Table Talk · September 20, 2023
I attended the Chinese Shar-Pei National for a few days this past week. It was close enough to my house that I could go back and forth (80 miles or 1.5 hours is about my limit and that was exactly the distance one way). While traveling home Thursday evening–after a very enjoyable dinner with friends–I had a blowout on my sprinter. My speed was about 80 mph, and I was in the left-hand lane of the toll road! UGH! What’s frustrating is I had replaced the tires just 30 days prior. I am not sure what was scarier: Trying to maintain control of the truck while pulling over and keeping it upright or sitting on the side of the freeway with cars and trucks speeding by me. Thank goodness for good friends who came to my rescue and sat with me until we got it back on the road. A huge shout-out to my friends Teena Uyeno and Becca Pentecost! You guys are the best friends!
I will share a couple of lessons I learned from this unfortunate occurrence that could have turned out so much worse!
1) Check the age and condition of your spare tire! While I just replaced the tires on my truck a month ago, I did not think to replace the spare. My full-size spare was the original that came with the truck! It got me home, but that is not a chance I want to take again.
2) If you have a roadside emergency on a toll road, call the local police and they will connect you to the toll road system that will come to your rescue quickly! I called AAA first and waited 45 minutes only to find out that the tow truck driver did not have the necessary tools. The tollway guy was there in a matter of minutes and had me quickly on my way!
Colton and Heather Johnson’s Under the Sun Dog Training facility in Colorado Springs, Colorado hosted its first national specialty. Pumi Fest was held at Under The Sun and I am told a good time was had by all! Colton and Heather have huge plans for the future of their business. In addition to their facility in Colorado Springs, they have purchased 35 acres east of their location, and they will be building an event center that should be ready in Spring 2024. Congratulations to Colton and Heather for their vision and their determination. Stay tuned for more exciting news about the new venture. Meanwhile, if you are looking for a location out west to hold a specialty show, reach out to Colton and Heather!
The Evergreen Kennel Club and Roaring Fork Kennel Club were giving away free catalogs to the exhibitors at their shows in Greeley, Colorado! Kudos to the clubs for the nice gesture.
The first set of Greeley shows was the location of this year’s Greyhound Club of America National Specialty. This year they held their inaugural top 10 event. Congratulations to the GCA for having the largest entry in decades with a total of 115.
Congratulations to Adam and Lucas King who are expecting a baby March 2024 via surrogate. You guys will make amazing parents! Best wishes to the family for a bright future.
Lauren Hay-Lavitt (now Lauren Portal) gave birth to a beautiful baby boy recently. Mason Felix Portal was born on September 9th. Best wishes to the Portal family. You have a wonderful journey ahead of you.
It is with sadness I report that Don Davis, husband of Bobbi Davis, passed away last week. Don and Bobbi owned Davis Show Supply in California for many, many years. Many on the West Coast looked to them for their general dog supply needs at the shows. A few years back they sold the business, but still attended some shows. Don was 98 years young when he passed away. Our sympathy to Bobbi and the rest of the Davis family at this very sad time.
Wally and Carol Sommerfelt traveled to Australia for judging assignments last week. Their first stop was in Brisbane where they judged the Gun Dog Show before they went on to Melbourne to judge specialties. Their trip sounds like an amazing judging assignment! Safe travels home, my friends!
Cindy Vogels and Peggy Beisel-Mcilwaine traveled to Italy to judge the Bullyganza. What a great destination for a great event! I sure hope there was time for site-seeing and exploring!
Whippet fancier Debbie Davenport is home recovering after hip replacement surgery. Take it easy and we look forward to having you back running left-handed circles sooner rather than later.
I was thrilled to hear that Edd Bivin made it to the Westchester Dog show a couple weeks ago to judge Best In Show! Here’s hoping we see Edd at more shows in the future.
Fanciers celebrating wedding anniversaries recently include Paul Clas and Chrystal Murray as well as Jamie Souza Bartlett and Will Bartlett. Paula and Phil Thomas (more affectionately known as dog show hottie) are celebrating their 60th! Enjoy your special day, and may you have many more fantastic years together.
We are celebrating a lot of birthdays among the fancy this week! Happy birthday to Eugene Blake, Scott Sommer, Marion Bradshaw, Alaina Moulton, Angela Pickett, Jeanie Troyan, Debbie Thornton, Daniel Magee, David Stout, Cheryl Fredericks, Tessie Savage, Sam Marquis, Jim Moses, Colton Johnson, Julie Lee, Liz Powell, Vesta Rash, Linda Pitts, Brittany Greendeer, Mandy Clevenger and Moe Miyagawa. Enjoy your next trip around the sun, my friends!
I want to share Michel Faulkner’s words he spoke when he concluded judging the Golden Retriever Club of America National. He said, “At the end of the day, my heart was singing! The depth of quality was exceptional.” Congratulations to all who participated and thank you to Michael for the encouraging words to the fanciers who exhibited their dogs to you!
Please remember this my friends! Don’t just sit back, DO SOMETHING! That is how you bring about change!!!
Be safe out there and be sure to check your spare tire! I will see you soon down the road! Until next time…
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