ACBA Youth Royalty Winners. Overall Youth Achievement Winners ACBA YOUTH ROYALTY YOUTH ACHIEVEMENT. KING Richard Vaerewyck, Dist 9

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1 ACBA YOUTH ROYALTY KING Richard Vaerewyck, Dist 9 ACBA Youth Royalty Winners QUEEN Megan Weis, District 1 PRINCE Jace Fox, District 1 PRINCESS Devon Bean, District 1 DUCHESS Hannah Mowry, District 1 COUNTESS Brynn Price, District 1 YOUTH ACHIEVEMENT AGE UNDER 9 Noelle Adams, 1st, District 1 Brynn Price, 2nd, District 1 Kelly Rudder, 1st, District 8 Top: Jace Fox, Richard Vaerewyck, Megan Weis, Devon Bean. Bottom: Hannah Mowry, and Brynn Price. Overall Youth Achievement Winners AGE 9-11 Hannah Mowry, 1st, District 1 Courtney Ballard, 2nd, District 1 Cassy Stasik, 1st, District 5 Megan Rudder, 1st, District 8 Hunter McGrath, 2nd, District 8 AGE Lydia Weyand, 1st, District 1 Wayne Heath, 2nd, District 1 Devon Bean, District 2 Joanna Thomason, 2nd, Dist 2 AGE Jayme Vincent, 1st, District 1 Megan Weis, 2nd, District 1 Amanda Thomason, 1st, Dist 2 Tara McParland, 1st, District 6 Erin McGrath, 1st, District 8 Richard Vaerewyck, 1st, Dist 9 Richard Vaerewyck for age 15-18, Lydia Weyand for Age 12-14, Hannah Mowry for Age 9-11, and Noelle Adams for Age Under 9. JACBA V12 I3 Summer Page 34

2 YOUTH MANAGEMENT Youth Management Winners AGE UNDER 9 Noelle Adams, 1st, District 1 Brynn Price, 2nd, District 1 Kelly Rudder, 1st, District 8 AGE 9-11 Carrie Noland, 1st, District 1 Hannah Mowry,2nd, District 1 Cassy Stasik, 1st, District 5 Megan Rudder, 1st, District 8 Meagan McLaughlin, 2nd, Dist 8 AGE Wayne Heath, 1st, District 1 Lydia Weyand, 2nd, District 1 Devon Bean, District 2 Joanna Thomason, 2nd, Dist 2 AGE Megan Weis, 1st, District 1 Megan Buxton, 2nd, District 1 Amanda Thomason, 1st, Dist 2 Tara McParland, 1st, District 6 Erin McGrath, 1st, District 8 Richard Vaerewyck, 1st, Dist 9 Top: Lydia Weyand, Wayne Heath, Megan Buxton, Megan Weis, Sheryl Newland (standing on a chair due to height-challenged). Bottom: Brynn Price, Noelle Adams, Hannah Mowry, and Carrie Noland. Overall Management Winners A C B A ACBA Youth Responses Youth Achievement and Management responses were published in the Summer 2006 JACBA issue. It was such a big hit that we are doing it again. So, what do the 2008 youth members of the ACBA have to say this? Adults, take notice! These kids are pretty sharp. Achievement 4. List any cavy related office, committee positions, or volunteer work you have participated in. My 4-H club goes to a local nursing home to share our animals with the elderly and disabled. I like to bring my cavies. I help our 4-H club set up and take down cages for our local fair. This past year, I helped to paint the rabbit and cavy barn for the fair. Carrie Nolan, age Explain what you do to make others aware of cavies. Above: Carrie Nolan for Age 912, Devon Bean for age 12-14, Amanda Thomason for Age Right: Kelly Rudder, Age Under 9. I make others aware of cavies by helping teach other 4H members how to wrap the coats. I did a presentation for my Girl Scout troop about cavies. I took cavies to a meeting and showed them now to wrap and take care of them. I also taught them how to hold them. I talk with my friends at recess about cavies. Megan Rudder, age 10 JACBA V12 I3 Summer Page 35

3 Public Speaking: I do public presentations at my local fair and at state fair. This year mine was about the White Crested cavy. I talked about the history, the breeding/care, the distribution of points, and the crest. Many people came and listened to this. People asked me lots of questions afterwards, and thought it was interesting. Posters: Also at our county fair, we do a poster contest for the public. This year mine was on the points of a White Crested cavy. One year I also did the parts of a cavy in English and in Spanish because many people in my community only speak Spanish, and they should be able to learn, too. Science Fairs: My club gets invited to present exotic animal room at the local science fair at an elementary school. About 600 people attended this fair every year, and we are the most popular room! We bring as many different breeds of cavies as we can find. T.V. News: Some kids from my 4-H club woke up at 4:00 A.M. and went to a Basin Feed store for Good Morning Northwest interviews live. I was one of them. I talked at both 5:00 and 6:00 am about raising rabbits and cavies. Friends: I talk to my friends about cavies. When they come to my house, they see all the cages and usually ask me lots of questions. Hannah Mowry, age 11 The pamphlet my cavy group and I are making will probably help spread cavy awareness. I, personally, talk about my 4-H