Santa Barbara KC, An Interview with Abbe Shaw & Desi Murphy
By Fran Reisman
So many of our readers know or have read about the grand old Santa Barbara Kennel Club in days of yore that I don’t think it’s necessary to repeat the stories, but let’s give you a short history of this famous dog show.
From the Santa Barbara Catalog: The first show in Santa Barbara was held in 1919 in the Palm Ring of the Belvedere Hotel. There were 272 entries. The following year saw a three day event with over 500 entries all judged by one man, Mr. Charles G. Hopton, considered the foremost judge in America at that time. The show as reviewed by the magazine “Field & Stream” in their November 6, 1920 issue said, “The annual show of the Santa Barbara Kennel Club, held on the beautiful grounds of the Ambassador Hotel… may well go down in history as the most picturesque dog show ever assembled. It far surpassed all expectations.”
Now better than 90 years later Santa Barbara Kennel Club is alive and doing well. Through the early years of Syd Heckert and then the masterful hands of Tom and Ann Stevenson, SBKC had strong, unerring leadership.
Abbe: After Anne’s death and Tom’s retirement, the club hit some ruts, basically due to bad management. The membership was willing to follow the faction who took the lead. We lost our grounds at UCSB as well as our date. We then moved out of the area for a few years. This was very unpopular. New leadership took over and decided we needed back-to-back shows to make a go of it. Having lost our July date, we moved the show to the last weekend in August. Today, thanks to strong leadership and membership, (drawn from all over the world), the show is again on top.
FR: What made you want to bring SBKC back?
Abbe: Because it had a rich history in the dog world. We believed we could bring the club and show back to its rightful place. There were dark days when we thought we’d have to quit. We didn’t want just another dog show. If we were going to do this, it had to be done right.
FR: With such a small bank account, how did you get the first show under yours and the show committee’s leadership off the ground? What kind of entry did you have?
Abbe: We had two things going for us. The Patron’s Program helped with expenses so that the show could be what we wanted it to be. We also borrowed some money which was paid back immediately. And we had a group of hard workers with a great show chair, David Powers. David had a vision for Santa Barbara Kennel Club.
The first year at Earl Warren Show Grounds we had an all breed match to raise money. We also had a Handler’s Assistant Match. This all brought in the needed revenue, but more so we knew it could be done.
FR: I understand that many people were not happy with the move to Earl Warren Showgrounds. Why was the show moved to a horse show arena? (Especially with all the rumors that the grounds were being sold and would be built upon.)
Abbe: It was the only place in Santa Barbara that offered adequate space for the event, and there was ample room for parking, rings & vendors. As an extra bonus, there were “real” bathrooms with running water. I also had knowledge that the grounds were not being sold.
FR: How did you get the idea of sodding this enormous space?
Abbe: We knew that Poodle Club of America had managed to do it and we had to do something as California people do not like showing on dirt. The sod was expensive, but paid off in the years to come.
FR: The first few years at Earl Warren, the show was simply another nice show, but nothing out of the ordinary. What changed this?
Abbe: We always wanted to make it more than just another dog show. We felt that if that was the only option we would not have another show. People from all over joined us to make this work. Hard work and diligence and a lot of luck made it possible. They too had a belief in Santa Barbara Kennel Club. This year we are very proud to have The Canine Chronicle as one of the major sponsors of the Exhibitors’ Dinner.
Desi: A great group of people with new ideas and the talent to make them work. Santa Barbara Kennel Club had a history of tradition. But in order to keep that tradition, changes had to be made. There’s an old saying that goes something like “You have to keep changing to keep going.”
FR: I agree with many others that the Breeder’s Showcase has a lot to do with the success of these shows. Where did this idea come from? Was it difficult to get the idea across to people around the county?
Desi: It’s an interesting story. Six years ago I was in Stockholm for the World Show. I had judged a week before at a show in another part of Sweden. I heard an announcement saying that Sylvia Hammarstrom from California and her black Standard Schnauzers of Skansen had won the Breeders Competition. This made me think that this was something that should be done at Santa Barbara. It’s not very often that the breeders are given the chance to show their best dogs in a group of other breeders’ best dogs. It’s become a very important and very well-attended event.
