In this Christmas season of giving let me be one of many, I hope, who will offer just a small note of thankfullness to all those ferret-loving people who donate their time, energy and substance to helping ferrets and the ferret community. They are givers and not takers. In this particular instance I am moved to write of the generosity of a certain Debbie, formerly of the Washington State Ferret Association*, who has posted today that she would like to donate to all the shelters which have need, her home-made hammocks, crinkle sacks, and other items that she herself and her mother have hand-sewn, and which the two of them are willing to distribute to where ever the needs exist. I also wish to thank the American-born woman, Keiko Kojima, the wife of a Japanese national, who has similarly made hammocks and sleepsacks for the various shelters and who, in addition to sewing these goods, she also mails them to stateside shelters, including Edward Lipinski's shelter, from the nation of Nippon at her cost. Are these people great or what? One cannot help but contrast these wonderful individuals to others in the ferret community who offer no service benefit whatsoever, but who, instead, seek self aggrandizement and personal profit from the selling of their "goods" as well as charging fantastically inflated prices , such as $250, for supposedly superior ferrets. So to all of you, the givers, and not the takers, please accept my heartfelt gratitude to you, each and everyone, thank you, thank you, thank you times 10 to the 99th power. Washington State Ferret Association* , or abbreviated, WSFA, is soon to undergo a name change. This new name is purported to be Washington Ferret Association, or abbreviated, WFA. Hopefully, some time in the future the story behind this name change will be made public, but for the time being, due to possible pending legal action involving one or more of the former WSFA officers and the alleged misappropriation of WSFA funds, that portion of the WSFA history must remain undisclosed. Concurrently, with the name change, look for a change in the Email address of the WFA from [log in to unmask] to [log in to unmask] Edward Lipinski, who is thinking that the $20 membership fee charged by the Washington Ferret Association for the coming year 2,000, the pre-millinnium year, is possibly a bit too stiff. Several have asked me and I in turn will ask, what do we get for the membership fee of $20.00? Are there other ferret organizations that charge such a high fee? [Posted in FML issue 2895]