experiences to my peers, both inside and outside of school. Every year since I joined in 3 rd grade, I have done at least one project related to my experiences with cavies in 4-H. Some years, I have even done my 4-H Public Presentation, which is typically on the subject of cavies, for my classes. A Public Presentation is a talk that youth give in order to qualify for competition at the State and County Fair. You are allowed to use posters with information as well. Public Presentations are a lot of fun, and they are a wonderful experience in public speaking. Giving public presentations has completely eliminated my fear of speaking in front of a large crowd. Now I am totally comfortable standing on a stage or in front of people and giving a talk. In my Home Economics Class this year, we are learning about our values. For an assignment, we are supposed to bring in something that we value and care a lot about. I am bringing in Winona, my Texel breed guinea pig, because my cavies are some of the most important things in my life, and I love showing them off and spreading awareness. I would love to see more people in my school and community join 4-H, especially with their guinea pigs! I am very excited about this opportunity, which will allow me to talk to my peers about my passion for cavies. Also, every year my 4-H club attends a community event called the Harvest Fair. It is a large fair with games, crafts, food, and booths about community organizations. Each year Hare Raisers has a booth, and many people stop by and ask us questions about 4 -H. We are always very happy to answer the public's questions, and we love informing them on the subjects of 4-H and guinea pigs, among the other club projects. It is a very fun experience, and it helps our club recruit many members. Nicole VanderMeer, age 14 kind of cavy they have by describing them to me. I do the best I can to help. I go to as many shows that my parents will let me go to, and I am a member of our local rabbit/cavy club, Pioneer Cavy Fanciers, along with the Washington State Rabbit Breeders Association, ACBA and ARBA. In being a member of these clubs and associations, my dues each year help spread information through shows and printed materials about my project. Megan Weis, age 17 As shown through my service positions, I frequently expose my community to cavies. Throughout the year, I have many opportunities to share my love for cavies with others. I take advantage of as many of these opportunities as possible. Working as a Washington County Fair Small Animal Barn Junior Superintendent is one of my favorite roles because I get to connect with people of all ages and backgrounds, recruiting new 4-H members and answering questions about cavy 4-H and cavies in general. Two of my favorite questions, which are asked by almost all of the preschoolers when I have my showmanship cavy out are, What kind of rabbit is it? and, How do you make it sit like that? Because I love to work with children, two of my other favorite ways to share my cavies are taking them to library story times about small animals (for children to touch and ask questions) and to toddler Halloween parties (dressed up of course). Although the children are happy just playing with the cavies and don t have any questions besides, What s her name? I have had many conversations with the parents about cavies and even set up a few of the families with a new little friend. I have also taken my cavies to a family resource fair and an exotic animal expo to increase awareness about these wonderful animals. Jayme Vincent, age Describe any cavy activities that you participated in and/ or developed. I participate in the Rada Rabbits & Cavies 4-H club s April seminar. At the seminar we put on a cavy show and workshops that help people learn more about cavies. I have helped my friends learn about having cavies as a pet by letting them help me clean my cavy s cage, feed my cavy, hold my cavy, and I answer their questions. Noelle Adams, age 8 I help at a petting zoo that my 4-H club does every year. I like to bring one of my cavies to it. I let kids and adults pet the cavies I bring. By doing this I help other people learn about the breeds of cavies that I and other 4-H members have. I also like to help kids and their parents that might have questions about cavies I am holding. I like to go to a Pet Therapy that my 4 -H club does once a month at a senior home. I bring one of my Teddies for residents to pet and hold. My club also puts on a youth show and seminar every year, and I help with it. Many people ask me questions about my club and the cavies I raise at these activities. I wear my club sweatshirt most everywhere I go. People sometimes stop and ask me about what I do and how they could get involved. They sometimes ask me if I know what Miranda Menard, Carrie Nolan and Hannah Mowry giving Youth Committee Chairs Beth Dudley and Becky O Hogan a thank-you card. JACBA V12 I3 Summer Page 36