There are a lot of people to thank for making the event so well-attended and well-liked. It takes many people to tell many people across the country how important the event is. And people were interested.
We’ve also found it fulfilling that so many top breeders who compete but don’t win, are still happy that they traveled to Santa Barbara for the event, and they plan to return!
Abbe: I believe that breeders around the country were waiting for an event where they could showcase their breeding stock. We were extremely lucky that Purina Pro Plan offered their support. This made it possible.
FR: Can you explain how the Showcase works? Scheduling, set-up, etc.
Abbe: The Breeder’s Showcase starts at group level. Each entry consists of two dogs (male or female) of the same breed or variety, having at least one breeder in common. An entry may be handled in the ring by anyone. Either dog may or may not be entered at the breed level. This allows retired champions to be shown in the Showcase. The groups are judged on Saturday after regular group judging. Also each year a bronze is made of the BIShowcase pair. They will be on display at the new Purina Events Center.
Desi: This was a problem. Some members felt that we couldn’t do it Saturday night. After all, that was the evening for the judges’ dinner. Well, we just went ahead and had the judges’ dinner at ringside. Someone said they’d rather please 1000 people than 20 or so judges. Now, we please them all.
FR: How the heck does the club manage to buy that wonderful dinner for all the exhibitors?
Desi & Abbe: Through the generosity of breeders here and around the world. Also, donors who want to see this event succeed. People actually love the Breeders Showcase. We get letters thanking us for doing this for the backbone of our sport…the breeders. We are also very fortunate to have sponsorship from Purina Pro Plan and from The Canine Chronicle.
FR: For the last two years there has also been a best foreign-bred competition. Why?
Desi: We noticed, in the dog publications, that many of the top dogs in the U.S. were owned and bred in foreign countries. We felt it would add another dimension to the show. This too has started to grow and we hope to have a good representation of the foreign dogs who are making their mark at U.S. dog shows.
FR: What new events does SBKC have up its sleeves? What are your hopes for the future of SBKC?
Desi & Abbe: This year will be our first Bullygangza Competition which will be held before Group judging on Saturday. This event is open to Bullmastiffs, America Staffordshire Terriers, Bull Terriers (White and Colored), Mini Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, Boston Terriers, Bulldogs and French Bulldogs. Again, Desi was at the SBKC show when he got a call from Europe about judging the different Bully Breeds. He thought that this would be fun. It has attracted a lot of attention and we expect it to be well-attended. In the future, we would like to see other group competitions similar to the Bullygangza such as a Sighthound Group and a Spitz Group.
FR: It seems people are once again talking about the wonderful SBKC show. What do you think has caused your dream to become a reality?
Desi: People like to show and here they have the chance to show in more than one competition. Also, people like to have fun and those who have been here like to tell their friends about it. One woman was overheard saying, “Sitting at ringside under the stars, watching dogs, drinking wine and eating good food…what could be better?”
I also know one prominent lady who calls it The Kentucky Derby of Dog Shows.
We should also mention that both Purina in Italy and The Chinese Kennel Club send the winners of their Breeders Competition to the Santa Barbara show to compete in our Breeders Showcase.
The great working relationship we have with Purina Pro Plan plays a very significant part in the success of our show. They have been wonderful to work with and very supportive.This summer they have a team coming from their breeders members program to cover the show.
As we are such a breeder-oriented show, we decided that it would be important to honor people from the seven different groups for their contribution to our sport. This has become a very significant part of the show
Abbe: I must say that we are proud to have one of the most beautiful trophy tables in this country, and are happy that people today continue to contribute works of art to this display.
I’d also like to thank our hard working members, and the many people who have told us how much they enjoy our shows and will continue to join us win or lose.
One more thank you to Anita O’Berg who is our new Show Chair. We know under her guidance Santa Barbara Kennel Club will continue to shine.
FR: Thank you both for taking time to let people throughout the world know more about this beautiful and very enjoyable show where some of the finest dogs are shown. I hope they will all make the trip to beautiful Santa Barbara to join us.
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on Aug 25 2012. Filed under Current Articles, Dog Show History, Featured, Uncategorized.
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