From our President!

Dear Katahdin Members:

The dog days of summer have arrived. Unfortunately, most of these days have been entrenched in rain. Clear days were more reserved to yard work. Leaving little time for my GSP's. June and July have also given a sabbatical to many a hunt test. Fear not fellow members, for we have much in store; starting this fall.

We had yet another wonderful time at the last Katahdin meeting which was held at Pat Russell and Fred Newcomb's home. Thanks Pat and Fred for opening your home to us. The meeting was very important as it concluded information for upcoming events as well as the reading in of new members, which is on the increase. Thanks to all for getting the word out.

Sandra Kretz discussed the final details of what we need for the December Specialty show. Peg Gagnon will be the chairman this year, and, we also discussed a supported entry for a show being held in Vermont. This will be great support for our Vermont members.

Jeremy could not make the meeting this month however, I can tell you that the spring hunt test was a great success. This does not include food, shirts, & hat sales.

The rescue committee reports that, they will be featuring a "Dog of the Month" through our web site. Hopefully, this will bring more exposure to dogs in the rescue. What a wonderful idea.

The club championship is going to be held at Sharps Field on August 28th. Deb Broad has everything well under control and applications are in this newsletter. The club championship is a family-orientated event for beginners as well as professionals alike. I take it as an event for all of us to gather. Yes, I will be there this year as well as a lot of new and existing members. Hope to see you all there.

As stated earlier, our membership has been increasing since the beginning of the year. I personally would like to welcome Jeff D'Agostino, Tal Allen and Beth Pritchett to the club. Hope to see you soon at a Katahdin event.

Sandra Kretz has been working very hard to coordinate an AKC Hunt Test Seminar for Katahdin and the surrounding clubs. The last seminar we had was held in Freeport Maine at L.L. Bean.

Now, the AKC is ready to go with the event. Sandra is about ready to give us a date for 2005. My question to our members is where would you like to have this event. Your opinion is greatly valued. We will be finalizing the event at the next meeting. Nonmembers are also eager to reply. This seminar is for everyone.

My apologies for not ordering the Katahdin Decals sooner. They will be here in time for the Club Championship.

We will be including an updated membership list for this newsletter. These updated lists will carry the e-mail addresses of all our current members. These messages will not be posted on our website, along with addresses and phone numbers. They are for the personal use of our members only.

Please remember that it is very important to share information with fellow members. If you are a new person on the block and you are looking for a quality GSP, well, lets face it, unless you are a member of a club, or you know a quality breeder, looking for that special Shorthair is getting harder and harder every year. Many Internet sites have come and gone. One, called www.breeders.net has held firm and true to good quality dogs. You plug in your zip code and enter the mileage radius you wish to travel and the breeders appear with the information to shop for the dog you are looking for. The nice thing about this site is that it gives the potential owner the ability to bypass the breeders that do not fit his criteria and focus on the breeders and rescue groups that do. I urge all to look at this site. See if it fits your criteria.

We have a lot of other information in this month's newsletter, so, sit back in your favorite chair, with your favorite shorthair, and enjoy the Katahdin newsletter. Don't forget we have another hunt test coming up this fall. Hope to see you all there.

Enjoy your dog,

Tommy Dwyer

President
Katahdin German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Greater Portland