Friday, December 4, 2015

ABA and APA Yearbooks

ABA president Matt Lhamon remarked the other day that "The ABA Yearbook alone is worth the price of membership." He captured in a few words how encyclopedic and useful these volumes are.

Both the APA and the ABA publish Yearbooks every year. I'm happy that the APA includes two of my articles in the 2015 Yearbook.

These Yearbooks are exceptional, compact treasures of information. In an Information Age of the Internet, they are a reminder that some books can't be replaced. Rather than searching electronically for information, just open one of these books and flip through the pages.

The ABA Yearbook is filled with photos that can acquaint the beginner with breeds, ranging from the Silver Laced Wyandotte and Silkie on the cover to Old English of many colors, Sebrights and Mille Fleur bantams.Experienced breeders can find other contacts, breed clubs can find advocates for their breeds, poultry clubs can find lic4ensed judges. Master breeders are listed. If you want to connect with anything bantam, this is your resource. Well worth the $25 price of a membership, indeed!

Similarly for the APA Yearbook. Judges are listed, along with photos of many of them. Lots of color photos in the advertisements. The ads in these publications have valuable information not available many other places. And, of course, the articles. Jim Sallee judged  the World Gamefowl Expo in the Philippines, and he and Bonnie went to the Hannover, Germany Poultry Show. They tells those stories in the Yearbook's pages.

Big names in the poultry world contribute to its pages: Frank Reese on What the 'Old Experts' Knew, Mark Fields on Interpreting the Dominique Standard in 2015, Lou Horton on his 20-Year Breeding Program for Buff Wyandotte Bantams, John C. Metzgar on Frizzled Fowls. A report on the 2014 Canadian National, from north of the border.

I was especially pleased to write about Watt Global Media's collection of original oil portraits, some of which hang in their corporate headquarters lobby.
These books contain answers to many of the questions you will have in the coming year. Have both at hand.

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