T.E.R.F. NEWS

Dear friends and supporters of TERF:

As you all know, last year in late August a powerful category 5 hurricane took aim at communities along the southern Gulf coast, mainly Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. When Katrina made landfall she was still a very strong category 3 and brought with her tremendous destruction rarely seen before. Hundreds of thousands of people were left homeless, over one thousand killed (and the count is still continuing to this day), and billions of dollar in damage done to the entire gulf coast stretching from Louisiana to the Florida Pandhandles. 

Many of our taxidermy friends had lost their homes, studios, and customer mounts; and with it their income. Just when it looked like everything was lost and there was no help to be found, a tiny little light rose from the destruction in the form of a newly created Taxidermist Emergency Relief Fund. TERF, as this fund soon became known as, quickly became a bright star as it grew in popularity, and donations came pouring in. Within a week, enough money had been collected to send several studios a relief check of $500 each to help out with every day necessities like food, water, fuel for generators, etc. Within a couple of weeks after the initial fund had been set up, the TERF website was created to help bring in further donations and to keep the fund going into the future. 

The need for future help soon became apparent in the form of Hurricane Rita and Wilma. Now it was taxidermists in Texas who needed help, and TERF was there to help.
In the Spring of 2006 a string of devastating tornadoes tore through the Midwest for weeks on end. It was a miracle that only one studio in Kentucky was hit. TERF was there to help. Shortly thereafter, historic floods washed away communities in the Northeast. A Pennsylvania studio was under 10 feet of water, and TERF was there to help.
When a powerful storm ripped through St. Louis in July 2006, the time during the NTA convention, a taxidermy studio lost all power and with it a whole freezer of customer hides. Again, TERF was there to help.

Here we are now one year later and the need for TERF is very evident. The Gulf coast is still in ruins and looks like the storm had passed through the other day. Many people, including NTA members, still have blue tarps instead of solid roofs on their houses. Tropical Storm Ernesto is spinning in the Atlantic taking dead aim at the Gulf of Mexico, forecasted to become a hurricane. Arizona and parts of New Mexico and West Texas are drowning in floods, while Washington State is going up in flames. But, should the need arise, TERF will be there to help.

A big THANK YOU goes out to everyone, who over the past year, has contributed to this fund in the form of either money, items to be sold on the site, or by buying an item of the TERF site. Without your help TERF would not be here celebrating its first birthday. Please keep the fund going with your donations. After all, this fund was created for you.

Sincerely, your TERF Committee
(Evelyn Mills, John Janelli, Jason Keehr, Bill Haynes)
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TERF update from the NTA show!
Submitted by Evelyn Mills on 7/25/06

For all, who are interested on how the TERF fundraiser went, which we conducted in Billings during the NTA convention, here are the results:

For the three days we had our table set up, we generated $855 with the sale of the items we had on our website, as well as monetary donations. We also generated another $885 during the banquet by passing around the cowboy hat. 

I want to express my appreciation and thanks to each person who contributed at the show by either buying an item or donating some money. I wish I could list all the names here, but I am afraid I would leave some folks out; it would be a very long list. THANK YOU all, you are great folks. 

Several studios, individuals and suppliers also donated items to be sold at the show, which we did. I want to express my sincere thanks to them and list them here for the proper credit: 

Jeanette Hall of Bismarck, ND donated a tanned mule deer cape and a tanned life-size coyote hide. Both items sold at the show. 

Mr.JR.Butler of Deer Creek Taxidermy in Hulett,WY donated a very nice wildlife book with great reference photos in it. This item also sold at the show. 

Derma Grip donated a big bucket of Derma Grip glue. This item lasted but 10 seconds before it sold. 

Mr.Fred Hayes of Quality Skull Work in Sandy,OR donated two laser cut metal bear silhouettes which sold at the show. 

Mr.Roger Martinell of The Alder Wood Shop in Castle Rock,WA donated two nice panels and a small pedestal. One panel sold, the other two items will be made available on the website shortly.

Van Dykes Supply Co. donated an open mouth bear shoulder form with eyes, as well as a WT shoulder form including the eyes. Both items sold at the show. 

McKenzie Supply Co. donated a big bucket of Buckeye hide paste. This item also sold within less then a minute. 

Trufitt Mannikins donated a nice open mouth bobcat rugshell including the finished jawset. This item sold at the show. 

Research Mannikins donated a mule deer shoulder form as well as a bear shoulder form. Both items sold at the show. 

Mohr Co. donated two very nice finished bear jawsets. One sold at the show, the other will be made available on the website soon.

Once again, THANK YOU to each and every one who contributed to the fund over the weekend. Taxidermists are great folks who care. 

Evelyn Mills
TERF Organizer

WHAT IS TERF?
Submitted by Evelyn Mills on 7/25/06
This question was asked more then once during the three days at the NTA convention in Billings, Montana. I was surprised to find out how many of our fellow taxidermists had either never heard of TERF, or simply had the wrong idea about TERF. So let me clarify with this post what TERF is all about. 

TERF stands for Taxidermists Emergency Relief Fund. It is a fund created shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. NTA secretary Terrie Wilson and then NTA president Mark Wilson came up with the idea of collecting money to assist taxidermy studios that had sustained damage and income loss during this storm. 

The idea quickly became reality, and with the additional help of NTA life member John Janelli, enough money had been collected in a very short time to help several taxidermy studios by sending them a $500 relief check each. 

About one week after the idea of the relief fund took hold, I came up with the idea of creating a website for the fund to sell donated items to generate more money. With the help of web designer Jason Keehr, who graciously donated the website space as well as his expertise and his time to create and maintain the site, and the help of current NTA president Bill Haynes, the website was up and running within a couple of weeks. Donated items came pouring in shortly afterwards, and the website became a great source for generating funds.

Since then, TERF has grown into a permanent major relief fund and extends its help way beyond the Katrina victims of 2005. It is not a Hurricane fund as so many taxidermists belief, but a general disaster fund for ALL taxidermists, regardless of affiliation or membership status. In April 2006, we helped a studio in KY that had been hit by a tornado. We also send a relief check to a flooded out studio in PA just a few weeks ago.

Overall, the fund has helped 12 taxidermists/studios since August 2005, of whom several were not NTA members. As stated above, it does not matter whether the taxidermist in need is a NTA member or not. As long as there is income loss or damage to the studio, which must be proven (we do verify the information received for each studio), every taxidermist qualifies for a relief check. 

The need is ongoing and TERF is here to help each and every taxidermist affected by some sort of natural disaster, whether it be a storm, earthquake, wildfire, flood, etc. (including terrorist attacks). 

Next time you ask:" What can the NTA do for me?" think about TERF. Without the NTA and its members this fund would not have come into existence. To learn more about TERF and how to help, please visit our website at www.taxidermistrelieffund.com, or go to the NTA website and link over. We appreciate any and all support. 

A big Thank You goes out to all, who with their donations, have made this fund the great success it is today. 

Evelyn Mills
TERF Organizer
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Check Donations: 
Please take a moment out today and send in a check for any amount you can afford made payable to:
TERF
c/o Evelyn Mills
1420 CR 254
Georgetown, TX 78633
254-793-2120

Call, write, or e-mail Cindy at NTA Headquarters 
NTA Headquarters Phone 1-866-662-9054 
108 Branch Drive, E-mail: headquarters@nationaltaxidermists.com 
Slidell, LA 70461 Fax: 985-641-9463