About Us Learn Find Gerbils Gerbil Shows Members Area AGS Store

Meet the AGS Board

Board Members	Alternates
Donna Anastasi, President	Judi Poirier
Ruth Divine, Vice-President & Treasurer	Michele Rush
Amy Paben, Secretary	Kim Paden
Libby Hanna, Webmaster
Kylee Dickey	President Emeritus
	Janet Morrow
Show Officials
Jo Kelley, Show Secretary

---

Janet Morrow
President Emeritus

I have always loved children and animals, and have had a house full of both for years.  My husband and I have twelve children, five of whom are out and on their own.  The other seven range in age from fourteen down to five. We have adopted special needs and one waiting sibling group. (Blind, CP, RED, FAS)

Currently we have one Pug, and our small gerbil clan.  We bought our first pair of gerbils way back in 1985, and have loved them ever since.  We have bred Color Point Slates, Siamese, Color Point Gray Agouti, Argente Cream, Argente Golden, Lilacs, Doves, and REW. We currently have one breeding pair, since Northern Maine has a very limited market. I believe that breeders should have high ethics, which for me means not producing gerbils that I can not guarantee a good home for.

We love the quality of life and the "back to nature" atmosphere of Northern Maine. Having lived around the United States, the Philippines, and Okinawa we returned home to Presque Isle, Maine. The only drawback in lack of a market for my gerbil pups. I love to breed, and would have numerous pairs if possible.

To keep me from sitting at home with nothing to do  ;- } , I run a graphic / web design business. Between my business, Mountain Ash, and the AGS I spend much of my day at the computer. (Luckily all but one of my children are in school!) Two of my tanks of gerbils, my breeding pair and the nusery, live on my computer desk. I get to watch the while I work, and they are use to seeing me all the time.

I did not seek after the position of AGS President, but happened to trip over it one day. With the resignation of our previous president I had to make a decision; to allow the AGS to flounder and possible fall apart, or to step in and take action. So, here I am....

---

Donna Anastasi
President

I live in Southern New Hampshire in a big house in the woods with my husband and two daughters.  Growing up my parents didn't like keeping pets, so I must still be reacting! We share our home with: a cockapoo dog, a pug, and a rat who thinks she’s one of the dogs; four dwarf hamsters; a chinchilla; gold, beta, and tropical fish; and twenty-something gerbils.

After getting two gerbils “for the kids” several years ago, I quickly become charmed by these delightful little creatures. Next came breeding, first from local gerbils, then getting very rare at-the-time gerbils from as far away as Texas and Colorado and introducing these colors to New England. Soon after that came a total gerbil addiction. I’ve been an active member of the AGS since soon after it was established, helped organize the first gerbil show in this country, and am a certified AGS judge. I also wrote the book: Gerbils: The Complete Guide to Gerbil Care, published by BowTie Press.

Currently ABC Gerbils has three breeding lines: 1) extreme mottles, 2) selfs with no white markings on the chin or paws; 3) gorgeous Siamese and Burmese. In my real life I have a high responsibility, high stress job. I love gerbil care and breeding because it is a wonderful combination of being simple, relaxing, and yet challenging. Plus my gerbils are always happy to see me, standing on their hind legs begging to come out.

Contact Donna

---

Ruth Divine
Vice-President & Treasurer

As a child I always had a dog, a cat and tanks of fish. The only rodents that I had experience with were guinea pigs which my brother and I raised for a few years. When I moved to Springfield, Mo. in 1990, I became involved with a no-kill dog & cat rescue. I now have four dogs and 2 cats, all rescues from shelters or off the street.

My first gerbils were a pair of males brought home from a pet store in 2001. I was fascinated by them and began using the new-to-me research tool, my computer. I found the AGS when looking for information on why my gerbil had a very red nose and learned about proper bedding. I soon joined the AGS and continued to learn.

The AGS has some incredibly nice and intelligent members that are willing to share their experience with others. I am enjoying this group immensely. Association with the AGS has changed my life in positive ways. I have traveled to several gerbil shows and hosted two in the Midwest. I bring to the Board my organizational skills and willingness to work hard.

