SHOW CHAIRS NEVER SIT
COVID-19. I ended up replacing most of the panels of judg- es—and it was right up to the day before our shows. At that time, no one had been vaccinated, and judges were either afraid to come and judge or they ended up with COVID. I remember hiring a replacement judge and he ended up with COVID a few days before our show. I also had to replace a couple other replacement judges. Our shows occasionally need to have bench show commit- tees, but it seemed we were overloaded with issues in 2021. Thank goodness, Pattie Proctor was our AKC Rep and she held my hand through the process! Plus, the fact that we were under a number of restrictions from the W. Springfield Health Dept and Eastern States Exposition due to COVID-19, everyone had to wear masks, stay six feet apart from each other, had to sign COVID-19 waiver forms, and it was a Show N’ Go and no spectators were allowed. Exhibitors could only groom their dogs 15 minutes prior to judging and couldn’t use blow dryers. This year, mother nature decided to bring in a horrific storm that covered most of the nation. Four of our judges’ flights had been cancelled, and again, the day before our shows, we had to hire judges at the 11th hour. The challenge with both our 2021 & 2022 shows was to bring in judges without having a great number of exhibitors pull their entries due to judge changes. And I can’t tell you how appreciative I was to have the help of our AKC Rep, Clifford Steele, and our Superintendent, MB-F, Kuno Spies, who came in to help me and Ellen Shanahan find replacement judges. SHOWOFF © Ribbon Racks
“We have learned through COVID-19 to keep calm and put one foot in front of the other, and just get it done.”
10. 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? We have learned through COVID-19 to keep calm and put one foot in front of the other, and just get it done. And we are so grateful to the people I’ve mentioned above for all of their help. (A Show Chair can’t do it all alone!) I can tell you that it isn’t easy, but we were able to have successful shows in 2021 & 2022! And despite what we went through over the past two years, it is so nice to see exhibitors having a great time!
Dogs, Horses & Sports
BOXER WALL AND CRATE RIBBON RACK
www.merbeth.net 262-246-3500
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100 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, MARCH 2022
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