4 7. Explain how you have helped others learn new skills and increased their knowledge of the hobby. For the past five years I have been in charge of teaching all Lake County 4- H cavy children the art of showmanship, animal care, grooming, and just about everything regarding cavies. This year I made power point presentation to teach the 4-H children about all these things. I found it to be very helpful because I could just it to all the children and they could look at it a home. Our 4-H books in Lake County are over thirty years old, so the power point slides helped to supplement the information. I also have folders of information about the Ohio Cavy Club, The American Cavy Breeders Association, and the general care of cavies that I give to every new buyer of my cavies and all 4-H members. There is a large group of twelve younger children, ranging ages from 3 to 14 years old, which started to show in Ohio. I have taken it upon myself to help them out as much as I can. I have taught the kids how to wrap the long-haired cavies, take of their cavies, show them, and breed them. I have even taken these children to shows with me. In the past I have encouraged people to purchase the book, Standard of Perfection. This book has information regarding showing and raising cavies. Last January, I even copied the royalty forms for ACBA and gave them to all the children. I have also sent my past applications to them as an outline to follow. Erin McGrath, age What goals have you achieved to this point in your cavy project, and how did you achieve them? My first goal was to get a good Texel cavy. My second goal was to breed my cavy but it did not work because all my babies died. Then I learned a lesson that it does not always work when your cavies breed. Sometimes they all die. I have bred my cavies again and hope to have new and alive babies this time. Brynn Price, age What goals have you set for yourself with regards to your cavy project? Explain how the achievement of these goals will help you in the future. I would like to be a better wrapper. My goal for Twinkle is that she will have babies. My goal is to get another cavy and grow him/her out. My goal is to show Silkies and Coronets I will be a better cavy breeder. I will get money because I will have babies and I will sell some of them. If I breed good cavies, they might win Best in Show or Best of Breed. Kelly Rudder, age 7 I want to continue showing quality cavies and breeding The achievements I have written down will help me be a judge and teach other kids what I have learned in the past. Cassy Stasik, age 10 My main goal has been and continues to be improving cavy health. There are several ways to do this. I have been researching and studying vitamin C in cavy feed for the past three years. The results showed that most grocery store brand feeds have inadequate vitamin C levels, which causes scurvy and premature death in most animals in my community. I did a science fair project last year in which I developed a cage liner that changes color if the JACBA V12 I3 Summer Page 37 cavy is getting enough vitamin C. I have a patent application in the process on the product I developed. If I can sell the product to a major company, it would prevent the death of thousands of cavies from scurvy. 1. I want to continue giving speeches as frequently as possible on the proper care and feeding of cavies stressing the importance of vitamin C and promoting cavies as wonderful pets for responsible pet owners. 2. I want to become a judge in I want to get one of my animals to win a Best in Show. 4. I want to win the science fair with effects of temperature on embryo development. 5. And, of course, I want to win American Cavy Breeders King this year.. Achieving all my gals will help me get a good job in the future. If I work hard now and put lots of effort and money into it, I may get a scholarship for my achievements and go on to college and then get a good job afterward. The things I do now will follow me for the rest of my life, so why not make them good? I work really hard at what I do in hopes one day I can improve the ACBA with the knowledge I ve gleaned over the years. I ve also found that the biggest part of achieving a goal is figuring out how to get there. I think the successes and setback I ve had has really taught me how to handle every aspect of life. Richard Vaerewyck, age Keep going through high school. 