Boy, do we have some exciting news for you in this issue.

Wait, forget exciting. This is earth-shattering! We are thrilled to inform you that the E-commerce system is now operational for ASD’s on-line bookstore! Everything is fully automatic, just like on Amazon.com! This is a huge step for your humble society and its bookstore, so check it out!

As if that weren’t enough: Our website now has an operating bulletin board! What this means is, once you log on and register, you can communicate with other registered members around the country and find roommates/suitemates for the upcoming convention, explore ride-shares ... the possibilities are endless. Look for the Bulletin Board link on our website. Again, this is a monumental step forward for ASD, joining the 21st century with our website. An enormous thank you to Will Clark on the website committee for his efforts. Until he came along, no one had the expertise to understand the package we have with our internet service provider (and are paying for!), and recognize the many ways we can utilize it to benefit our society and our members, and to further the mission and purpose of ASD. Will, you get a gold star!

NEWSFLASH! Calling all dowsers!

We have a dowsing contest to offer our members. Once upon a time the ASD bookstore was housed separately from HQ, in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. They had their own postage meter and scale. The bookstore was moved back to Dowsers Hall in the headquarters building in 2004. In a review of our obligations and contracts, O.M. Arvid Johnson determined that the contract for that particular scale runs out in February, and at that time the equipment needs to be returned. The only problem is, that scale can not be located. It is unknown whether it came back along with everything else in the bookstore when it was moved back to HQ, or was lost later. Of course, no one now at headquarters knows anything about it, as this was 3 years ago. An exhaustive search at headquarters has failed to yield the scale.

For clarity’s sake, know that there are actually four scales currently (physically) at headquarters: a package scale to weigh larger packages on; a postage scale currently in use; a postage scale that is not in use and no longer works; and lastly a new scale that arrived recently with our new PitneyBowes postage meter. We own all the scales but the Pitney Bowes scale which is leased; the missing one, which we need to find—else we must pay a $1000 purchase price—is a NeoPost scale that was leased some time ago, along with the NeoPost postage meter that is in our possession. This equipment needs to be returned at the conclusion of the contract.

So ... HELP! Help your society save $1000! If a member finds this item, or even assists in its recovery, they will be rewarded with their choice of three DVDs or five CDs from ASD’s archives. For a listing of these, see This is a chance to help out your society in a very visceral way, and to further the cause of dowsing. AND, to earn the extreme appreciation and gratitude of the staff at HQ as well as the Board of Trustees who, in their December meeting, worked very hard to approve a 2007 budget that includes the $1000 payment—which we would rather spend in more useful ways. We have faith in YOU, our members. So get out your pendulums and get busy! And thank you, in advance.

On another note, please ignore the deadline in the Fall issue and continue to send in your membership information forms found in the back of the Digest. The deadline has been extended; we need your accurate, updated information to fill out our records and enhance our service to you, the membership. Thank you!!

The O.M. is pleased to announce that ASD’s logo is now officially trademarked and registered.

The confirmation was recently received. This effort was initiated under Trustees Bill Northern and Ron Blackburn and then-OM Craig James at the Meeting of the Trustees back in June ‘06. In all these 40-odd years of existence, ASD’s logo had never been trademarked! So now we have that protection, and confirmation of it. That is a big relief! Why? This became an issue when it was discovered that a longtime ASD member was promoting another organization on a website by falsely associating it with ASD. When faced with the situation and making a decision as to how to proceed, we realized we couldn’t take a step until we determined whether our logo and name was trademarked. It wasn’t! And now that member has changed the webpage that sparked this whole investigation. Good news. Thanks to Ron, Bill and Craig for taking action on this very important issue. Now we can rest assured that ASD actually owns its logo and name.

Year of the $100 update: We have received about $13,000 so far from Jim Smidgie’s campaign. You members who have participated have to know how much your generosity has helped out here at HQ. Thanks to you, we were able to print the Fall Digest. We are planning on going to print with the Winter issue in a few weeks. If donations keep coming in as they have, this will be no problem, especially since we have found a more economical printer. So please know that your caring and devotion to ASD are most appreciated, and your contribution is, in a very real way, helping further ASD’s purpose and mission, through its very existence.

Do you belong to a chapter? Send in your chapter highlights to: joya@dowsers.org If your particular chapter is active and has lots going on, let the rest of your ASD family know about it. Some chapters are struggling for speakers, activities ... give them some ideas to chew on. Your story will be printed in the American Dowser to inspire others.