2019 Southland Weimaraner Club Specialties and

WCA Western Futurity and Maturity

Camarillo, California

July 4 & 5, 2019

The 2019 Southland Weimaraner Club Specialties and WCA Futurity and Maturity are a wrap and in the books.  Luckily, unlike last year’s blistering 103° heat, this year the weather gods smiled upon us with slightly overcast mornings in the 60s, afternoon temperatures in the mid 70s with the occasional sea breeze.  In other words, perfect dog show weather.

This year’s Show Committee: Gina Grissom, July 4 show chair, Linda D’Alessandro, July 5 show chair; Jo-Ann Rosenberg, Dona Tanaka, Mary McElwee, Carley Devine, Jordan Dickenson, and Rachel Aguilar spent months working through the issues and ironing out the details including:  judges, grounds, trophies and hospitality.  However, a big thank you also goes out to a very special group of members:  Bob and Vickie Margolis, Brad Rosenberg, Walt Freshour, Keith Pautz, Brenda Barnette, Pam Hutson, and Louise Brady, who, in addition to caring and showing their own dogs, pitched in before, during and after the shows to do the “heavy lifting” involved in set up, hospitality and tear down.

Much appreciation goes out to Gwen Lattin (show secretary), Lani McKennon (ring steward) and our judges:  Melissa Hampton, who came all the way from Maryland to judge our Sweeps; Debbie Campbell Freeman (July 4 Specialty), Sam Houston McDonald (Futurity/Maturity), Pam Murphy (Obedience), and Barbara Dempsey Alderman (July 5, Specialty).

Last but not least, a huge shout out to all the exhibitors who came in from far and wide to show their dogs.  This year brought in exhibitors from not only out of state, but also from Canada and England. Congratulations on your wins!  We hope you enjoyed your stay and had a safe trip home.

Congratulations to all the winners!

24^th 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 24^th donation to Weimaraner Rescue, www.friendsforpets.org

Saturday, November 17^TH 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

RECAP OF THE 2018 SOUTHLAND WEIMARANER CLUB OF LA’S SPECIALTY

Some things old, Some things new……..

Some things Old:  Same hard working club members came out to put on another great specialty, a BIG THANK YOU to Rachel Aguilar for being our leader and Show Chair, this never would have happened without all of Rachel’s hard work and attention to what needed to be done, and her ability to see to it that it got done.  Jo Ann Rosenberg for bringing the tents, table covers, hospitality shade, organizing the pot-luck, getting the sandwiches, ordering the trophies and hauling it all in.  Dona Tanaka for helping Jo Ann with trophies and hospitality and basically keeping us all sane and organized!  Jo Ann, Dona, Bob Margolis, Rachel, Louise Brady, Lou & Linda D’Alessandro, Gina Grissom, Mary McElwee, Walt Freshour and Yours Truly for setting it all up the day before and tearing it all down when we were done.  Gil, we missed you there for set-up, but so happy you were able to join us later during the weekend, it wouldn’t be the same without seeing your big smile, and laughing at us all for doing this year in and year out!  Linda Millstone, didn’t mean to leave you out, another helpful hand in setting things up, and as our ring steward for both shows, I know sometimes getting us all in and out of the ring can be a lot like herding cats!  Another big thank you to all that brought delicious salads, sides and best of all…desserts!  We always seem to eat well, don’t we?

Some things New:  Well, it was a completely new site!  Gorgeous grounds, beautiful green grass at a historical old venue with an interesting history.  For those that thought this was always a UC Campus, well, up until 1997 this was a state mental institution, and has been used as a setting in many movies, music videos, and TV shows including (but by no means a complete list) The Snake Pit staring Olivia de Havilland, ‘N Sync’s set for “I Drive Myself Crazy: video, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, The Ring, Magnum P.I, and The Big Bang Theory.  Many of the original buildings are still there in all the 1930’s mission-style glory.

Yes, there was some confusion as to what we could and couldn’t do, some complications with loading/unloading, parking, and yep, the heat…We had record breaking heat for this weekend, and to say it was hot is just an understatement and we’ll leave it at that. There was plenty of water and ice available for handlers and dogs and it was much appreciated!

While there is nothing any of us can do about the weather, the Bench Committee did solicit your input to what issues you perceived, and what might be done to help eliminate those issues and help make this venue work better for us going forward.  I hope you all took time to give Dona your thoughts!

In the end, it was another great weekend kicked off by the SWC Specialty, lots of grey dogs, lots of talking, catching up with old friends and fanciers of the breed, meeting new members and those new to the breed, and just enjoying our beautiful Weimaraners.  Best of CONGRATULATIONS to all those that won trophies and ribbons, but in the end, each one of us took the best dog home.  I think I can safely say the Board, and the Bench Committee thanks each and every one of you for your support.  Can’t wait till next year!!

– Dona Tanaka

Well Ladies,

We pulled it off !! Just our small group managed to provide all the equipment and almost all of the manpower to do the entire event.  And I thought everything went very well.

At the end of the day an ex-member named Bob Hunt did help us out with tearing down and putting away equipment, that was very kind of him.

But other than that – it was all us.

Thanks to Vickie for thinking of the nail demo, and to Louise for giving it. That was great.

I am pondering having a Fancy Weim Hat contest next year, what do you think?  Might be fun – and see what people show up with.  If you have any ideas of other fun stuff, please let me know.

