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South Hampshire December 2012
Well it’s that time of the year again and, if
you can remember back to this time last year, the social and Xmas raffle at Wellow was a
great success! Everyone was there with a drink ready for the meal at 7.45, which was up to
its normal high standard as well as the sweet. (Some forgot what they ordered, as last
year).
After the meal we had two rounds of skittles,
played with some hilarious moments to say the least, and with me in the lead till John
Mullen scored 13 in the second round to be overall winner! (Won bottle of sparkling
wine)
We then had a fund raising event of throwing coins
up the skittle alley to see who could leave their coin closest to the Whiskey.
Our congratulations to the winners of the evening:
· Best Skittles Score with
21 Points: John Mullen
· Nearest the Whiskey bottle: Also
John Mullen
Our thanks go to Peter Merritt and all his family
for arranging the evening and his grandsons for picking up and replacing the skittles etc.
After the Christmas draw was completed I
(President) presented the prize to John Mullen and thanked everyone for coming and the
staff for the quality food and service they provided. I also mentioned about the
superb program for next year and that we need to support the club when we have top
speakers. With that said I wished everyone a good breeding season and a merry
Christmas and on that note we finished the evening and wished everyone a safe journey
home. |
South Hampshire November 2012
Bill
Farr, our Chairman, opened the meeting and welcomed all there. Apologies were read out
from John Horstead, John Burton, Steve Bailey, John Mullen and Geoff Biddlecombe.
With
the birds benched and ready he then handed over to me to explain the format for the
evening, which was for Dee, our judge, to put the birds in the order she would like to
take home with her, then we all would do the same afterwards!
Whilst
Dee was judging the birds we dealt with club business and general
matters regarding the last meeting and talked about a Breeder over Year Bred show in
February.
Mick
Freeborn had already worked out staging positions and said we could bench up to 300 birds
in the Totton hall?
After
lots of discussion most members agreed it was a good thing to hold this event, as most of
us get a bit bored about that time of the year and it should generate a lot of interest.
We
also agreed that we would put up our own colour certificates for best in colour birds and
this would be put forward at the next AGM for ratification by the membership.
I also
put on my London & Southern Counties BS hat again and explained about the
member’s afternoon this coming Sunday at Smallfield!
Our
congratulations to the winner of the Judging competition, David Rice. After this we asked Mick Freeborn, a BS panel
judge, to judge them as if it was at an open show and the results were totally different. He went on to explain about his decisions,
especially regarding a long flighted bird and the rules appertaining to this!
After
the raffle Bill thanked every body. He then
closed the meeting and wished everyone a safe journey home. |
South Hampshire October 2012
Bill Farr, our Chairman, opened the meeting and
welcomed all there. Apologies were read out from John Horstead, John Burton, Trevor
Tanner, Chris & Kerrie Bellows and Geoff Biddlecombe.
With all the birds benched and ready, he then
handed over to our judge for the evening, Fred Wright, who had travelled down from South
London.
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Whilst the main judging was being
carried out we dealt with club business and general matters regarding the upkeep of our
birds.
I also put on my London & Southern Counties BS
hat and asked for any ideas that would make our area society better for the membership
i.e.
· Move the Open Show to a better,
larger hall?
· Move to a later date in the show
year?
· Use bird collection points to
save breeders having to come up and stay all day?
Most there indicated that the best shows the
L&SC BS had were held at the Crawley Leisure Centre and said they would show again if
we had that type of venue! After lots of lively discussion it was time for a tea break. |
Part two was Fred, explaining what
features he was actually looking for in the birds. He said that when there were two
very similar birds it was difficult to place them first and second, as you needed to take
into account all of their features / faults. He also stressed that birds entered deserved
the time to allow them to perch.
