The Fall

As the organization entered 1997, the finances seemed to be in decent shape, but thee was decline throughout that year.  The Board of Directors had an embergency meeting in october of that year to discuss the concern that the organization ad not been operating in compliance with its by-laws since 1988.  Jane Kilberg was replaced as Editor with Dawn Marchionda and Gretchen Hanks, who agreed to do the job on a temporary basis until a permanent replacement could be found.  While membership continued to grow, the finances continued to decline.  In 1998 a cost-savings decision was made to publish the Newsletter on a bi-monthly rather than monthly basis.  The finances were in dire straights.

In an effort to raise money for the organization, Arita donated a bay leopard stallion to be auctioned with a minimum bid of $1200.00.  Even with Arita's generosity of donating the stallion and the folks who bid on him, funds continued to be short as member support through advertising was low and costs were soring.  In mid-summer, Dawn Marchionda resigned as temporary editor.  In September Gretchen Hanks resigned as graphics editor, although she assisted with the Fall 1998 newsletter issue.  By late fall of 1998, funds were so lacking that the newsletter went from bi-monthly to quarterly.  Sundance 500 International was in a downward spiral, and each event that occurred had a domino effect on all things and persons that were Sundance 500 International.

The Winter 1999 Nwsletter reflected a revised, downsized format.  Lynette McCleary was the new editor and produced this one issue under Karen Kirton's guidance.  Karen Kirton resigned as Secretary/Treasurer, but continued to fill the position.  A new Secretary/Treasurer could not be found and Sundance 500 business suffered.  There were no additional newsletters that year and no Board of Director business conducte.  Memberships dropped to 69 with 83 total members.  The organization beame ineligible for bulk mailing, which increased the cost of mailing the Newsletter and made it even more difficult for the struggling organization to keep its members informed and engaged.  The lack of funding caused the organization to suffer, almost fatally.