Saturday, June 14, 2008 |
Sunny, balmy, PERFECT weather this Saturday morning welcomed everyone to the largest ever National Amateur Championship in Stowe, Vermont.
The Town & Country Resort serves as the Headquarters for the NARC
Headquarters, the Town and Country Resort at Stowe, was empty as dog trucks left for the last training session. Soon, the parking lot was filled as competitors returned and picked up their packet and large red Purina bags from inside the lobby. There, the Merchandise committee had already set up tables with a HUGE variety of shirts, vests, jackets, jewelry and braided line leashes, hats and even handler jackets, all emblazoned with the NARC logo. Business was brisk as the red Purina bags were put to great use hauling off the goodies!
Eager shoppers peruse the merchandise available in the Town & Country resort lobby.
The meeting of the Retriever Advisory Committee was slated to begin at 1:15 pm. Directly afterwards, folks would be given the opportunity to attend a briefing on the RFTEntry entry service given by RN President Mark Rosenblum, with a question and answer session to follow. The annual General Meeting would begin at 3 pm, with the bitch-check to follow in the parking lot. The gala cocktail party will begin at 6 pm at the Stowe Mountain Resort, just 5 miles down the road. It's a grand time anticipated by everyone.
4:30 pm Update
At 1:15 pm, the meeting of the Retriever Advisory committee was brought to order. Topics discussed included adding a stipulation for pros that would prohibit them from entering a Open stake when it is being judged by someone from whom he/she has had a dog in training for compensation, the use of a vocal command from a handler without first stopping the running dog, running dogs with signs of a communicable disease, and the changing of some instances of the word "should" in Chapter 14 to the word "shall." AKC members in attendence included Lisa Caroll, Nelson Sills, Bill Daley, Pete Simonds, and John Goettl.
The first topic discussed was Proposal 4, changing Chapter 14 instances for the word "should" to "shall." Each paragraph in question was read and then the floor was opened up for questions. Judy Rasmuson was one of the first to raise her hand with a question, stating that she felt it was not possible to legislate dishonesty. Rather, we need to trust that the judges are aware of their responsibilities and not take advantage of the rule book. Discussion by other attendees followed. Another asked if every paragraph in the proposal was to be voted on as a package or individually. The answer was "as a package."
Proposal 2 regarding Blind retrieves sparked people to state that they didn't want to be required to drop a dog based on a verbal command while the dog is running. Rather, this judgement should be on a case-by-case basis. Much discussion surrounded Proposal 1. People felt that there should be trust in an Amateurs judgments when judging a pro with whom they are affiliated.
These issues will again be discussed at the National Retriever Championship in November and voted on at a later date. See pages 14 and 15 of the June 2008 issue of Retriever News for the details on the above proposals. These pages contain the exact same information as was presented in the hand-out given at the meeting.
At 2:15 pm, attendees were dismissed and many joined the staff of RFTEntry for the briefing given by Retriever News President Mark Rosenblum. Mark spent the first 25 minutes giving a short synopsis of the realized shortcomings of the current site and informed all that a "Version 2" was in the works with a planned release date in the Fall of 2008. The then opened the floor for questions.
At 3:00 pm, the General Meeting started with NARC Secretary/Treasurer Fred Kampo doing a role call of the club delegates. Upon completion of role call, the mic was turned over to current NARC President Don Driggers, who introduced the members of the AKC present at this year's competition. Those attendees included Nelson Sills, Doug Ljungren, Jerry Mann, and Bill Heinn.
A moment of silence was requested, and everyone graciously complied, to honor those friends, both human and not, who have passed away in the last year.
Landowners and Sponsors were both acknowledged and thanked, and the latter will receive plaques for their tremendous support of the event to come.
Don Driggers then announced the Officers of the 2009 National Amateur Retriever Club. They are: President Ron Ainley, 1st Vice President Suzanne King, 2nd Vice President Brad Clow, 3rd Vice President Duncan Christie, 4th Vice President Laura Parrot and Secretary-Treasurer Fred Kampo.