As the main award judging went on Fred kept up a
running commentary and ensured that everyone could see what he was doing. He asked for
questions and comments as he was judging. |
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Our congratulations to the main winners of the
evening:
Best in Show
Steve Bailey Grey cock 5-1
Best Young Bird in Show Steve
Bailey Grey cock 105-1
Best Opp Sex Young Bird Steve
Bailey Sky Hen 104-1
Best Champion
Steve
Bailey Grey cock 5-1
Best Intermediate
N/A
Best Novice
Peter Merritt Sky cock 203-1
Best Beginner
John
Mullen Cobalt cock 203-1 |
Best In Show
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Our thanks to Neil Cawley, our chief steward for
the evening, who did a great job working along side Fred!
After the raffle Bill, our Chairman, thanked Fred
for adjudicating and not accepting any ‘expenses’ and all of the members for
bringing their birds. He then closed the meeting and wished everyone a safe journey
home. |
South Hampshire September 2012
Bill Farr, our Chairman, opened the meeting and
welcomed all there.
Apologies were read out from John Horstead, John
Burton, Neil Cawley, Steve Bailey, Pam Freemantle, Dee Selby, Trevor Tanner and Tony Cash.
(Details to provide report by FreeBo)
Bill then handed over to Mick Freeborn to read
out the minutes of the last meeting, which was the Steve Bailey bird preparation evening.
There were no comments and the minutes
were taken as a true account of the meeting.
There
were no winners of the any Flecked bird competition (22) which was overseen by and judged
and discussed by Mick Freeborn, also thanks to all who brought along birds!
The
raffle was held and the evening then concluded. Bill thanked Kerrie Bellows for
helping out in kitchen with Malcolm in Pam’s absence and then all other members and
closed the meeting, wishing all a safe journey home.
I look
forward to seeing everyone on Friday 5th October for our members show Judged by Fred
Wright. |
South Hampshire Meeting
August 2012
Bill Farr, our Chairman, opened the meeting and
welcomed all there (23), including Steve Bailey our guest speaker for the evening. Apologies were read out from John Horstead, John
Burton and Mick Freeborn. And welcome to a new
paid up member Paul Gover from Bognor.
Bill then handed over to me to read out the
minutes of the last meeting, which was the Terry Tuxford evening. There
were no comments and the minutes were taken as a true account of the meeting.
Steve
Bailey started by describing all the items in his box of tricks, and what they were for
and why, he then explained his procedure on preparing a bird ready for a show including
his time scale.
From
bathing the bird down to using a hair dryer/back brushing with a tooth brush and the use
of talcum powder rubbed in on the head feathers to give a soft silky look!
Part
two of the evening Steve demonstrated the art of plucking a bird on one of his greys to
great effect which interested all especially the beginners and said you must invest in a
good pair of quality tweezers.
This
then went into general discussions on judging and is the Ideal bird out of date?
We
showed our appreciation for an interesting demonstration that had lots of useful tips and
was enjoyed by all. Many thanks for not taking
any expenses!
The
winners of the any Cinnamon colour competition, judged by David Rice were: Best Bird
– Jim Lawrie with a large Cin Grey Green Cock & Best Opposite Sex – Bryon
Shaw with a very good Hen (well done!)
and thanks to all who brought along birds!
The
raffle was held and the evening then concluded at 10.05pm. Bill thanked all members and closed the meeting,
wishing all a safe journey home. |
South Hampshire Meeting
July 2012
Bill Farr, our Chairman, opened the meeting and
welcomed all there (27), including Terry Tuxford our guest speaker for the evening.
Apologies were read out from John Horstead, John Burton, Steve Bailey and Jim
Lawrie.
Bill then handed over to Tony Cash to read out the
minutes of the last meeting, which was the Andrew Luke evening. There were no
comments and the minutes were taken as a true account of the meeting. There was a
committee meeting after last months meeting at Peter Merritt’s on Wednesday 6th June
at 7.30, to go through the show schedule, catering etc.
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| Former Budgerigar World Editor, Terry captivated a
group of fanciers with his stories of how he first became involved in the hobby following
a successful career as a musician. He explained how in his early years he had a desire to
judge and take up opportunities to travel overseas, judging and lecturing, both of which
he had been very fortunate to be successful in. He spoke about
his involvement with Budgerigar World and explained some of the difficulties that have
faced the magazine in recent times. He said, "BW has had an enormous positive impact
on the hobby for many years and it is really unfortunate that the present owner has
allowed it to suffer."
