the meeting was called to order by Chairman Rit Forcier at 10:45 AM.
There were about 11 members in attendance, including Bob McKeand (CT), Chris Boulanger (CT, new Jr. Member) Joe Garafola, Mike K from Brewster, Bill Kohl (NY) and his Mrs., Dave Giza (MA), Joe Masi (NY) and Scott Stevenson (CT).

The first order of business was a round of introductions.

The main order of business was the plans to host the 2006 ALA convention.
Twelve NELA members are asked to volunteer to assist in the planning and logistics of the convention. We will need to:
-Find and supply some show equipment
-Advertise the event itself
-Hand out registration brochures at our local club meetings
-Ask our local club editors to publicize the events
And, at the weekend itself, April 28-30, in East Hanover,
- Help with registration (2-hour shifts on Friday evening and Saturday morning)
- Help with show setup Saturday and tear-down on Sunday
- Help supply some refreshments for the Hospitality Room (Friday and Saturday night)
- Sell raffle tickets
- Assist with the auction
In return, those committing to help will receive free registration to all the speaker events for the weekend. In addition, all NELA members attending, whether they help for 10 minutes or 10 hours, will be eligible for a prize (see below).
Dave Giza and Joe Masi immediately volunteered to organize for the Sunday Auction, which is expected to be large.
It was moved, seconded and voted on that we should have NELA shirts for the convention. Rit will pursue.
Participation at the Northeast Council Weekend (April 7-9) was discussed. It is hoped that all NELA members have enough planning time to insure that they do not have to chose between the two big events. NELA will be meeting at the NEC. Two or three volunteers are needed to staff a NELA information table on Sunday. NELA will be making some kind of a contribution to the NEC effort, most likely a free ALA registration. More is to be discussed at the next NELA meeting.
Rick Rego was unable to attend due to work constraints, but will be introducing the NELA BAP to members soon. Rit reported that it looks quite thorough.
Bob McKeand volunteered to contact all ALA speakers about bringing special lots of fish, those not ordinarily available, to the ALA Auction.
Rit introduced the idea of a raffle to raise some funds and promote the ALA convention. The idea is to offer free hotel rooms for the Convention The members in attendance thought it was better to offer more one-night rooms for Saturday night, April 29, than a full weekend prize. NELA members present voted to look into three prizes of a nightÕs lodging. Tickets will be sold starting at the next meeting, with the drawing anticipated to be at the NEC Weekend. We need a volunteer to print the tickets.

The question of the future of NELA was raised. Many expressed interest in seeing it continue and grow. The idea of an annual bulletin was offered. It was mentioned that there is a great web site, www.NELivebearers.org but that participation is low. Rit reminded the group that we have not had elections since the club inception. He also stated that because of the amount of time involved, that he would be willing to stay on in the role of treasurer, but did not have sufficient time to stay on as Chairman.
The next NELA meeting is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 12, 2006, at the Pioneer Valley AS annual auction, to be held in the Springfield, MA area. An announcement will be on the NELA web site as soon as we get approval from PVAS.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:40, just in time to enjoy the DAAS auction.
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Boulanger and Rit Forcier