Motion was made by Yvonne Hayes and seconded by Steve O'connell to accept the slate of officers as presented. Motion was carried unanimously.
The 2009 President, Ron Ainley took the podium to give brief details about the NARC to be held June 14-20th in Iron Range MN. HQ will be the Hibbing Inn, Hibbing MN. Judges will be: Lou Vreeland (E), Linda Johnson (M), and Pete Goodale (P). Co-Chairs are Dave Furin and Paul ???. Co marshalls: Laura Parrot & ????. Training grounds in MN and WI.
Don announced the judges for this year's National and gave them their judge's gifts. Then, he announced the Marshals and Chairman Duncan Christie and presented him with a special gift. Following this presentation, Don continued to announce committee chairs and also acknowledged the announcer Larry Wharton.
Finally, it was time to draw the starting number. Displayed up front was a table filled with 126 small bottles of Vermont maple syrup, each with a number on the bottom. Vickie Lamb was called to the front to draw the "lucky" winner.... #93!! Barbara Howard would start off the 2008 National Amateur with FC-AFC Tartan Prime Time.
Now, the trial details.
9:00 pm Update
The Cocktail Party was held in the Mansfield room at the scenic Stowe Mountain Resort. The scene was set with white linened tables, and mini buffets in three of the corners of the room. Guests were able to choose from a wide variety of delicious appetizers, including seafood quesidillas, wild mushroom ravioli, selected cheeses and crackers, pizza, vegetables, etc. Waitstaff also roamed the floor with trays of egg rolls and shis-ka-bobs.
Walking out the back patio doors brought you to a gorgeous lawn, beautifully landscaped with flowers of different sorts and soaring trees. Beyond these trees was a breathtaking view of the Vermont mountains.
Mark Roseblum served as the Auctioneer for the Calcutta, the tradition where pages from the catalog are auctioned off and the person that bid on the page on which the winner of the National Amateur is listed will receive 50% of the profits gained from the Calcutta.
The party had dissipated around 8:15 pm, as people began to head back to their hotels in anticipation of the week of grueling competition and early mornings.
4:30 pm Update
At 1:15 pm, the meeting of the Retriever Advisory committee was brought to order. Topics discussed included adding a stipulation for pros that would prohibit them from entering a Open stake when it is being judged by someone from whom he/she has had a dog in training for compensation, the use of a vocal command from a handler without first stopping the running dog, running dogs with signs of a communicable disease, and the changing of some instances of the word "should" in Chapter 14 to the word "shall." AKC members in attendence included Lisa Caroll, Nelson Sills, Bill Daley, Pete Simonds, and John Goettl.
The first topic discussed was Proposal 4, changing Chapter 14 instances for the word "should" to "shall." Each paragraph in question was read and then the floor was opened up for questions. Judy Rasmuson was one of the first to raise her hand with a question, stating that she felt it was not possible to legislate dishonesty. Rather, we need to trust that the judges are aware of their responsibilities and not take advantage of the rule book. Discussion by other attendees followed. Another asked if every paragraph in the proposal was to be voted on as a package or individually. The answer was "as a package."
Proposal 2 regarding Blind retrieves sparked people to state that they didn't want to be required to drop a dog based on a verbal command while the dog is running. Rather, this judgement should be on a case-by-case basis. Much discussion surrounded Proposal 1. People felt that there should be trust in an Amateurs judgments when judging a pro with whom they are affiliated.
These issues will again be discussed at the National Retriever Championship in November and voted on at a later date. See pages 14 and 15 of the June 2008 issue of Retriever News for the details on the above proposals. These pages contain the exact same information as was presented in the hand-out given at the meeting.
At 2:15 pm, attendees were dismissed and many joined the staff of RFTEntry for the briefing given by Retriever News President Mark Rosenblum. Mark spent the first 25 minutes giving a short synopsis of the realized shortcomings of the current site and informed all that a "Version 2" was in the works with a planned release date in the Fall of 2008. The then opened the floor for questions.