The second part of the evening was entitled "Myth
Busting", which involved audience participation in discussing and offering views and
opinions about some of the urban myths that surround the hobby. Terry said he was keen to
expand his list of myths and would welcome suggestions.
We showed our appreciation for a interesting power point
presentation that had lots of useful commentary and was enjoyed by all. Many thanks
for not taking any expenses! |
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The winners of the Blue colour
competition, judged by Scot Moroney’ were: Best Bird – John Mullen with a Sky
Cock & Best Opposite Sex – Peter Merritt with a Sky Hen (well done!)
The raffle was held and the evening then concluded
at 10.05pm. Bill thanked all members and closed the meeting, wishing all a safe
journey home. |
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South Hampshire Meeting
June 2012
Bill Farr, our Chairman, opened the meeting and welcomed all there
(24), including Andrew Luke our guest speaker for the evening. Apologies were read
out from Scott Moroney and Dee Selby.
Bill then handed over to Tony Cash to read out the minutes of the
last meeting, which was the Young Stock Show. There were no comments and the minutes
were taken as a true account of the meeting. It was also said that a committee
meeting was to take place at Peter Merritt’s on Wednesday 6th June at 7.30.
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Andrew Luke then started with a brief of the
evening’s presentation. ·
The bloodlines that our birds are based on
·
The varieties we keep
·
Our birdroom and management
·
Feeding
·
Our birds from 2001-2012
·
The Molkentin stud (setup plus birds) |
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Andrew said that he and his dad, Tom, were helped to
get back into the hobby in 1991 by Ken and Derrick Whaites, with some good birds which
started them on the road to their current successes. In 2005 a
new brick built bird room with 44 breeding units was up and running, the bird room
measuring 30ft x 18ft with a flat roof; the four windows and door are all double glazed as
are the two roof lights which all allow plenty of natural light into the bird room.
The ceiling and walls are covered in white plastic coated ply wood
and the floor is tiled, so all of this is very easy to clean. The two large inside flights
measuring 13.5ft x 7ft are separated by a corridor leading to the door. The flights are
constructed of stainless steel and green melamine panels. The stainless steel panels help
prevent feather damage caused by the usual climbing up wire mesh, they also make viewing
the birds easier. |
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| A box in a box nest box is used and all are identical.
The inner box is replaced between rounds for hygiene reasons, preventing the build up of
bacteria and fungi & mite. He said that the preparation
area is complete with a sink and work top and hot and cold water. They use a
purifier for the drinker water, which they then boil and leave over night for the
following day’s drinkers.
A two tiered trolley cage made from stainless steel has been made to
house youngsters prior to going into the main flights and adults after coming out of the
breeding cages. On one side wall there are 12 training cages with front opening doors. A
large seed bin underneath the cages provides a clean place for a large quantity of seed.
They also have lots of storage built in, allowing them to buy their
seed in bulk, which is very cost beneficial. |
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They keep the bird room at 75% humidity by using
electrical gadgets such as a de-humidifier and a Germ-o-kill air cleaner (UV Light).
