Table Talk · August 27, 2020
Once again, I’d like to give a huge shout-out to our fancy for the perseverance and dedication in keeping our sport moving forward. Over the last couple weeks there has been a bit of disappointment as the Elgin Kennel Club in Elgin, Illinois and the Olympic Kennel Club in Enumclaw, Washington were forced to cancel their clusters. Well, my friends, BOTH of these clusters have been rescheduled!!!! The Elgin Kennel Club has joined forces with the Janesville-Beloit Kennel Club for a four-day cluster scheduled for October 15-18 in Wisconsin. Keep your eyes open for their premium list. The superintendent is BaRay. The Olympic Kennel Club cluster has been rescheduled for September 23-27 at the Expo Center in Enumclaw, Washington. BaRay is also the superintendent for these shows. Congratulations to all for banding together and not giving up! The show WILL go on!
I am thrilled to see that there will be a two-day Sporting Group show in Southern California!!!!! The Southern California Sporting Dog Fanciers will be holding a two-day show in Temecula, California on October 17-18. For more information you can check out dogzibit.com.
Unfortunately, as of now, the Progressive Toy Show which is normally held the week of Westminster at the Hotel Pennsylvania has been cancelled for 2021. This is due to the the hotel’s closure until April. I heard that the developer who currently owns the Hotel Pennsylvania is once again considering knocking it down and building a tower. We will have to wait to see how that plays out.
Kris Harner, Chair of the Carolina Foot Hills Cluster in Greenville, South Carolina, sent out a short 10 question survey to all exhibitors that attended the cluster. I hope that everyone completed the survey and returned it. This is valuable information for the American Kennel Club and other regulatory agencies. I am told that all data will be kept anonymous. Thanks so much to Kris for all of her hard work!
There has been a good deal of discussion recently regarding Onofrio Dog Show Superintendent’s recommended practice of disallowing walk-in entries for limited shows. What this means is that the only way to submit entries is either by postal service (good luck with that!) or using Onofrio’s online entry system. In general, the fancy feels that this is strictly a financial initiative on Onofrio’s behalf. There are some that believe that this practice has been suggested due to the Superintendent’s inability to process a large volume of walk-in entries due to limits of 1000-1500 dogs, and not being able to accommodate that limit if online entries are processed simultaneously with the walk-in entries. At one point, Onofrio had to halt their on-line entry system to ensure they processed all of the walk-in entries, thereby causing great angst on the part of fanciers trying to enter.
The decision whether or not to adopt this practice is up to each kennel club, and I hear that Onofrio is recommending this practice to their show-giving clubs. Many fanciers have been using entry services to complete their entries for dog shows for many years. Others have engaged entry services recently because they are unable to navigate the opening dates for shows and feel it is best to let the entry services do what they do best and handle their entries. Until now, the only show I am aware of that adopted this no walk-in practice was Westminster Kennel Club and their superintendent.
AKC’s Club Development department posted the current rules governing this practice on social media. It was great of them to post the rules, but I believe what people were looking for was a bit of direction given the extenuating circumstances of the pandemic. It is my understanding that the AKC Board held a special meeting to discuss this topic, but I have not been able to verify this, nor have I seen any result of said meeting. It was probably discussed in executive session. Rest assured, if I hear anything, you’ll be the first to know!
The fires in California have caused great concern for many of our fanciers. Lois Snyder was evacuated and got out safely with her Salukis (and her Porsches). She recently heard that her home was still standing, thank goodness. Last I heard she was still not back home, but everyone is safe. Alberto Montila and Rachel Adams took a trip to Bold Oaks (Bill and Taffe McFadden’s place) when they were evacuated. They got the all clear and are back home. Best wishes to all California fanciers affected by the fires. I would love to hear news about more of our friends in California affected by the fires. Please send me an email at deb.cooper@caninechronicle.com with your status.
Terri Erickson experienced quite a scare when she suffered a series of strokes recently. Terri was in ICU and, fortunately, recovered quickly with no permanent damage. Terri’s symptoms included numbness on one side, including her face. Fortunately, she was pro-active and got to the ER in time! All the best for complete healing Terri! Thank goodness you are okay!
Congratulations to Paul Clas and Chrystal Murray on the birth of their baby girl, Madison Clas, born August 23rd at 8:46 AM. We are told Madison weighed 7 pounds 5 ounces.
Happy Anniversary to Kay and Doug Belter and Anita and Eric O’Berg. I hope that you are able to celebrate your special day doing something you love. Best wishes for many more years of love and happiness.
Celebrating birthdays this week are: David Miller, Bobby Fisher (Bobby turns the big 80!), Patty Keenan, Adam Bernardin, Mike Berry, Virginia Murray, Faith Ott, Christian Rangel, Tim Terella, Jenny Roller and Luke Seidlitz.
We have a big weekend coming up, my friends! There are lots of shows to choose from this weekend. May you all be safe, enjoy the dogs and be kind to each other! Thank those hard-working clubs, my friends! Until next time….
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