2.Go to college, and then back into cavies. 3.Raise my kids to show. 4.Learn eight new diseases. 5.Learn all about Teddies and Teddy Satins. 6.Make an educational cavy game. 7.Become a cavy 4-H project leader. I think these goals will help me in the future by helping future kids learn about cavies, and even educating myself a lot more. Cavies have also taught me responsibility and dedication. They have also taught me confidence and truly loving something. It will help me not to give up on anything: school, friends, animals, anything. Megan Buxton, age 16 My goals for the coming year are to complete my registrar's license, continue working my Tan line, and expand my Peruvian and Satin Peruvian stock through breeding. I am currently awaiting the arrival of my first Tan to Tan breeding. I have just taken my first BIS with a Peruvian sow out of my first Peruvian breeding. Within the last week I had my first successful Satin Peruvian litter with the arrival of a black & white broken sow. One additional goal I have for the future is to maintain my breeding program while going off to college. I have cut back on my breedings but am trying to maintain a level that will continue my line while not over burdening my parents while I'm at college. I will not be far from home and intend to continue showing whenever my college schedule permits. I also plan to make many trips home to visit and take care of my animals. Obtaining my registrars license will help me to better understand all of the breeds. I believe it will help me to improve my breeding program and provide me with the opportunity to help others with theirs. In the past, I have shown Peruvians & Satin Peruvians that I obtained from other breeders. My initial reason for showing these was to learn how to coat out the long haired breeds. I have received many compliments on my presentations of my long hairs and this has encouraged me to breed my own. I love my Abyssinians and will never drop that breed but the Peruvians require me to devote different skills to my breeding and showing. Breeding requires me to analyze and project what I will get out of a breeding and will be invaluable skills in college and my chosen career as a Veterinarian. The Tan program allows me to contribute to the fancy by expanding the varieties that exhibitors can show. As in the case of my Peruvian breedings it helps me to analyze & predict what I will get and to

5 make choices based on that analysis. Maintaining my program while at college will require me to be very selective about breeding and showing over the next few years. I have made great friends since joining the fancy and do not want to lose them while in college. I will need to develop more time management skills to continue showing through college and that skill will be invaluable during college and afterwards when I enter the working community. Tara McParland, age 18 Management 2. Describe where your animals are located: barn, outbuilding, yard, garage, basement, house. My cavies are in my house. At first, my boar was in my room with me. Now that I m trying to breed my cavies together, I have them in the dining room. I wanted to get the whole experience with them all the time. My bedroom is upstairs where I am not always. Having them down in the dining room, I can see them all the time. It s an exciting experience. Courtney Ballard, age 11 The cavies are in a 16 foot by 14 foot heated/air conditioned barn. We try to keep the temperature between 50 and 70 degrees. This is also where we house our small breed rabbits. There are two doors, on opposite corners of the building. There is one window on each of the other walls. The building has a concrete floor covered in violet linoleum. The ceiling is twelve feet tall with a hole for venting the barn in the summer. The walls are painted with a water resistant base paint and covered the heavy tarps. When we steam clean the cages, the tarps are taken out and cleaned or replaced. There is a refrigerator in the barn to store teats and medications. The totes used for the pups that have been just weaned are in the rabbit/cavy barn. Animals are being quarantined are in the family room so we spend more time with them. Wayne Heath, age Describe the equipment used to feed and water your cavies and why you prefer them. We use wide-mouth Lixits, 32 ounce for big cages and 16 ounce for small cages. I like them because they are easy to clean. We have J feeders you can put the food in from the outside. I don t like crock feeders because the cavies dump them over. Corrinah Schaefer, age 10 I have given my cavies water bottles and I like them because they can