July 2015 Trial
Wow, what a wild ride we had with the weather! Mud, mud and then more mud. Thank you to everyone who rose to the occasion and rolled with it. There were some brave souls that drove back to the field but for those who had campers and vehicles that couldn’t tolerate the conditions, you were blessed with the young lad who gave rides on their off-road vehicles. What a ride!
A huge thank you to the Weaver Family for hosting us again. The sheep were fit and lively, the field was freshly cut by Mr. Weaver and his team of horses and the food was arranged by Mrs. Weaver and the Mennonite Community. Even with the amazing amounts of mud, we had a lot of spectators from the community. We all marveled at how those beautiful Mennonite gals kept their pretty dresses virtually spotless from mud. Until they were "greeted" by our working dogs – oops 🙂 These young lads were fascinated with the shepherd’s whistles and Board Member, Linda Johnson became their hero as she handed them out and gave them a quick lesson on how to use them. I think we were all surprised at how interesting this was to the community. The Weaver children (as did many others) spent days studying their saved running orders from the trial in August 2014 and were ready for us to arrive. They commented on the progress of the dogs, asked us why we weren’t running the same dogs as last year and listened intently as we explained our reasons. They tracked the scores and asked questions on the runs all the while braving the heat, humidity and mud. No complaints from them – they were happy to have us.
Thank you to Bob Salmon for his expert judging and stock knowledge. He kept a watchful eye on each an every run knowing that this flock is a key part of the lively-hood of the Weaver family. Thank you to his wife, Susan, scribed all the runs. A huge thank you to club member, Jim Jones. He takes care of getting all the fencing put up, pens assembled and set up, field pieces (panels & pens) up, draping and all of those things. We honestly could not do this trial without the hard work of Jim! Thank you to Nancy Flynn for being our Course Director and keeping things flowing in a timely fashion. Thank you to Debbie George for setting the sheep and for Joyce Norris for helping with the stock management. Thank you to Robin Reasoner, Kathy Kawalec & Peg Anderson for help with setting sheep. And thank you to Kathy Kawalec, Tresa Laferty, Laura Tomaszewski, Catherine Price, and Linda Johnson who work long hours for months getting ready for the trial. Plus, they are there from dawn til dusk each day to make sure all things went smoothly. Thank you to Lisa Williams the club treasurer who helps keep all of our financing in order. Thank you to Catherine Price for organizing all of the Raffle items. We raised just over $300 going towards trial expenses.
In addition to the general trial happenings, we had a lovely Handler Dinner on Friday night at the local Mennonite Country Store. The home-made food was all very well received with nearly every handler attending the dinner. This year, the proceeds of the dinner were put to a donation for the Weaver family. Their most recent child was born with some serious health issues. Our generous sheepdog community pulled together and raised $1,100 for the cause!
Thank you to Derek Weaver and all the others who helped pull vehicles out of the mud and get us on our way. Lastly, thank you to all the handlers who jumped to help take down tents and put things away as the storm approached. It made our tear down go so much quicker!
We hope to be invited back to the Weaver Farm in 2016 for another trial. We will keep you all informed as to how that develops.
Results of the trial:
Photos will be posted on our Facebook page. Click here.
