#107 - AMERICANS & THE BTS

I realized after my post yesterday that I singled out John Apple, Frank Somma and my bonus dad Joel Greenblatt as new/renewing U.S. members of the British Tarantula Society. I didn't mean to exclude anyone else that is supporting the great society across the pond. It's just that John and Frank are long-time spider fiend friends and both contributed a bit of info to the article Tom Patterson and I co-authored in the upcoming issue of the BTS Journal. It was on my mind that they've both finally signed up and I signed my stepdad up because he loves reading my Journal articles and edited issues.

As North American Coordinator of the BTS, I encourage all North Americans to join our ranks and have actively solicited memberships here and elsewhere. And I thank all who have. Unfortunately, the new member list inside each Journal issue drifted away from including the country of residence of non-UK members somewhere along the way. As I began to take over, I re-implemented the notation of country in parentheses following each name, and it will be so in every issue with me as editor.

SO ... all I can give you are the names from last issue and the upcoming issue (plus some from the issue before that where country was not designated but I recognized a few names), and welcome you on behalf of the entire BTS Committee and your fellow membership. I apologize to those I cannot single out who have also joined. You are only omitted from the following list because the country wasn't noted and I don't know your name. I personally appreciate everyone from Canada, Mexico or the United States that helps me represent the New World.

Cheers (in alphabetical order; U.S. unless otherwise noted) to: John Apple, Joshua Castillo, Jeanine Carbonaro, Simon Chen (CANADA), Ryan Christensen, Joel Greenblatt, Kiffnie Holt, Kyung Kim, Janet Mikolajczyk, David Napierala, Joe Nickerson, Thomas Schumacher, Ryan Serafin, Taylor Sierra Smith, Frank Somma, Syd Sussman, Ashley Wieczorek and Haley Yorke (CANADA). All of these people joined over the past six months or so. Thanks and welcome also to those who are current members - new or long-time - that I have not named.

JOIN THE BTS! NORTH AMERICANS DESERVE A GREAT SOCIETY, AND THE BTS IS AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION THAT EVEN HAS AN AMERICAN AS ITS JOURNAL EDITOR! IT IS YOUR ARACHNOCULTURAL HOME TOO!

I will BLOG live from the BTS Lectures all weekend long. Friday night is the party. Saturday afternoon and evening is the Lectures. Sunday morning is the Annual General Meeting (AGM), which is a Committee Meeting open to the full membership. I will be in Bristol all week and will send daily reports so you can get a feel of what happens at these incredible events. I already told John Apple to start saving for next February. I encourage many of you to do the same. If you have any interest in traveling to the UK for either the Feb/Mar Lectures or the May Exhibition feel free to email me at m.a.jacobi@icloud.com. I'd be happy to answer any questions and assist your travel in any way.