SHOW CHAIRS NEVER SIT
PHILIP BOYCE CHAIRPERSON MOUNTAIN LAUREL CLUSTER
1. What is the name of your show/cluster? The Mountain Laurel Cluster. 2. Where are your shows held? When? Our shows are held at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, during the 30th calendar week of the year. 3. Can you please provide a brief history of your club? The Lackawanna Kennel Club was founded in 1925 and has been putting on dogs shows every year since, except for a year or two during WWII. 4. How are the following aspects accommodated at your show/ cluster: Parking; Grooming; Bathing; Hospitality; Vendors; Public Education? Parking is free, with exhibitor and specta- tor parking on blacktop gravel and/or grass. Reserved parking is available with or without electric. Motorhome parking is great. There is electric and water at basically every spot. And if you have a golf cart or car, the campground has full hookups. Grooming is entirely inside, air-conditioned, and in one building that is attached to the ring building where we have eight rings. (If more than eight rings are needed, the additional rings go outside.) While we don’t offer dedicated bathing stations, there is available water throughout the fairgrounds. On Thursday night, we have a free BBQ dinner for all exhibitors. On Friday, it’s appetizers and snacks at the Group ring. On Saturday, we host our famous ice cream social. Vendors are outside on gravel, but have plenty of room behind them and free electric. For Public Education, we offer daily dog show tours and have information provided by AKC. 5. Does your show/cluster offer the National Owner-Handled Series? Junior Showmanship? 4-6 Month Beginner Puppy? Best Bred-By? Specialties? Supported Entries? We offer four days of NOHS and four days of Juniors. On Sunday, we have the Best of the Best Junior where the winners from each day compete for a $500! Amazon gift card and a bag full of goodies donated by Purina. Unfortunately, we don’t offer 4-6 Beginning Puppy, but we offer Puppy Groups on Thursday, Veteran Groups on Friday, and Bred-By Groups on Saturday. As for Specialties, we have Cockers, German Wirehaired Pointers, and Dachshunds. GWPs, English Setters, Cockers, and Berners have Supported Entries. 6. How are judging panels decided? Who stewards at your show(s)/cluster? Each club picks two judged each. Then the Judges Selection Committee, headed by myself, fills in the rest of panel. We use the Eastern Stewards Association. 7. Are Breed Seminars and Judges Education offered? We do not offer Breed Seminars or Judges Education at this time, but we would love to offer this. 8. How are your show(s)/cluster promoted? TV? Radio? Print Media? Social Media? Our shows are promoted mainly through social media and print via the premium list. At this time, we do not take out ads.
9. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, what have you and your club members learned about putting on a dog show? What, if any, are the differences from previous years and how are you planning for the future? Well, SHOWSIGHT has already published two or three articles about showing and put- ting on shows during COVID. [See May 2020 & June 2020 Editions of SHOWSIGHT . —Ed.] To end, going forward, we will be using separate ring entrances and exits. This truly helped with the congestion getting in and out of the rings.
“We offer four days of NOHS and four days of Juniors.”
PA Handling, Lackawanna KC Show Chair, Mountain Laurel Cluster Judge’s Selection & Assignment Committee Chair, AKC Junior Showmanship Judge, 2nd VP Mountain Laurel Cluster LLC, Board Member Lackawanna Kennel Club 631-766-6126 phil@padoghandlers.com
104 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 2021
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