t spill them. The dishes I have for them have heavy bottoms so they can t tip them over. I have found cavies to be very active and they like to mess around with their dishes. Courtney Ballard, age Describe any other equipment used for the care of your cavies and why you prefer them. Each of my cavies have what we call a chew-thru. It is a wooden hidey-hole. It is open at both ends. They chew on the wood to keep their teeth healthy. They butt and move the chew-thru s around which keeps their heads and shoulders strong and solid. Meagan McLaughlin, age 9 To keep my cavies cool in summer, I put frozen water bottles and frozen tiles in the cages. I use them because they keep my cavies cool and my cavies love them. I have a freezer especially for freezing bottles. As shelters, I use left-over PVC pipe elbows and tees that have a 3-inch diameter. I like these because most of the time they are cheaper than houses from pet stores. I also have a few homemade wood houses witch the cavies like sitting on top of and inside. Another thing I have for my cavies is carriers from KW Cages. I have two 8 compartment carriers, two 4 compartment carriers, and one 3 compartment carrier, and one single compartment carrier. I use these to put my cavies in while I clean their cages and for going to shows. I have two cavy ear tag pliers for both large tags and small tags, but I prefer the small. The large ones tend to get ripped out easier. I have plastic storage that I use to keep show supplies like brushes, Q-tips, baby oil to clean ears and scent gland, rags, Neosporin and bandaids, business cards, and pens. Devon Bean, age 13 I use a plastic formed dish to feed my cavies. I like it because they can t dump it over. I use plastic water bottles to water my cavies. I like them because my cavies can t get their food or bedding into the water. Noelle Adams, age 8 We use water bottles attached with little metal holders. We use water bottles because our cavies aren t used to a watering system and we don t have one. We use ceramic food bowls. We use them because the cavies flip over the plastic bowls easily. We use metal hay racks because the plastic ones aren t really sturdy and the metal ones are stronger. Megan Rudder, age How do you dispose of any waste your cavies generate? My sister and I clean the show cavies cages every other day and breeder cages twice a week. When we clean the show cavies, we use the pellet bedding. We pick out the cage and put the soiled pellet bedding in one bag and the soiled hay in the other. We do the same when cleaning the breeder cages, but the breeder cages are pine bedding. The soiled pine and pellet bedding is spread around our flower beds. It has saved my family a lot of money on mulch and it works great as a fertilizer. The soiled hay is mixed into a compost pile in my back yard in the woods. The breeder cage pans are lines with newspaper. We change the newspaper every time we clean and it is thrown out in the trash. The newspaper has helped lessen my consumption of pine bedding. Hunter McGrath, age 11 JACBA V12 I3 Summer Page 38

6 8. Do you take any preventative measures to ensure a healthy caviary? I clean their cages every week and cut their nails every month. I keep my cavies inside so they don t get too cold. When I get a new cavy, I keep it separate from the other animals we have so if it s sick it won t get the rest of my caviary sick. Marissa Price, age 10 I believe preventative measures are extremely important in maintaining a healthy caviary. I always sweep and make sure there isn t a high level of dust. I clean up spills of liquid so things don t mold or get all mushy. I open the garage door for a few minutes to get a good air circulation and crack the windows in the summer. I bleach the cages every few months too. I wash water bottles once every 2-3 weeks and clean out food bowls every week. I make sure not to mix germs of sick cavies, which I do not have much, knock on wood. I record the weights of cavies who are more on the weak side, and also youngsters. I feed my cavies a dose of Ivermectin either before or after a show to prevent parasites. I always check my cavies for any signs of illness. I have never had a cavy die of poor care or disease. Lydia Weyand, age 13 I check my cavy every day to make sure he is healthy. I change his cage once a week and clip his nails once a month. I keep new cavies away from my ones that I already own to make sure they are not sick at first, and so my other animals don t get sick. My cavies are inside so they don t get too cold or hot. Their cage has good ventilation. Jace Fox, age Describe any diseases, illness, or conditions that have