Dear Katahdin Members:
Yes, the smell of spring is in the air. Along with the signs of spring, opens a barrage of renewed training opportunities, hunt tests, and finally show entries. Of course our Katahdin members embrace each event with zeal as fresh as the spring air. Spring is also the time for mating and puppies. New litters bring the opportunity for new members. My goodness, there seems to be too much to do in too little time. Hopefully this newsletter can help with organizing upcoming events.
Our last meeting was held at Steve and Pauline Marcq's house. The atmosphere was very inviting and socializing ensued throughout the evening. We had a lot to discuss for future events. More important, we had a lot to listen to. I passed around the AKC annual report to present members and pointed to one of our members who appeared within the board listings.
I also found a X-Mas card from Wilma Sarna. The card was in my things for the club, and while I was compiling information for our last meeting, found the card, along with a small note and photo. The card gave thanks from Wilma for John. Personally, I never met John, however, I still sat there and looked at the card, reflecting for some time on how wonderful it must have been when he was here as President. As I write this letter to club members, a Katahdin pamphlet that was given to me by Jeremy Thompson, dated from 1995, shows John as President and Lou as Vice President. I can only envision the history. My apologies for not passing around the card sooner. My thanks to Wilma for her reply.
Pat Russell, our secretary, has been corresponding with web sites across the United States, updating very old listings from our club. This includes the GSPCA, Hobby of Champions, and Birddog News. Pat also distributed information from the New England Sporting Dog Association. Some of the information will not be issued in the newsletter due to the fact that the time frame will have passed, making the information irrelevant. However, some of the information is very relevant as you will see in this newsletter.
My thanks goes out for everyone who donated something to the May Basket for the Specialty Show raffle. My wife, Jane, completed the basket and Pat Russell distributed it to Sandra Kretz for its final journey to the show. Unfortunately, I dropped the ball and forgot to take a picture of the basket to post on the web site for all to see. Shame on me!
As you all know, our spring training day did take place as scheduled. Photos can be seen of the day at our web site, www.katahdingsp.org . In fact, the event was canceled for a brief period because Sharps Field was closed by the Army Corp. of Engineers because of flood problems. Gerry Newcombe saved the day and recommended to Jeremy that we use the Wilderness Adventure Hunting & Angling Club, and soon the event was back on. We attached a link to Wilderness Adventure on our site for those who wish to look into the area more closely. Thanks Gerry, you are a real savior. I also want to thank all the members who showed up to get expert training from Lou Gagnon. Also, for Steve Marcq for gunning and Jeremy Thompson for organizing the event.
The training committee is expanding by leaps and bounds. The committee's presence, headed by Jeremy, is five members strong. Jeremy will be contacting the committee for future events.
The May Hunt Test ran as smooth as silk. What more can I say. Suzie Moore just knows how to do it. Jeremy Thompson is now a veteran secretary for a hunt test. Steve Marcq and Lou Gagnon enjoyed the day as gunners. Our Vice President, Tom White came to the event to Judge. We also had Jeff & Valerie Reis from Mayflower along with our own Sandra Kretz judging Juniors. Many other people helped including Pat, Pauline, Alison Jones, and me. Some new faces, Fred Newcomb and Chris Holiday lent a hand as Marshals. But one person stood out as "the man," and he goes by the name of Bill Wotton. If everyone has time, I would like you to go to our web site, www.katahdingsp.org , and click on to hunt test photo section that Kim Leeman has set up for us. Scroll down to the bottom where the last two pictures are and you will see Bill in action. He helped set up camp, made coffee, and planted birds. He was hot and tired but did not miss a beat on any issue. I modeled my two days from Bill's integrity. We all did. Thanks, Bill.
Both days turned out fantastic. I do believe that we had a total of seven different pointing breeds enter our two-day event. The event was very well organized, family-oriented, and the shirts and hats sold like hot cakes. We even had members show up without entering a dog. We had people entering dogs as far away as Georgia! Pat placed about a dozen membership packets. Not a one was left by the end of the day.
Steve Marcq has volunteered to Chair our fall hunt test and yours truly will give the secretary slot a shot. Pat Russell is going to shadow the secretary slot. It would be nice if someone would shadow Steve to get a better perspective of the chair position. We already have the committee members selected for the fall event. However, we are looking for more people to help with the small things like planting, and marshals. Any helpers please contact Steve Marcq.