They have 6 x 6ft fluorescent lights with daylight bulbs wired up to a dimmer/time
clock system, night lights and 4 x 5ft tubular heaters wired to a thermostat set at a
minimum of 10c. There is an extractor fan on one wall, as well as a ceiling mounted cooker
hood, to remove air from the bird room so that it is a healthy environment to be in. In the feeding they use a lot of vegetables, which they saw and subsequently
‘learnt from’ when they were at the ‘Molkentin’ set up to bring in
their outcrosses. It has proved to be very beneficial to their birds. They
also put Eucalyptus branches in the flights, as well as swings to occupy the birds and
keep them active. Their soft food is a mixture of EMP & CD together, which works very
well for them. |
| The same basic seed mix is given to every cage all year
round; this is 1 part mixed millet, two parts white millet, two parts plain canary and one
part tonic seed. The three seed types are mixed together and then grated organic
vegetables are added and mixed in. A mixture of at least five of the following is given
daily; carrots + leaves, broccoli + stalk, beetroot + leaves, chicory, chard, parsley,
sweet corn, celery, spinach, peppers red/green/yellow, pakchoey, parsnip, fennel,
cauliflower (white only), brussel sprouts, asparagus, cabbage (green/red), cucumber, peas
(tinned in water or fresh), courgette, radish, kale, turnips, green beans or Chinese bean
sprouts. The vegetable content is around 20% of the mixture. Variety is very important to
gain the most goodness for the birds and a cup of sprouted seed is also added to the
seed/veg mix daily. A mixture of sunflower seed, oats, safflower, paddy rice, melon seed,
chick peas, mung beans, yellow peas and green peas, two cups of sprouted oats are also
added to the mix |
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The presentation showed birds from the early days of
winning in 2001 up to the current day young of 2012, with complete commentary regarding
how they progressed with using various outcrosses from some very top names and the way
they worked them into their quality Opaline Cinnamons (including the very good lacewings
he showed us). As far as the pairing-up goes, Andrew said he
goes up for approx a week with Tom and they jointly pair and discuss the merits of the
various lines / pairs. One of their main concerns is not to breed or have a stud of
massive buff birds that won’t breed, so a balance of feather and style and deportment
is required in their thoughts when pairing up the various lines they have.
We showed our appreciation for a very professional and interesting
power point presentation that had lots of useful commentary and was enjoyed by all.
Many thanks for not taking any expenses Andrew! |
| The winners of the colour competition, judged by Neil
Cawley were: Best Bird - Peter Merritt with a Light Green Cock & Best Opposite Sex
– Wally Shephard with an Opaline Green Hen (well done!) The
raffle was held and the evening then concluded at 9.50pm. Bill thanked all members
and closed the meeting, wishing all a safe journey home. |
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South Hampshire
Meeting May 2012
Bill Farr, our Chairman, opened the meeting and welcomed all there
(18), including Steve Cox our Judge for the evening. Apologies were read out from
John Burton and John Horstead.
With the birds benched (24) Steve started his judging, with Neil
Cawley acting as steward for the evening, whilst we dealt with club business.
Bill then handed over to me to read out the minutes of the last
meeting, which was the Pairs competition with Andy Hind judging. There were no
comments and the minutes were taken as a true account of the meetings.
I gave a brief of the format for the evening, which was asking Steve
to choose Best Young Bird overall and section winners.
After the tea break when Steve had finished his judging he gave a
detailed assessment of the birds. He had put a Green Cock separately to one side, which he
said that if it grew all of its flights ok it would be a super budgie! (Scott Moroney)
Steve then started to give comments regarding the quality of the
birds benched and the faults and good features that were in front of him. He also
gave the reason why he had chosen the Cobalt as the Best Young Bird.
With that explained he then took questions from the floor, with lots
of positive and interesting comments, so well done to Scott Moroney for benching best
bird.
The winners on the evening were:
·
Best Young Bird: Scott Moroney with a Cobalt
Cock (Best Beginner) 
·
Best Opp. Sex Young Bird: Mick Freeborn with a
Cin Sky Pied Hen (Best Champion)
·
Best Novice Young Bird: Peter Merritt with a
Green Cock
Well done to all who brought birds on the evening! |
April
2012 - Pairs Competition
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Bill Farr, our Chairman, opened the meeting and
welcomed all there (22) including two new members, Neil Cawley and Jim Lawrie. He also welcomed Andy Hind from Cheshire who was judging the pairs competition and was
accompanied by Nigel Darley who would act as his steward for the evening. Apologies were
read out from John Burton and John Horstead. With the birds benched
(13 pairs) Andy started his judging, whilst we dealt with club business.
