Greetings: At this point the majority of PRA Members are aware that the Board of Directors has approved changing the publishing of the Pennington Pedigrees from a paper hard copy to a Compact Disc format. The Pennington Research Assoc. Board of Directors did not take this situation lightly. The decision to change to a CD format was only made after much discussion and debate. In order for the PRA to continue without raising annual dues certain changes were required. A copy of the report to the Board regarding changing the Pedigrees from a hard copy to the CD format is posted on the member's site at MyFamily in addition to the notice posted on the Pennington Research Association Web Page. PRA members are aware that $25 of the $27 Annual Dues are utilized for operational expenses. Past experience has shown that a 100 page paper copy of the Pedigrees cost approximately $20.00 per year to publish and mail the two editions to each member. The Pedigree Volume 38 - 2 (page 85) contains the PRA 2007 Operational/General Fund Budget. It should be noted that the listed "Total Expenses" does not reflect the budget cuts made by the Board and the total operational expenses should be $8,365.00 rather than the $11,365.00 shown in the document. Based on a projected membership of 250, the 2007 expenses are $1,835.00 more than income even after cuts were made by the Board. At present, there are approximately 200 members who have submitted their dues for 2007. If this situation remains, the available funding for the PRA's Operational Expenses will be reduced below that reflected in the 2007 Budget. It should be oblivious something had to be done in order for the PRA to remain as a viable organization and to continue publishing the Pennington Pedigrees. The change from publishing the Pedigrees from a hard copy to a compact disc will reduce costs and certainly place the PRA in a better position to balance its annual budget. A notice to submit articles for the 2007 Spring Edition of the Pennington Pedigrees was recently posted by Pedigree Editor Colleen Blizzard. Please keep in mind that the Pedigree will no longer be limited to 100 pages and that any family research you are willing to share would be most welcome. Additionally, photographs and documents submitted can now be reproduced with a greatly improved quality. The exact method for publication and mailing of the 2007 Spring Edition of the Pedigree has not been finalized. However, at this time the most efficient approach under consideration is to send every PRA Member a copy of the Pedigree on a CD. At that point each member would have the option to print a paper copy on a personal computer printer or to utilize the services of a local print shop to produce a hard copy. When the number of pages for the 2007 Spring Edition is known, we can receive a cost estimate to print a limited number of hard copies from the PRA's current printer. However, based on the results of the survey from the 2006 fall edition of the Pedigree, it is doubtful that the PRA could offer any cost savings beyond that of using a local printer on an individual basis. Thank You for your support of the Pennington Research Assoc. James W. Pennington, President