There was not much of a discussion with the rescue committee however; we will be doing a little more as far as posting more locally rescued dogs through our web site. We just have to work a few more things out and the site will be showing a more local regiment along with the regular Infodog link.
The club Championship will be held on the 28th of August. Debra Broad is working with Alison Jones and the details of the event are starting to unfold. If anyone wishes to help in the event, please contact Debra with what you would like to contribute.
Kim Leeman was not available to attend this meeting. However, I do believe that the progression of the site is proof that the "artist" is well under way to perfecting and managing a site that can access information for club members with a click of a button. Frankly, I think that Kim is doing that now. A perfect example would be the posting of the hunt test running orders, posting of the events as they unfold, along with multiple links, and associate's interests. I personally accessed the site while writing this president's message to double check on some information before including it.
The board has decided to give any Katahdin member a free link to their web sites. The board has also decided to let any member post a litter announcement with a corresponding link to their site. This is just one of many things to come as a free option to club members. Any members who wish to have a link to their web site, please contact the webmaster Kim Leeman and tell her you are a club member and she will gladly post the announcement and the link. I do have to say that in order to accommodate and update the announcements, the litter announcements will be posted for a limited time. This will clean up any announcements that were left up with the puppies already sold. This will also save time for Kim as she will have to keep contacting the breeder to see if the pups have sold yet. So she can take the announcement off. I believe the time frame is about three or four weeks. Contact Kim for more information.
Kim will also be creating the mailboxes in the very near future so that she can create these postings from you. I have never seen the web site look the same twice since I have been logging in.
Sandra Kretz was not able to attend this monthly meeting. But I am assured that she is going to have the information available to finalize the discussion of going ahead with getting a date sometime next year for an AKC hunt test seminar. Please contact Sandra if you wish to help with the seminar.
The Team Shoot is on! Jeremy Thompson is taking the reigns, again, and is looking for a spot to have the event. This could include a revisited trip to Wilderness Adventure. Too Nice! All options are open including the date. Chances are that it will be in the fall. This is just getting off the ground, so, anyone who wishes to help, please contact Jeremy. More to follow.
I am sorry to say that the Katahdin decals are sold out and I will be placing an order soon. The prices of the decals are $7.00, and yes I know they are not cheap, however, it is the best price I could find and I place orders on demand only. I will be getting 10, so, if anyone wishes to get a decal then please contact me by phone or e-mail.
I took a spin over to Tom White's house last month and he showed me the Good Sportsman award and they are every bit as special as any of Tom's pottery. These awards will be ready soon along with Lou Gagnon's lifetime achievement award and will be presented at the meeting after I receive them. I also have the winners of this year's good sportsmanship award but I will not divulge the names until I am finished with last years recipients.
I am pleased to announce that the Katahdin Board has unanimously voted in Ken and Judy Marden as lifetime members. Ken serves on the board at the AKC and has served in the past as its president. Ken and Judy have been serving the club for many years and it is with great respect and admiration that we as a club extend to them a lifetime membership. Congratulations to both Ken and Judy, and enjoy.
Steve ordered some more hats for future events. I also want to point out that we have some Katahdin shirts available for a very reasonable price. They sold so well at the hunt test that we only have one more extra large available for sale. Please contact Jeremy if you would like a shirt or hat. They are so "in" that hunters who co-work with me have purchased them.
Please remember that it is very important to share information with fellow members. As you can see, we as a club have been very active with events this year. We are also planning heavily for future events new and old. We currently have three ways of communicating with one another. This would be by phone, e-mail, and through meetings and/or events. When I first became president, it was stressed that we should be able to communicate with members generally, through an e-mail system. Through this system, we could correspond with questions and events and send to all to see. E-mail response has been used with this club with great success.
Pat Russell is compiling the current renewals and will be sending out an updated membership list, that includes the electronic addresses of these members, sometime in July, however, there are still some members who are signed up for more than one year and will not be up for renewal for some time. I do not believe that we have current e-mail addresses for most of these members. Also, we would like to hear input from our vital lifetime members. If you would like to part in this type of communication, then please contact Pat Russell and you will be put on the list.
Our next meeting is going to be held at Fred & Pat's house on the 18th of July at 5.P.M. Directions are posted in the newsletter. This will be a pot luck meeting and all are welcome to attend. I do hope you have enjoyed the newsletter. There are litter/breeding announcements along with a few brags. Sit back, relax in your favorite chair, with your favorite Shorthair, and enjoy the day.
Enjoy Your Dog
Tommy Dwyer
President