I work full time as a billing/receiving clerk for a small family owned business in Springfield. I now live in the country and in addition to my dogs and cats, also have a horse that I am learning to care for and ride. My rodent population includes gerbils, Syrian and dwarf hamsters and guinea pigs. Most of these animals come from owners that no longer want to care for them or from animal shelters. I do not breed any animal.

Contact Ruth

---

Amy Paben
Secretary

I live in western Oregon with my husband and daughter, who attends the local community college. Our son serves in the US Navy, currently stationed in Washington state. We share our home with two Shetland Sheepdogs, a Pug, three indoor cats, some freshwater tropical fish, five Roborovski dwarf hamsters, five degus, and eighteen gerbils.

I had my first pair of gerbils in 1972. I didn’t get back into gerbils until after my children’s hamsters passed away in 1996. They wanted something less boring and more active. Of course! Gerbils! After checking out the Internet for information and discovering all the new colors, gerbil genetics and breeding became my passion. I was on the Gerbil Mailing List and joined the AGS when it began in 1998. I served on the original Committee. In the fall of 1999 my gerbil population reached its peak at 123, and I scaled back considerably. I still enjoyed my gerbils, but took some time off from actively breeding and from being active in the AGS.

Now that our children are grown I’m able to spend time again with what I love. I attended the 2004 Midwest Show and the 2005 Northeast Show. I volunteered at the Midwest Show with Health Inspections and assisted the Judges at the Northeast Show. I currently serve on the Ethics Committee and am working on becoming a certified AGS Judge. Gerbils NW has an average of two litters a year. While I still love 'all the pretty colors', my focus is on keeping my gerbils well, happy, and healthy. I want to contribute so that the AGS continues to develop and grow. I learned so many things ‘the hard way’ when I first had pet gerbils. To have the AGS available to educate, assist and support those who love and care for gerbils is my goal.

Contact Amy

---

Libby Hanna
Board Member

Through my childhood and into my adult life, I always had a cat, a bird or a couple of goldfish, one species at a time, nothing unusual. Then one day, I picked up a complete aquarium set-up at a yard sale and we added a couple of surprisingly resilient goldfish to the two cats in our household. Little did I know I had cracked open the door for a flood of creatures to follow.

My daughter Ruth led us (circuitously) to our first three gerbils, who we adopted at a 4-H show: an elderly, dark-eyed white mother and her middle-aged lilac daughters. First one then another passed away; and we went searching for a new companion for the survivor. As luck would have it, a Google search led me to Donna Anastasi the day before the Nashua, NH AGS show, which we decided to attend.

Our gerbil hobby has grown to include a little breeding, some rescue work, and support for teachers in our elementary school who have adopted our gerbils for their classrooms. With five tanks of gerbils in residence at our elementary school, Shawsheen River Gerbils has good “buzz” among children in our hometown, which has greatly aided our efforts to rescue and rehome gerbils.

At this point, we have two cats, a parakeet, a chinchilla, two degus, two rats, a hamster, two spiny mice, and roughly a dozen resident gerbils, with rescues and litters coming and going. My daughter Ruth and I publish our own kennel newsletter, Gerbilmania.

To pay for water bottles and vet bills, I run a small business doing web-site maintenance, and have recently returned to school to train as a bookkeeper. I volunteer on a variety of church, civic, and school committees, teach Sunday School, lead a Girl Scout troop, and am now a proud member of the AGS Board.

Contact Libby

---

Kylee Dickey
Board Member

When I'm not spoiling my gerbils (or putting olive oil on squeaky exercise wheels!), I spend a lot of time on the computer. During the day, I work as a writer for several computer and consumer electronics publications. I've also recently started my own small business designing Web sites. I'm only just getting started in this work, but I really enjoy it. I've always enjoyed working with computers and doing “geeky” things, but my interests also include writing, genealogy, crafts, and photography. Designing Web sites feeds both my geeky and creative sides.

I am currently a probationary judge for the AGS. I really enjoyed judging at the 2006 Midwest Show and performing health inspections. I plan to make it to the 2007 NE Show so I can meet more AGS members and so I can have another opportunity to practice judging a show.

