What a weekend we had!!! What a wonderful group of workers!!!

.........If you weren’t a part of it, you really missed the best part of being a member. The full-throttle activity began on Friday when Marge Greco, Vickie Turner, her daughter Venus and soon to be son-in-law, met to unload all of the “stuff” from storage to the show site. When I finally arrived much later, Kay Moore, LuAnn Kennedy and Carman were also a part of the scene, and things were well under way.

.........It was truly the crack of dawn on Saturday when the Grecos and Nickie were back at the storage facility loading up the books for the book sale and the boxes and boxes of trophies to transport to the show site. Kay Moore was another early bird with her legion of stewards for obedience and Rally. Cheryl Howells and her wonderful grandsons joined the early bird crew to complete the hospitality set-up and deliver “stuff” to every ring. Those two boys logged miles and miles doing one job after another and always with a smile! Donna Simpson rounded out the hospitality crew and did whatever she was asked to fill in the blank spaces.

.........Jessie Coleman, Bill and Joan Sams rolled up their sleeves and began the set-up for trophy and rosette distribution. Nicki and Charmaine Widmor took over completely with the set-up for the book sale and were joined by Sarah Callahan. They did a wonderful job with organizing the books and making attractive displays in Nickie’s tent which was set up for just that purpose. The sale was a real hit! While Bob Hardesty wasn’t with us in person, he surely was with us in spirit and smiling.

.........On Sunday, Charmaine and LuAnn changed hats to become the scribes and assistants for the microchip clinic. Many people took over the catalog sales for varying amounts of time. We saw Kay in brief snatches as she ran from the rings to the Superintendent’s table with Obedience and Rally results. One of our new members, Cheryl Bateman, had her first experience as a worker by stewarding for Rally, and her daughter, Nalyn Kanuych helped with the microchip line up.

.........We all agree that the weather could have been better, but smiles made up for the lack of sunshine. We truly enjoyed the group of judges we had this year. They were among the nicest to deal with that we have ever had. In fact, I’ll put the Trotters at the head of the list. We recently had a note from Pat Trotter in which she said, “Your club so inspired me I wrote a Better Breeding column about it. Although it will be edited somewhat from the copy I sent the club secretary, you will know it’s your club. Hopefully it will appear in the July issue of the Gazette.” As I said earlier, the Trotters are a class act as were the remaining people on the panel.

.........It was amazing how everyone pulled together at the close of the show to pack up and head for home. YOU ARE A VERY SPECIAL BUNCH OF PEOPLE, AND YOU ARE APRECIATED!!!

.........Tired? Of course we were. Jessie and I managed to drag ourselves off to Gasber’s on Saturday and to Cracker Barrel on Sunday for a hot meal and to enjoy the afterglow of two wonderfully enjoyable days. All of us, even the ones much younger than I, took Monday as our day to collapse and to reflect.

GOOD NEWS

.........The new and greatly expanded GOLDSTAR KENNEL, owned and operated by KAY MOORE, will soon be open for business. When completed, there will be twenty six runs for boarders, and a special place for cats. Training classes will be available, both handling and obedience. KAY has had a tremendous grooming business for more than a year, and the grooming shop will also move to the new site. I would love to have our September meeting at the new kennel where we would have the space needed for a program I have had in mind for a long time. Many congratulations to KAY AND FLOYD. This has been quite a challenge for them, and they deserve a very successful outcome.

WOOFS, WAGS AND WHIMPERS

.........From PAULA KNIGHT, “Just wanted to brag that my whippet girl, Tattershall Time’n Again, took WB/BOW/BOB over 7 specials and an entry of 67 in Kalamazoo, MI for a 5 pt. major!!” Congratulations.

.........May 9th was another very sad day at ST. CLAIR COLLIES when my beloved ST. CLAIR CLAN PIPER’S BAIRN, (CAITLIN) left us for Rainbow Bridge.
Two years ago this month, Caitlin was diagnosed with idiopathic autoimmune polyarthropathy at Med Vet. At the time of the diagnosis, Dr. Kennedy told me she would not have a normal life span, and I would need to give that final shot much earlier than usual. He would be able to put her in remission, but she could not be cured. Caitlin was in remission for almost two years, and she was doing so well that I forgot the limitations. When the downward spiral began, it could not be reversed. She was only six years four months old, and losing her was tough!

.........Congratulations to two of our members who served as judges for the Ft. Steuben Puppy Match held recently. Paula Knight and Bertie Prettyman each served as judges. Unfortunately, it was another one of those rainy days, but I am sure they enjoyed the judging experience.

Bow/BOB