affected your caviary and explain what you did to control them. My cavy once had a broken toe. I talked to my cavy 4- H leader and she checked it out. She said to check on it every day to see that the swelling went down. She also said to keep the cage clean. The swelling did go down and there wasn t any more problems with it. Allysa Jacobson, age Describe everything you consider and do when breeding your cavies. We have a goal of breeding solid and agouti satins in silvers and goldens. We breed our satins to satin carriers. We breed same color to same color. We look for good characteristics. We consider the animals ages, health, and when we last bred them so they don t get tired out. Meagan McLaughlin, age 9 I would first need to make sure I had a cage big enough for the two to be together in. I would have to check both the boar and the sow to see if they are healthy with nothing wrong. I would need to pick out two that would go with each other. I would put a cavy that had good ears or coronet with a cavy that had a good body type. It s important to look at what each has to offer and to see what would go good together. With my cavies, I looked at the color pattern and how much they had. My boar has a lot of black with a little white. I got a sow that had little color and lots of white. I hope to see some babies with good color distribution. When I went to put them together, I gave them a haircut to make the hair short and less to get tangled. Courtney Ballard, age 11 Little girls Countess Brynn Price and Noelle Adams laughing with that giant King Richard Vaerewyck. When I have a sow that is old enough to breed, I will make sure I am breeding her to a boar whose traits compliment hers, as well as vice versa. I usually know if they are related, and otherwise I check their pedigrees to see how inbred their babies will be. I also consider where I will be when the babies are born will I be busy? On vacation? Or would it be a good time? I make sure that breeding this sow will not cause my herd to be overpopulated, and I will know what to do with the babies, whether I keep or sell them. I see what colors or breeds I should expect, and I will usually only breed to improve the breed of the guinea pig. If they have different breeds in their background, then it wouldn t be a good pair. What varieties are in their backgrounds are also important. I should know what to expect. If the sow has given birth before, I should not breed her for at least two months, but not wait too long either. Are both guinea pigs in good condition? When I put two cavies together to breed, I supervise them for the first day, at least, to make sure they are not attacking each other. I check up on the sow often but make sure not to hold her too much, especially later on in her pregnancy. A few weeks before the sow is due, I separate them and bring the sow inside so that I can keep a closer eye on her. This also keeps the temperature steady so that the babies will be born in an environment not too hot or cold. If I am there when the babies are born, I help dry them off as long as it doesn t freak the sow out. I will also give her apples or romaine lettuce after they are born to give her energy. I then clean out the cage. The babies are usually over a week when they go outside again, but this depends on the temperature outside. Joanna Thomason, age 14 JACBA V12 I3 Summer Page 39

7 Describing everything I think about in breeding a sow is a hard question because I have more than one breed and variety. Usually what I do is go by the Standard of Perfection for each breed and variety. For my Americans, I go for patching and coloring first, then body type. For my Abyssinians, I look for rosettes, then color, and lastly body type. For Peruvians, I look at fur density and texture to their coat, then color and body type. Ben Derting, age Explain your system for keeping records and what information is kept on each animal. whether or not the birth was assisted. I recently got a very nice digital scale, so I now record exact birth weights as well. For the show records I list all the cavy's basic info, and underneath fill in the date/host club/judge/awards for each show attended. I keep a copy of the pedigree and the show record in a plastic sheet protector, and keep the coop cards and legs sandwiched between the two papers. This has been especially helpful to keep track of comment cards and legs! This also has helped me see at a glance which judges prefer what pigs. I also have general health records I use when grooming the pigs, that lists the coat/skin condition, weight, overall condition, and when they were last treated for parasites. I have started