I am the current editor of Gerbil Tales, the official newsletter of the AGS. I also spend quite a bit of time running my own gerbil Web site, Twin Squeaks Gerbils, too. My site is somewhat unique, I think, in that its main visitors are pet owners rather than breeders. This isn't an accident. I noticed that there were a lot of pet owners who were either not interested in or not ready for breeding gerbils but who still had a real need to learn important things, such as what types of beddings are safe, how to tell if a gerbil has a respiratory infection, and what items sold in pet shops are not safe. I wanted to design a site that would be fun and that would attract the average family with pet gerbils... hopefully giving them the opportunity to find more accurate answers to their questions than they'd get if they went to the average pet shop.

I adopted my first pair of gerbils, Audrey and Ramona, seven years ago. They were both red foxes and the perfect starter gerbils. I didn't know what I was doing, but Audrey and Ramona were very calm, very friendly, and very patient, as I learned the right ways to take care of a pair of gerbils. My current gerbils include Herman (an AGS Champion from Double Star Kennels); his son Sebastian; laid-back brothers Mike & Toby; Gobo, an active little cutie; red fox sisters Grace & Tori; the super-tame brothers Marco & Polo; and Herman’s very sweet and friendly granddaughters Hallie & Liza.

Contact Kylee

---

Jo Kelley
Show Secretary

Gerbils came into my life when I was in High School, around 1986-87 in South TX. My Biology class raised some Agouti pups from an Agouti pair and I took home two brothers when the pups were weaned. They were named Coors and Spudz (as the beer commercials with the surfing dog were very popular in this coastal town).

I also ended up rescuing a white lab rat from school that I named Tribble (Star Trek influence). He needed a home after school was over for the summer. Along this time period, Smurf (more 80's influence), my very very sweet golden Syrian hamster, also came to live with me, purchased from a pet store. Rodents as pets have been a part of my life ever since, but it has always been gerbils that were my constant companions. No matter where I have lived since college, I have always owned at least one pair of gerbils as pets.

Black Wolf Clan (BWC) began in 1998 when I joined the AGS, GML, and NGS. I was fascinated by all the available colors and genetics of gerbils! I took home my first black gerbil (TJ) from the pet store, along with 'her' brother, an agouti named Cinnammon and 6 months later, the two "brothers" had pups. (TJ being a female, I discovered!) Luckily the AGS and gerbil community was there to guide me along!!

Currently, I serve as the Show Points Secretary (keeping up with Show Points earned) and also record the Gerbil Registrations -- two jobs which I love! I live in MO with my 6 cages of gerbils, one hamster, and two horses.

Contact Jo

---

Judi Poirier
Alternate

I know that many of you already know me and my daughter Emily from the shows that we have attended, but you probably don't know much about me.

I work from home for a large corporation. I interface with a variety of the company's vendors and make sure that they are providing us with the type of service and support that we need. I also help the staff in our offices resolve any issues that they may have around processes and equipment. I also manage special projects for them to help resolve issues that we may have. I worked on the last Winter Olympics to make sure that all of the television network's circuits were all up to date with any changes so that they would not fail during the telecasts. I also manage various projects for them to make sure that they get completed in a timely manner.

Other organizations that Emily and I are involved with include the German Shepherd Rescue of New England. We work at the events that they have each year, such as their Walk And Wag in October and the auction that they hold each April. We make a special project for each auction. Last year, we made a quilt with each dog's picture, name, and year of adoption. This year, we are making a scrapbook with each dog's picture and stories about how they came to be at the rescue, the wonderful life that they now have as adopted dogs, or unfortunately, the sad stories of the dogs that came into our care and passed on before they found their forever home. Besides supporting these activities, I pick up their mail and sort through it, keeping a record of the checks that come into the rescue. I pull together all the notes that are also included and make sure that each piece of mail gets to the appropriate person.

As for the animals in our life, we have a diabetic cat that is now 15 years old. We also have seven chinchillas and seven gerbils. We had the misfortune of losing one of our gerbils at the NJ Show. She died after having two strokes and had seizures after the second one. We also lost Pistachio shortly after the show. We did, however, have two of our gerbils earn their Championships. Emily was very excited since she picked the boys out, and they were all wonderful boys.

As far as our involvement in the AGS, so far it has really been limited to the shows that we have attended and helping out at the shows where we are needed. I am glad to join the Board as an Alternate to do what I can to support the organization.

Contact Judi

---