July 14, 2011
Dear Wildlife Artists,
I want to begin by thanking our loyal customers, friends, and our amazing employees who have done such an awesome job for so many years.
WASCO has been a huge part of my life for over 25 years; first as an employee, and later as a business owner with my partner Ken Edwards. During that time, I have had the opportunity to reflect on my life, and I realize that there have been four things that have been very dear to me. In order of importance, these four things are God, my family, WASCO, and my deer.
It is because of this special love and commitment that I have had to WASCO that the time had come to make some very difficult decisions. It is said that if you release something that you love, it will fly away to grow and prosper on its own. At this particular time, in order for WASCO to remain as a leader in the taxidermy industry, it was time to let it go.
When Ken and I decided it was time to sell WASCO, I knew there was only one place that we were willing for it to go. My longtime friendship with Tom Powell led me to call him about the future of WASCO. I knew in my heart that Tom and the McKenzie team was the only group that I had confidence in to continue on with our company. And now, with McKenzie's support, Ken and I will be able to be involved in bringing many new things to fruition that we have had in mind for many years, but were unable to accomplish.
Because McKenzie and WASCO both share the same commitment to the importance of whitetail deer to our industry, McKenzie has generously offered to assist with the continuing research projects into CWD, EHD, and other issues facing the health of deer in the wild. The WASCO/McKenzie deer research facility will continue to be on the forefront of tomorrow's solutions to these problems.
My prayer is that our loyal customers will continue to show the same loyalty to McKenzie, knowing that Ken and I will always be there; not only physically but in spirit as well, forever.
Deerly,
Sallie Dahmes
President, WASCO
Wildlife Artist Supply Company
1306 West Spring Street, Monroe, GA 30655
www.taxidermy.com