Dear Katahdin Members:
Winter, winter, what more can I say about wintertime. The coldest and
shortest days of the year can have a positive twist. Most gun dogs
that I know of, are heavily exercised during the winter months. My
dogs are no exception. Both Shadow and Mojo play for hours in the
deep snow-covered terrain. They also eat more during the winter
months. By spring, my dogs are rewarded with a leaner body along with
an expanded rib cage. The snowy environment is also prime for my dogs
to practice "Whoa" indoors and a well-scented decoy retrieve
outdoors.
Let us also not forget the winter activities of the show ring and
agility events. I had the most wonderful time appearing at and
admiring my first event down in the Boston area this past December.
Yes, the December specialty show was the first time I have ever been
to a show and I just loved it! Sandra Kretz organized and ran a truly
marvelous event. Vice President, Tom White’s pottery was the
forte of every winner. Pauline Marcq displayed another prize winning
raffle table. Best of all, the warmth and camaraderie displayed was
witnessed by all who attended. My only wish that day would have been
my camera to work properly. Unfortunately, old Betsy malfunctioned
and the pictures were very poor in quality.
We had lots to eat over at Jeremy’s house for our January
meeting and equally as much to talk about. It was nice to see Lou who
gave a lot of insight and feedback for the upcoming events. First, on
everyone’s plate was the availability of dates up at Sharp's
field this year. Katahdin is kicking off a spring hunt test up at
Sharp's field this year with the event scheduled for May first and
second. Suzie Moore will be chairing with Steve Marcq shadowing to
gain insight and knowledge on how to chair. Jeremy Thompson is going
to secretary with Allison and myself helping on alternate days. Lou
Gagnon is going to be a gunner and Suzie Moore is working on the
Judges and she has decided to go with Chukars for the Senior and
Master hunts and quail for the juniors. The birds that I pre-ordered
will be used in the upcoming training day with the remainder probably
being used for the Club Championship. If anyone else would like to
give a helping hand then contact Suzie Moore.
At the last meeting, I asked Pat Russell to take a look at the
Katahdin membership and to see if there was any way that she could
tweak it to be more user friendly. Pat turned the application into a
kit which enables the applicant to be more aware of what we are as a
club. Not only that but Jeremy is going to infuse some articles he
wrote about specific dog events into the "Katahdin Kit." Pat is also
updating a separate renewal membership form. These refinements are
still a work in progress, as it is, the initial adjustments that Pat
has made have been well received and we all are anticipating its
completion.
Kim Leeman delighted the night by showing us the home page she is
designing for the club web site. Kim’s main concern right now is
that we have a sight which caters to our needs and the search for the
right host. Kim has already decided on the domain name and general
appearance of the sight. The web sight is now a "web site committee"
where regular updates will be presented at our board of directors and
general membership meetings.
We have had a lot of questions on training dates and places, so
another committee was formed called the "training committee." This
committee is headed by Jeremy Thompson. He is currently working on
our next training day up at Sharp's field on April 17th. Lou has
graciously volunteered his time to help anyone who needs their dog
trained in any particular hunting situation. I have volunteered to be
the gopher. Please let Jeremy know if you are able to help on our
upcoming training day or any other training event that we will
organize later on in the year.
Steve Marcq was not able to attend last month’s meeting,
however, he left us four sample hats with the Katahdin name
embroidered above the brim. The board of directors will be discussing
future purchases of these hats to be sold at future events. Lou and
Peg also delivered some hats & shirts from a previous order. The
older hats and shirts will be sold at a reduced price starting at our
first training day. In case you are looking for some hats before one
of our events, you can contact Steve Marcq for the new hats and
contact Lou and Peg for the previously ordered hats.
Sandra Kretz also could not make the last meeting, however, she is
looking into having our club organize an AKC hunt test training
seminar slated sometime for 2005. This seminar is going to be open to
all the local dog clubs in the area. Sandra will be updating us about
the seminar at the next meeting.
Please remember that it is very important to share information with
fellow members. I am going to be honest with everyone. When it comes
to shooting my Winchester pump, I am a lousy shot about fifty percent
of the time. The other fifty percent, I’m lucky. Contrarily, I
was quite good in my younger days. That is because I used to skeet
shoot as much as possible. Not only did my aiming skills improve with
time, but I had a much better feel for the gun I was using. Not being
from this area, I would be lost as to the best places to go. Better
yet, who could I talk to if I wanted to learn how to shoot skeet?
Well, as a club member, I do know that Steve Marcq is available to
help anyone with the start-up and/or recommendations on where to go
for skeet and target shooting. I’m sure he would even pop a few
clays with you if given the chance. I recommend giving Steve a
call.
Our next meeting will be a pot luck dinner held at Peg and Lou’s
house on Sunday, March 14th, at 3 PM. This meeting is going to be our
annual meeting complete with
awards.
Everyone is welcome and I hope
all members can attend.
Just a few more things before you read on. Our next scheduled event
after the spring hunt test will be the club championship. We tabled
the discussion in order to get members the opportunity to drop their
name in as far as chairing, grilling, or bird planting. Please let
any of the board members know if you would like to participate or
even chair the event scheduled for August 28th.
I would also like to point out that members who are scheduled to
renew this year, should renew no later than the end of Feb.
Unfortunately, this will be the last newsletter for those members who
did not renew their membership. The newsletter will start up again
after memberships are recouped. Steve Marcq will be attaching another
renewal application in this newsletter, just in case.
Other than that, I am sure that there are a few brags and even a new
litter announcement. So sit back, relax next to your favorite dog(s),
and enjoy the newsletter. Hope to see all at the awards
dinner/meeting.
Tommy Dwyer,
President
Katahdin German Shorthaired Pointer Club of Greater Portland