Bill then handed over to me to read out the
minutes of the last meeting, which was the AGM, together with the minutes of the committee
meeting held just after the AGM. There were no comments and the minutes were taken as
true accounts of the meetings. |
| Tony
Cash gave a brief of the format for the evening, which was asking everyone to pair up the
birds as if they were the only birds in their stud and then compare them to Andy’s
pairings. They also had to mark up the best three pairs, with Nigel allocating points to
the various pairings to see who came out best. After 35 minutes we had finished judging
the pairings so we stopped for a tea break and general chat while Nigel did the marking. |
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Andy then started to give comments
regarding the quality of the birds benched and the faults and good features that were in
front of him. He also said why he had chosen
his pairings and gave his ideas for improving the birds, bearing in mind the new
guidelines on major faults laid down by the BS.
With that out of the way, Andy then put
up his best three pairs with comments regarding how he had balanced them to produce better
birds! We had breeders there from top champions like Mick Freeborn to beginners like Scott
Moroney and Andy gave advice regarding each pair, commenting also that you must balance
the faults in your pairings. |
The winners on the evening were:
1st Steve Bailey
25
Points
2nd Jim lawrie
20 Points
3rd
Geoff Biddlecombe
15 Points |
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Well done
to all of the above on having a good eye for pairing up! |
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March
2012 - Annual General Meeting
Bill Farr, our Chairman, opened the meeting and
welcomed all there. Apologies were read out from John Mullen, Scott Moroney
and Dee Selby. Bill then handed over to Tony Cash to read out the minutes of the
2011 AGM and committee meeting held just after the AGM where Tony Smith resigned and Bill
Farr became Chairman.
As Tony Cash stepped in at the last moment to be
joint secretary because Mick Freeborn was unwell, there were no main minutes of the 2011
AGM ,just references to the committee meeting at Tony Smith’s the following Monday.
South Hampshire
Minutes of AGM 2011-Committee Meeting:
This was read out as above to all members before
the meeting and there were no comments:
(Minutes as true account of AGM 2011 / committee
meeting:
Proposed by Steve Bailey – Seconded by Bill
Farr)
The President’s Report
The President, Tony Cash, started by saying a
thank you to everyone connected to the club for the work they did and apologised if he had
forgotten anyone. He said that both Mick and Peter Merritt had put in a tremendous
amount of work over the year to ensure that South Hampshire BS remained one
of the best clubs in the south and that there had been some great meetings with
entertaining speakers. He also mentioned that the programme for this year was
looking good as well.
The Chairperson then gave his report:
Bill Farr said he had enjoyed the year very much
and that having good speakers made it even better. He went on to thank his committee for
all of their hard work during the year. Bill then gave a big thank you to Pam Freemantle,
the unsung heroine, for all the work she does in the kitchen.
General and Membership Secretary’s
report:
Tony Cash started by thanking the committee for
all their work during the year, which had contributed to the success of the club. He said
the club had picked up 3 new members during the year and now had 28 members. All of the
meetings had been reasonable well attended during the year because of the quality of the
program / speakers and he hoped this would continue during 2012 and beyond.
Treasurer’s report:
Peter Merritt went through the profit and
loss/balance sheet reports that had been given out to members. Peter said that, compared
to 2010, there were not a lot of differences and gave a full detailed explanation of the
accounts. (Accounts Proposed by Mick Freeborn – Seconded by Steve Bailey)
Election of Officers:
Tony Cash as President took over the chair for the
election of Chairperson and officers:
|
Position |
Proposed |
Elected |
Seconded |
|
President |
|
Tony Cash |
2 Year Term |
|
Chairperson |
Peter
Merritt |
Bill
Farr |
Ray Nichols |
|
Vice
Chairman |
Tony Cash |
Steve
Bailey |
Mick Freeborn |
|
General
& Membership Secretary |
Bill farr |
Tony
Cash & Mick Freeborn |
Ray Nichols |
|
Treasurer |
Steve Bailey |
Peter
Merritt |
Malcolm
Freemantle |
|
Publicity |
David Rice |
Malcolm
Freemantle |
Steve Bailey |
|
Catering |
By
Committee |
Pam +
Others |
By
Committee |
|
Patronage
Secretary |
By
Committee |
Peter
Merritt |
By
Committee |
|
Show Manager |
By
Committee |
Mick
Freeborn |
By
Committee |
|
Show
Secretary |
By
Committee |
Peter
Merritt + Team |
By
Committee |
|
Bio
–Security |
By
Committee |
Mick
Freeborn |
By
Committee |
| Auditors |
As Last Year |
|
Malcolm
Freemantle |
| President Elect |
|
Malcolm
Freemantle |
Mick
Freeborn |
David Rice |
| Committee |
|
|
Bill
Farr, Steve Bailey, Peter Merritt |
|
|
New |
Tony Cash |
David
Rice |
Malcolm
Freemantle |
Bill Farr mentioned John Burton’s donation of
£41.49 (his Bucktons commission) saying that not many breeders from the club are buying
from him?
