Showsight - September 2017

Becoming: Building Community and Having Fun

BY JACQUELYN FOGEL continued

did not adequately describe what actually happened. They want us to call it a “dog festival in the park” since the walk was just a small part of the entire event. Many of the people who did not attend told us they would have been there if they had known about all of the entertainment activities. So we will re-name and re- brand the event for next year. We have commitments from the 3 founding organizations, and from all of the vendor to do this again. The good news is we even made a profit the first year, thanks to our sponsors and raffle donors. For me, the best part of the event was working with a steering committee from the 3 founding organizations. This was a diverse, and wonderfully compatible group of people who remained entirely focused on doing something fun for the larger community. Our meetings were always held in meeting rooms within local taverns, so we often ate and drank together after the meetings. It was great to be able to tell our dog stories to people who are rarely exposed to our world, and it reminded us how much work we have to do to connect with the ordinary non-dog-obsessed population. I think the Rotarians actually enjoyed hearing stories about the world of pure-bred dogs because it is a world so removed from what most of them do on a daily basis. I want to strongly encourage other kennel club mem- bers to look into joining their local Rotary clubs. This

was an unusual, but highly successful partnership, and I am sure it can be replicated in various forms through- out the country. We live in a smaller community, but I think any community defined by a Rotary Club and a Kennel Club can manage a similar event. KMKC mem- bers had a great time working with Rotarians, and loved having the opportunity to show off their dogs to people who only see us on TV. We are looking forward to our second annual event in September 2018, and we’ll keep you posted! n Jackie Fogel got her first purebred basset in 1969, but her real education in the world of AKC dogs and shows started in 1979 when she moved to Wisconsin and whelped her first home-bred champion. In 1995 Jackie got a bedlington terrier from David Ramsey of the famous Willow Wind line. She has bred and shown numerous #1 bedlingtons, and continues to actively breed both bassets and bedlingtons. In 2007 Jackie began judging, and is approved to judge 6 breeds. She owns and manages Cedar Creek Pet Resort, and is active in the Kettle Moraine Kennel Club, Keep Your Pets, Inc., (a non-profit she founded), and the local Rotary club. Jackie writes for ShowSight Magazine, the basset column in the Gazette, and a pet column in a local magazine.

OCTOBER BREED FEATURES LAGOTTI ROMAGNOLI BASSET HOUNDS BEAGLES BOXERS PORTUGUESE WATER DOGS BICHONS BRIARD CARDIGAN WELSH CORGI NOVEMBER BREED FEATURES: WEIMARANER OTTERHOUNDS PHARAOH HOUNDS ROTTWEILER WEST HIGHLAND WHITE TERRIERS CAVALIER KING CHARLES SPANIEL BERGER PICARD

NOVEMBER SPECIAL FEATURES: AKC ROYAL CANIN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP EDITION OWNER/HANDLER and BREEDER/OWNER/HANDLER EDITION

ADVERTISING RESERVATIONS AND INFORMATION AJ ARAPOVIC, PUBLISHER 512-541-8128 aj@aramediagrp.com

BRIAN CORDOVA, National Sales Representative & Customer Relations 949-633-3093 bcordova@aramediagrp.com TAMMY GINCEL, National Sales Representative & Customer Relations 201-747-8569 tgincel@aramediagrp.com

92 • S how S ight M agazine , S eptember 2017

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