24th ANNUAL WEIMARANER FESTIVAL
Southland Weim Club 2018 Sanctioned Match
Thank You – To all who came and shared the day with us – and enabled us to make our 24th donation to Weimaraner Rescue, www.friendsforpets.org
Saturday, November 17TH at Woodley Park was another day of perfect weather! Cool, sunny and no wind! The set up crew consisting of myself, Mary McElwee, Louise Brady, Dona Tanaka & Sue McMahan showed up bright and early at 7am to set up the canopies & tables & the ring, to unload all the raffle prizes and trick dog equipment, and cordon off our picnic tables for lunch. Stephanie Schuster & Linda D’Alessandro arrived soon after with more equipment & prizes – and help with the raffle and entry tables.
Once the raffle table was organized, the signs were posted and our dogs were walked – we sat down to wait –and wait – and wait.
Guess what – NOBODY SHOWED UP FOR THE MATCH! So we had a nice long 3-1/2 hours by ourselves at the park. We did have our General Meeting, so we were able to use the time.
Around 10:30am the Friends For Pets crew showed up to set up their booth and the Weim owners and their dogs began to arrive. Unfortunately the attendance was much less than previous years, while we can’t be sure exactly why we speculated that the fires in the Thousand Oaks to Malibu area and the subsequent travel difficulties must have had an impact on those who might have come.
In spite of that – those of us who were there had a great time!
The Rescue Parade had a good number of participants and we had a MARRIAGE PROPOSAL! Yes, that’s right – he got down on one knee right there in the middle of the Rescue Parade. Dona took lots of pictures and we all got teary eyes. The newly engaged couple met after having adopted Weims from Friends For Pets, and their love grew with their love of Weimaraners.
What a great day.
After the yummy potluck lunch, we had Trick Dog evaluations. And 5 dogs earned Novice Trick dog titles, 4 were owned by club members and 1 was a FFP adoptee!
SWC Member Novice Trick Dog Title Earners:
Touchstone’s Hook N’ Hollow, TKN (Zipper) – owned by Sue McMahan,
Star’s Electrical Output, TKN (Amp) – owned by Dona Tanaka
CH Silversmith Chiquita Bonita, CD RN JH SD TKN (Fin) – owned by Dona Tanaka
CH Hat’s Off N Heirlooms Abbey Road, RN TKN (Abbey) – owned by Gina Grissom
THANK YOU! To the SWC CREW who provided the elbow grease (plus canopies, tables and rings) to make the Festival & Match possible. A small but mighty group! Special Thanks to Mary McElwee who hauled a lot of stuff (including a very stinky canopy) – as she has done each year for 24 years.
AND THANK YOU! To everyone who contributed Raffle Prizes. The prizes and baskets that all of us who came, club members and rescue volunteers alike, were able to provide enabled us to put on another fabulous raffle!
AND OF COURSE THANK YOU! To Diane Monahan and her terrific volunteers who help those lucky dogs we see at the Festival find their forever homes.
Gina Grissom
Festival & Match Chair