branch. The new shelter phone number for me here is (610) 367-0535. The new postal address for this shelter branch will be posted in the next few days. I'm still looking for folks interested in volunteering for this new branch. Gilbertsville, PA (where I am) is near Boyertown, Pottstown, and further but close enough to help is King Of Prussia, Reading, possibly Allentown, etc. Help is needed in the following areas: Ferret/cat sitter when I'm out of town Newsletter article researcher Newsletter article writers Club members Someone to head/run the club Attorney in the area willing to donate time for going non-profit Also my thoughts on the recent discussion of too many clubs in one area: We need to have an overabundance of resources that promote the domestic ferret. I was recently thinking that we need to have more shelters in the U.S. as well; the SPCA generally has one office per county; it would be so wonderful if we had a shelter per county or even per town. The worst thing that could happen would be each shelter would have too few ferrets available for adoption; isn't that the whole idea??? Adoptions don't bring in the money to run shelters anyway, so this wouldn't be detrimental for shelters to have competition. Clubs are a great way to meet people and learn more about ferrets. Clubs can also raise much needed funds for many ferret causes. If neighboring clubs can remain friendly to one another, this would be an excellent thing to have many to choose from. Not to mention, as long as the clubs aren't next door to one another, having two in an area will still mean that one is closer to some people than others. You're still reaching a broader audience by having two. My suggestion; if these clubs are on different sides of a town, (let's say east side and west side) The east club should move their meetings farther east and the west farther west. This way, more people can be reached farther out than before. Make sense? To me it does! Kymberlie Becker Director, Pennsylvania Ferret Rescue Association "Forget Puppy Love...There's nothing Greater than Ferret Love!" TM http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/ferretlady [Posted in FML issue 1957]