SHOW CHAIRS NEVER SIT
MAGGIE MOORE SHOW CHAIR MEMPHIS KENNEL CLUB
1. What is the name of your show/cluster? Our show is the Memphis Kennel Club (MKC) “Heart & Soul Classic.” 2. Where are your shows held? When? They’re held Weekend 7 at the Tunica Arena and Expo Center in Tunica, Mississippi. This is a county-owned equestrian exhibition center. 3. Can you please provide a brief history of your club? We have a page on our website with a great article about our history: https://memkennelclub.org/history/ . Additional to the informa- tion there, our club’s first show event was actually a combined benched show and gun dog field trial. The Best in Show winner was also Best in Field at that same event! We were the first ken- nel club in the country to host a dual event show and the first in the country to give out a Best in Show award. To honor this history, we offer a “Triathlete” medal to those dogs that qualify in all of the performance events and earn a placement in con- formation on the same day. Our first show, as is mentioned on the website, was in 1874. However, the first records I could find of MKC hosting an official AKC show began in 1924. So, in 2024, it will be our 150th Anniversary as a club and 100 years with AKC. (Fun Fact: As far as I know, we’ve only had to cancel the show once—during October of 1929, following the stock market crash.) A special “shout out” to the Tri-Star Kennel Club of Williamson County who let us join with them last year to keep our streak going through this COVID crisis. They are another wonderful kennel club with a great group of members, and they host a fun, event-packed show in Lebanon, Tennessee, in the fall. 4. How are the following accommodated at your show/cluster: Parking; Grooming; Bathing; Hospitality; Vendors; Public Education? At this event, we have an ample amount of park- ing and RV spaces with hookups. The arena is built for horse shows, so there’s plenty of space for everyone. There’s a large horse wash rack outside the arena for bathing. Tunica is famous for its casinos, which are a short driving distance from the event center, so people can “show and play” when they come to our event. 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 NOHS, Beginner Puppy, and a GSD Specialty at our show. Next year, we will offer FSS Open Shows again. Where we shine is in the special awards that we offer throughout our event. Besides the triathlete medal, which is mentioned above, we offer new title rosettes to any dog earning a new title at our show, including new champion! The obedience and rally trials have special large, glittery rosettes to award to those dogs earn- ing OTCH, POCH, RACH or RAE at our show. This year, we also offered an award for High Cumulative Score in Rally and Obedience, awarded to the dog that had the highest total scores over all three trials. We focus a lot on creating a great Junior Handler experience at our show. Junior Showmanship is always
“We were the first kennel club in the country to host a dual event show and the first in the country to give out a Best in Show award. To honor this history, we offer a ‘Triathlete’ medal to those dogs that qualify in all of the performance events and earn a placement in conformation on the same day.”
held 30 minutes prior to the rest of the show, so they don’t run into conflicts with their breed judging. We have great prizes for them as well, including offering $50 gift card awards and other fun things. The Juniors at our show get discounts on all entry fees, including performance entries—Juniors never pay more than $10 for each entry! We also offer special HIT Junior Obedience and HC Junior Rally awards for each trial. On Sat- urday, we have a fun Pajama Day dress theme that everyone can participate in. This year, the Junior Showmanship judge, John Schoeneman, was a great sport, and the Juniors all got “a kick” out of him wearing his pajamas in the ring! 6. How are judging panels determined? Who stewards at your show(s)/cluster? As Show Chair, I take suggestions from the club members on judges. We try to have a variety of judges who get good reviews from the judge rating groups on social media. We also aim to accommodate as many provisionals as we can.
112 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, APRIL 2022
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