to dabble in genetics as well, I am really interested in them, though most of it is still over my head! I keep my records in my 4-H record book under project activities and in my pedigree binder. I keep records of illnesses, breedings, due dates, cost and income records, pedigrees, show comment cards, and any legs awarded. I keep my records of illness in my 4-H record book on special animal project sheets. I keep track of when they get sick, if I given them any medication for it, and why. I also keep my breeding records, due dates, and litter information on an animal project sheet. I list the boar and sow, ear number, when the sow is due, how many pups were born, and if she had any problems. I have a calendar on the caviary wall. I write on it when I breed sows, when they are due and when pups are born. I keep records of when I buy feed, any equipment, and when I sell an animal on cost and income sheets in my 4-H record book. I write in my record book what type of equipment, the quantity I bought and the price. I write down which animals I sell and the amount sold. I also write in my record book any club activities related to my projects, so that I can deep track of what I do throughout the year. I keep all pedigrees in document covers in my pedigree binder. I keep my animals show comment cards, any legs, and registrations behind their pedigrees. Megan Weis, age 17 I have several different forms that I use. Besides pedigrees, I keep showing records, breeding records, and general information records. I also have coop cards that I made by buying a few sets of ID badge covers/clips and printing the cavy's information on a business card, that way I can clip the information to each cage, and I can also re-use the badge holders as well. These coop cards list the cavy's name, breed/variety/sex, colors, ear tag #, date of birth, and dam/sire. For breeding records, I have a large 3-ring binder that contains records for every single litter ever born here in chronological order, which includes photos of the dam/sire/litter (as well as any stillborns), number of babies born and the sex/breed/variety/color of each baby, as well as a summary of the pregnancy/birth, anything new I encountered or learned and Amanda Thomason, age 18 Royalty 1. If you should win in your age category, how will you promote this achievement? I will promote it many different ways. First, I always wear my hat and sash and tell people all about what I won and how they can win too. I go to fairs and help give out awards and help at petting zoos. I will give speeches to schools, Boy Scouts, and fairs promoting cavies. I will make posters and displays talking about cavies and the benefits of owning and raising them. I will make sure there are other kids participate in the royalty contests so that we have a large, competitive group. I will also talk to kids about cavies and science. Last year, I was the senior breed ID captain on Pennsylvania s teams to the ARBA. We took thirty-two kids to the convention. I was responsible for Breed ID training for the senior teams, and cavy training for all the teams. I got a lot of kids interested in cavies. This year I am a cocaptain for everyone and we already have twenty-five signed up and expect close to forty kids to go. I get to work with everyone by helping them study and understand cavies. This is probably the best promotion possible because it is to a group of really committed kids who have demonstrated their love for the fancy. If they can be hooked now, they could be cavy fanciers for life. Richard Vaerewyck, age What would you like us to know that has not been asked? I have been involved in cavies for three years. I have one sow, Juanita, who is due to have a litter this spring. I have won two Grand Champions, one Reserve Champion Showmanship, and three Reserve Champions at the Latah County Fair. I also took Best Intermediate Showmanship at the Rada Rabbit and Cavy Show. Clara Bowman, age 12 Hannah Mowry, Carrie Nolan, Miranda Menard, Noelle Adams and Brynn Price giving ACBA Secretary-Treasurer James Nielsen a thank-you card. Interested in the 2009 ACBA Youth Contests? Each year the ACBA hosts youth contests in Royalty, Achievement, and Management at the ACBA Specialty Show. For 2009, the Specialty will be held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania (see back cover for more details). ACBA youth members are encouraged to consider participating. It is always good to ask questions and plan ahead. Contact Youth Committee chairs Beth Dudley and Becky O Hogan for more information (contact information is on page 18, left-hand shaded column, very bottom). JACBA V12 I3 Summer Page 40