At 3:00 pm, the General Meeting started with NARC Secretary/Treasurer Fred Kampo doing a role call of the club delegates. Upon completion of role call, the mic was turned over to current NARC President Don Driggers, who introduced the members of the AKC present at this year's competition. Those attendees included Nelson Sills, Doug Ljungren, Jerry Mann, and Bill Heinn.
A moment of silence was requested, and everyone graciously complied, to honor those friends, both human and not, who have passed away in the last year.
Landowners and Sponsors were both acknowledged and thanked, and the latter will receive plaques for their tremendous support of the event to come.
Don Driggers then announced the Officers of the 2009 National Amateur Retriever Club. They are: President Ron Ainley, 1st Vice President Suzanne King, 2nd Vice President Brad Clow, 3rd Vice President Duncan Christie, 4th Vice President Laura Parrot and Secretary-Treasurer Fred Kampo.
Motion was made by Yvonne Hayes and seconded by Steve O'connell to accept the slate of officers as presented. Motion was carried unanimously.
The 2009 President, Ron Ainley took the podium to give brief details about the NARC to be held June 14-20th in Iron Range MN. HQ will be the Hibbing Inn, Hibbing MN. Judges will be: Lou Vreeland (E), Linda Johnson (M), and Pete Goodale (P). Co-Chairs are Dave Furin and Paul ???. Co marshalls: Laura Parrot & ????. Training grounds in MN and WI.
Don announced the judges for this year's National and gave them their judge's gifts. Then, he announced the Marshals and Chairman Duncan Christie and presented him with a special gift. Following this presentation, Don continued to announce committee chairs and also acknowledged the announcer Larry Wharton.
Finally, it was time to draw the starting number. Displayed up front was a table filled with 126 small bottles of Vermont maple syrup, each with a number on the bottom. Vickie Lamb was called to the front to draw the "lucky" winner.... #93!! Barbara Howard would start off the 2008 National Amateur with FC-AFC Tartan Prime Time.
Now, the trial details.
- The 1st series will be a land double and blind, held at Simond's Farm on Bliss Rd, just 10 min. from HQ
- 5 Scratches were announced, #44, 94, 97, 105, 116
- 5:30 am - Worker's Caravan would leave from Shaw's supermarket.
- 6:15 am - the first 20 dogs will caravan from the same location
- 7:30 am - First Test dog to run
- Gun change to take place every 20 dogs.
- Rotation would be 93 -118 - 17 - 42 - 67. For the 6th series, the starting dog would be determined by the 6th running dog after 67 (for example, if all dogs number 67 through 75 were still in contention, then the starting dog for series 6 would be #73).
- Viewing the line would be permitted after the test dogs for the first 20 handlers, then everyone else would be invited up. During each gun change, the next 20 dogs would be allowed to take a look
- No-Birds: 1st no-bird - Judges' Discretion
If no-bird is a flyer, wait 6; 2nd flyer no-bird, wait another 6; 3rd flyer no-bird, go to the end. - 10 seconds after getting to mat, the judges will signal the birds.
- Marks - the handler must be on the mat to send and receive. On blinds, the dog must be on the blind when sent.
9:00 pm Update
The Cocktail Party was held in the Mansfield room at the scenic Stowe Mountain Resort. The scene was set with white linened tables, and mini buffets in three of the corners of the room. Guests were able to choose from a wide variety of delicious appetizers, including seafood quesidillas, wild mushroom ravioli, selected cheeses and crackers, pizza, vegetables, etc. Waitstaff also roamed the floor with trays of egg rolls and shis-ka-bobs.
Walking out the back patio doors brought you to a gorgeous lawn, beautifully landscaped with flowers of different sorts and soaring trees. Beyond these trees was a breathtaking view of the Vermont mountains.
Mark Roseblum served as the Auctioneer for the Calcutta, the tradition where pages from the catalog are auctioned off and the person that bid on the page on which the winner of the National Amateur is listed will receive 50% of the profits gained from the Calcutta.
The party had dissipated around 8:15 pm, as people began to head back to their hotels in anticipation of the week of grueling competition and early mornings.
