2004 ESSCC National Week-end
Report -- With almost a week of events for
English Springer Spaniels from Thursday July 29th, 2004 through Tuesday
August 3rd, 2004 Calgary was the place to be for ESS fanciers. The Wild Rose
English Springer Spaniel Association of Alberta (WRESSAA) hosted the
Canadian Nationals and their own Regional Specialty in conjunction with the
100th Anniversary shows of the Alberta Kennel Club. English Springer
Spaniels and their owners came from British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan,
Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, California, Washington, Montana, Minnesota and
Wisconsin to partake in the activities. This was the largest entry for an
Alberta ESS Specialty: 60+ dogs for both WRESSAA & ESSCC Shows.
Especially noteworthy was the number of Specials in the breed ring (25-30
for both Shows).
Agility started off the events on Thursday with supported entries at the GRCC trials. ESS’s competed at the Novice and Excellent levels. Springers really enjoy running on the large outdoor courses. Friday both Obedience Trials were held indoors at the Arena. The dogs (& exhibitors) appreciated getting in out of the heat! Saturday the fun continued with the WRESSAA Specialty Show which included Puppy & Veteran Sweepstakes, an Altered Show, & for the first time Junior Handling. WRESSAA has a tradition of creating breed-oriented prizes that are hand-crafted by Club members & among this year’s items were pen and ink drawings and wood carvings. Everyone re-grouped for the English Springer Spaniel Club of Canada Annual General Meeting & then got to unwind & enjoy some Western Hospitality at WRESSAA’s pot-luck dinner held on the Show grounds. Sunday morning was a bit rainy for the ESSCC Sweepstakes, but by the afternoon the sun returned for the main event. Trophies had a “Canadian” flavour – many of the items were adorned with maple leafs. Once pictures were taken & Junior Handling was completed it was a mad dash to the site of the ESSCC Annual Awards Banquet. The evening was very entertaining, albeit unintentionally, with the Master of Ceremony’s pronunciation of dogs’ names – maybe something we should consider when naming our dogs. We were lucky enough to have all 5 of our judges attend the dinner & to give a short talk on their judging assignment. Thanks to Obedience judge Pam Weaver; WRESSAA Conformation Jerry Watson; WRESSAA Sweepstakes Karen Lee; ESSCC Conformation Dr. Göran Bodegård; ESSCC Sweepstakes Carol Hathaway. Lynn, Anne & Barb Dorsay
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New Year Party Report -- On
Sunday January 4, 2004 Club members braved the cold to travel to Cathy
Barlow’s new home just south of Calgary for WRESSAA’s annual New Year’s
Party. Club members in attendance included: Cathy Barlow; Wayne & Leanne
Bateman; Wendy Bessemer; Anne, Barb, Hilda & Dick Dorsay; Mark Doucet
& Kathy Ronalds; and Lynn Dorsay & Stu Gilmour. Guests in attendance
included Cathy’s mother Alice Wright and her son Andrew and Wayne &
Leanne’s daughter Barb.
Everyone enjoyed a wonderful pot-luck meal with ham supplied by the Club and ably cooked by Cathy. Leanne undertook the task of carving and everyone else helped to lay out the spread of food. We were all glad to be inside enjoying a hot meal on such a frigid day. Most attendees had a chance to tour Cathy and John’s new home. All I can say is “Wow”. Thanks Cathy for the tour. Below, are some pictures taken at the end of the festivities — wouldn’t you know it — I remembered the camera, but then forgot to take pictures until a number of the attendees had already left. Drats!! Well already looking forward to next year’s festivities. — Anne Dorsay |
ALL-BREED AGILITY SANCTION MATCH -- Sunday June 9, 2002 @ Calgary Canine Centre. Check out the Match Flyer. | |
SOCIAL EVENT REPORT: Since
the last newsletter, Club members have been able to gather for two pot-luck
meals. In June, Wayne &
Leanne Bateman and family hosted a chicken and rib barbeque at their home in
Calgary. Wayne and Leanne did a
fabulous job of the main course and attendees brought a wide array of
pot-luck items to round out the meal. Desserts
always seem to have a great appeal and luckily they were plentiful.
We all enjoyed a delightful meal and were introduced to the
Bateman’s new puppy Bella Rose before the June meeting . September
saw another social gathering at the Fergusons’ home near Okotoks.
This time we tried a different theme for the pot-luck and Club
members brought the fixings for Sub sandwiches.
Mark Doucet and Kathy Ronalds had a longer trip than expected with a
few misplaced directions, but did
arrive in time to partake of the fixings and add to the numerous items.
After the meal and the completion of the meeting, many of the
members’ dogs had a fun time with an agility demo.
The Dorsays provided some agility jumps, a pause table and weave
poles so that the dogs could get a “feel” for the fun-sport of agility.
All of the dogs proved to be very quick learners, especially with the
weave poles. We look forward to
more Club dogs joining this fast-growing sport.
Thanks to Rich & Rebecca and family for the use of their great
“spread”. Anne
Dorsay | |
2002 WRESSAA Specialty Show & Trial Results |
Copyright ©1997-2009 Lynn,
Anne & Barb Dorsay, Bondir English
Springer Spaniels for Wild
Rose English Springer Spaniel Association of Alberta.
Last revised: October 08, 2009.