Westminster – Reimagined in the Summer

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146 – August, 2021

By Joan Harrigan

Photos ©Winter Churchill and ©Han

Westminster is easy to take for granted—if you aren’t on the staff or show committee. Each year in February, mid-town Manhattan spends a week celebrating purebred dogs. The main event is, of course, the benched conformation show, where spectators could count on watching virtually every AKC-recognized breed compete. But there is much more to “Westminster Week”—the obedience and rally competition, the vendors—even the myriad other shows that precede it. Every year, it all materializes—the banners, the floral displays, the portraits of past winners, the purple velvet ropes and green flooring—certainly it must take a lot of effort, but somehow, each year everything reappears. Exhibitors might complain about the expense of attending, NYC traffic, and the inconvenience of schlepping dogs, tables, and tack from mid-town to the Piers for the breed judging; but for most, showing here was on a bucket list, if not an annual tradition.

Of course, the pandemic changed all that. We didn’t know it at the time, but we were incredibly lucky that the 2020 show came off as it did. COVID was already in the city, but the extent wasn’t known. So, we all went about our normal Westminster Week routine—parties, trips to favorite restaurants, taking in a Broadway play or two—with no idea that this might be the last “normal” trip for the foreseeable future.

An Air of Mystery

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146 – August, 2021

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Posted by AnthonyA on Aug 14 2021. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.