This year our show was very successful. Oh, yes, we had our problems. Our judge, who was supposed to arrive the day before the show, was detained and could not travel because he was admitted to the hospital.
We were unable to replace the judge at the last minute. Steve Wolfson stepped up to the plate and volunteered to help us out and judged both days. Of course, this was a sacrifice, as Steve had wanted to show his dog. This assignment would also prevent him from judging our National event in 2010 along with Carla Lensi.
On our first day, the clouds opened up and gave us a downpour that we thought would never end. Bruce arrived at the show with his truck filled to the top with all equipment from our storage shed at 7:00 a.m. The NERF club members were waiting to unload, to put up the tent, and set up the ring.
The judge's dinner was in a lovely restaurant. We had a good turnout.
Steve was very thorough in his Critiques, and I believe his critiques were an excellent tool and learning experience. A couple of AKC judges attended and remarked that the critiques were very informative.
Each day we raffled a 50/50 and a basket of dog toys and treats Rottweiler Rescue donated.
Noreen Risutto again volunteered to type for us. Thank goodness for her expertise and familiarity with the glossary of "dog language." Trophies were very impressive: Maureen and Margaret put a lot of thought into their designing. Roberta and Jay worked very hard entering the dogs into the computer. Cheryl Fennelly stood on her feet for two days, through rain and shine, stewarding and managing the gate. Jay, George and John did a great job managing and cooking the food... and keeping the food dry.
The second day of the show was clear and cool, with a little sun here and there. Perfect for the dogs. We had 86 entries this year, and we are so grateful to all that participated. Our Photographer Tracey Benson took many good shots, even if she had to kneel in puddles. What a trooper. A CD is available as well as individual pictures; contact Tracey at krizac@securespeed.us. Thanks to Paula we had an extra generator to run the computer. I want to thank all who participated and helped. Remember, next year is our National and we will be looking for members to help make our show a success.
show report by Karen Billings