The games seem to have faded away.  I’ve come prepared for the past 2 years, without many takers.  So we need to have some alternative, all input is appreciated.

Thank you,

Gina

We had a great turnout for the match and “handling class” prior to the Festivle avtivities.  It was a nice day, and Judge   did a great job with the youngsters and calmed the handler nerves too!

Judge Carrie Racey placed the entries as follows:

• Mary McElwee – # 217 – 6-9 Puppy Dog –  1st place BOB in Match
  • Hat’s Off N Heirlooms Change The World
• Charles Salse – # 219 – 12-18 Month Dog – 1st place
  • Barrett’s Stars n’ Stripes
• Louise Brady  – #211 – 3-6 Puppy Bitch – 1st place – BOS in Match
  • Star’s Electrical Storm
• Dona Tanaka – #215 – 3-6 Puppy Bitch – 2nd place
  • Star’s Electrical Output
• Louise Brady – #213 – 3-6 Puppy Bitch – 3rd place
  • Star’s Luminous Flux
• Gina Grissom – #216 – 6-9 Puppy Bitch  – 1st place
  • Hat’s Off N Heirlooms Abbey Road
• Tammy Basile – #221 – 6-9 Puppy Bitch – 2nd place
  • Hat’s Off Strawberry Fields Forever

 

A special Thank you from Friends for Pets:

I received the following email from Diane Monahan and wanted to share it with all of you (with her permission of course!)

Hi, Vickie,

We want to thank each of the SWC members for their participation in the 23rd Weimaraner Festival on our behalf.  What an incredible day!  This always is a wonderful opportunity for So CA Weim Rescue adopters/supporters and SWC members to come together and enjoy and share our love of the breed.

It’s quite incredulous what a following the Weim Festival has earned. Our adopters ask months in advance if the date for the Festival has been finalized. As you know, they come (with their Weims, of course) from Oregon, from San Diego, from Orange County, Carmel, Palm Springs, the Santa Clarita Valley. They come because of the promised fun day with their Weims.  They come because they believe and support both Rescue and the Club.

I feel very proud of what we have accomplished together.

We’re greatly  indebted to Gina Grissom for bringing this event to fruition and for recognizing long ago how meaningful it would be for our two groups to communicate and work together.

We’re already looking forward to next year!

Warm regards,

Diane Monahan, Founder/Executive Director

Friends For Pets Foundation
Southern CA Weim Rescue
Nonprofit 95-4098708
www.friendsforpets.org

From the Editor/Membership person:

The Festival kicked off with games selling/buying of raffle tickets, old and new acquaintances (both Weim and Human) met and talked.  Stories were told of  compassion and love of the breed.  All this to give Weimaraner families a place to gather and enjoy each others company, talk with long time Weim breeders and owners, old and new Rescue fami lies and allow us all to exchange information, & ideas and raise funds for Friends For Pets.   A sincere THANK YOU to Gina Grissom for doing her usual wonderful job of organizing and pulling off another great Festival.

One thing I would like to say, if you are reading this, whether you got your Weim from a breeder or from rescue, and are not a member of SWC, you might want toconsider joining and helping out so these types of activities can continue.  The club could use some new (younger) members to keep this and other events going on old and new aquaintances (both Weim and Human) met and talked.  Stories were told of  compassion and love of the breed.  All this to give Weimaraner families a place to gather and enjoy each others company, talk with long time Weim breeders and owners, old and new Rescue families and allow us all to exchange information, & ideas and raise funds for Friends For Pets.   A sincere THANK YOU to Gina Grissom for doing her usual wonderful job of organizing and pulling off another great Festival.

One thing I would like to say, if you are reading this, whether you got your Weim from a breeder or from rescue, and are not a member of SWC, you might want to consider joining and helping out so these types of activities can continue.  The club could use some new (younger) members to keep this and other events going on.

We held a WCA Retrieving Ratings on Sunday, Sept 17th at Prado. The day was overcast and cool, great day for dog training! I would like to extend huge thanks to all who helped make this a very successful event. Thank you to our judges, Nancy Rapoport and Anne Taguchi, who presided over the 2 entries in the RD and 9 entries in the NRD. Thanks to Carlos DeTevis for procuring birds, gunning in the RD and some of the NRD, and helping get the testing grounds set. Thanks to Mike Fields who manned bird stations in both stakes. Thanks to Rachel  Aguilar and Dona Tanaka, WCA rep and Event Chair respectively, without whom we could not have put on the test. And thank you Dona for all the great pictures! And most of all, Thank you to all who entered and supported our Club event, and brought their pot luck offerings for the wonderful lunch we enjoyed after we were finished. There were a few who did not qualify, but were very interested in their birds. With just a little more training they will easily earn their ratings in future events.

Louise Brady, event secretary

Qualifiers at this event were as follows:

NRD

1. Ch Regen’s It’s My Party CGC, NW2 (Maile) owned and handled by Teri Rice
2. Top Hat’s Crazy For M&Ms (M) owned and handled by Stephanie Schuster
3. Ch Sanbar’s Truth Be Told JH, OA, OAJ, SDX, VX (Squeak) owned and handled by Louise Brady
4. Ch Barrett and Touchstone’s Star Circus Monkey JH (Stark) owned by Jana DeTevis and handled by Carlos DeTevis
5. GCh Barrett N’ Star’s Under The Big Top JH, NSD (Zanie) owned and handled by Louise Brady