Regarding the Open Show in August, we are having
an auction of birds to raise funds for the club.
Donated Birds:
Tony Cash
Steve Bailey
Mick Freeborn
Peter Merritt
Bill Farr
Thank you for all of your support. The AGM
finished at 9.15 and Bill thanked all members and closed the meeting, wishing all a safe
journey home. |
South Hampshire Meeting February
2012
Bill Farr, our Chairman, opened the meeting and
welcomed all there. Apologies were read out from John
Mullen, John Horstead, Scott Moroney, John Burton and Dee Selby.
Bill then handed over to me to read out the
minutes of the last meeting, which was all about breeding problems. All accepted them as a true description of events
(with the exception of Malcolm Freemantle, who queried the comment I had put that
‘common sense had prevailed!’).
I gave a reminder that next month’s meeting
was the AGM and I needed any nominations sent to me. I will be Emailing members with the
AGM paperwork.
The subject of the evening was unshowable birds
in which we had 9 brought along for discussions, varying from almost a duster to flecked
and tailless wonders. They were passed around
the tables for comments etc., after being appraised by Mick Freeborn, as he was unable to
bring any birds due to a major electrical problem in his birdroom.
The rest of the evening was all about birds and
shows of the past, with a very useful comment made by Mick Freeborn regarding his own
method of judging, which was “Beak & Feet them, “which would have stopped
birds winning BIS or CCs with under shot beaks or a missing claw !
Thanks to those who brought birds along!
Peter Merritt then read out a letter regarding
John Burton’s donation of £41.49 (his Bucktons commission) Many thanks John.
 |
In a light hearted moment Nigel Darley gave our
Chairman a big cuddle, which was from Rodney Harris. |
Bill then thanked all members and closed the
meeting, wishing all a safe journey home. |
South Hampshire
Meeting January 2012
Bill Farr, our Chairman, opened the meeting and welcomed all there.
Apologies were read out from John Horstead, Richard Hall and Andrew McKendrick.
Bill then handed over to Mick Freeborn (I was too hoarse to speak
much) to read out the minutes of the last meeting, which was the Christmas social evening.
All accepted them as a true description of events, and I gave a reminder that next
month’s meeting was to bring any unshowable birds.
The bird of the evening was any cinnamon cock or hen, which were
passed around the tables during the evening for comments etc. Thanks to those who
brought them.
The evening was dedicated to breeding problems with our birds and we
went around the table to each member asking them their own problems, the most notable ones
were; cocks not being fit and the correct time to pair up the birds. There was a
mixture of answers, some being that we paired up to suit the new rings coming, (birds over
the top by then) which led to the comment that we must study/watch our birds so we can see
when they are ready to breed by their actions in the flight as they will tell you we are
ready.
Some others had made changes to their feeding program when there was
nothing wrong with existing, to try and give something different? But generally most were
having some success with their breeding teams.(we all get disappointments from time to
time) part of the hobby!
This led on to the question of open shows and the new guide lines
laid down by the BS and the implication of them, as some didn’t realise that the new
2013 rules had been amended and common sense had prevailed under the pressure from the
members of the BS.
Bill then thanked all members and closed the meeting and all were
wished a safe journey home. |
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