Chacon, Glen Lajeski, Patty Keenan, Tom Ishwerwood, Shawn Nichols, Michael Gadsby, Michael Canalizo, Larry Cornelius and Mario Duarte to sort out. Very special to me this year was SKBC’s eighth annual Foreign Bred Competition, host- ed by Los Encinos KC, for I was honored to be the announcer during this exciting special event. An added thrill was the chance to intro- duce two of my favorite people, my longtime dear friend Evalyn Gregory and her co-judge David Haddock , who officiated over entries of 21 dogs from fourteen different countries. It was interesting to note the great work being done elsewhere around the world in addition to that on our own shores. Bridging the inter- national gap with respect and admiration makes our sport all that much stronger. Making my thrill that much greater was the presence of another member of the Gregory clan, Joe Gregory Jr. , in with his sister to enjoy Santa Barbara. This family, so important to our sport and in my life—and I’m certainly not alone here—is always a true pleasure to see. We were sorry that Joe Gregory Sr. didn’t make the trip, having other commitments in his very active life, and we sent thoughts and love to their matriarch, our beloved Mamie , gone now three years but remembered daily. So it was kind of a family affair for me all weekend long, with Evalyn and Joey, and being back with my Pasadena/Palm Springs family after an eighteen-month absence, and then being with my ShowSight family, AJ & Hanifa Arapovic , proud owners of this and the other AraMedia Group publications. We missed their two gorgeous daughters Iryna & Adrianna , back home in Austin but much in our conver- sation, and it was fun to spend time with ShowSight National Sales Representative and Customer Relations pro Brian Cordova , new to the staff but already highly valued. The rest of our tremendous team was at home working but with here us in spirit. (Luckily I can work from anywhere and did here, too.) One piece of work I didn’t quite pull off was an intro to a man I much admire. Prior to the Foreign-Bred Competition, David Haddock said to me “I know you’ll probably say quite a bit about Evalyn, knowing how close you are, but please don’t say a lot about me.” And so I pointed out Evalyn’s solid-gold pedigree in this sport, her present status as an extremely popu- lar judge and her still-standing, to my knowl- edge, title as the youngest person ever to win an All-Breed Best in Show. And then I launched into David’s bit—prepared to sing his praises > Santa Barbara ’17 Continued
116 • S how S ight M agazine , S eptember 2017
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