How Is Your Club Doing During the Age of COVID-19?
I t is hard to believe that we are late in the first quarter of the 21st century, and it’s hard to believe how the world we live in continues to change on an almost daily basis. It has now also been over a year since we all heard the term COVID-19 for the first time. Initially, I imagine that most people thought it would be a temporary setback that would be dealt with, and all would be back to “normal” by now. But as we all know, that has, unfortunately, not been the case. For those of us who are involved in the sport of purebred dogs, we have seen many instances of how COVID-19 has not only changed our ability to hold our shows and trials, but also the introduction to our events of many new protocols to be fol- lowed—to even hold events where they are possible. Since August of last year, when we saw a limited return of our events across the country, I have been able to attend events both as an exhibitor or judge at shows in Idaho, Ohio, Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Florida. At each of these shows, all of the exhibi- tors and judges wore masks and made honest attempts to follow social distancing guidelines. With the assistance and guidance of the AKC and, in some cases, local health officials, numerous clubs proved that safe shows could be successful. What I observed was that most exhibitors followed the rules and behaved profes- sionally, and most were just happy to be able to have a show. At the time of this writing, there are still numerous states and localities where putting on a show is either prohibited or post- poned because of ongoing regulations regarding social gather- ings. With the vaccines now available, only time will tell how rapidly the restrictions will be lifted or modified. Depending upon their location as well as their available facili- ties, several clubs have been able to hold shows. (As I understand, there are only about 30-35% of scheduled events being held at this time.) While several clubs are doing well and putting on very large and successful shows, many others are just struggling to hold their clubs together. Because of local restrictions, many clubs have not been able to meet in any way except through Zoom-type communications. Meeting sites for numerous clubs are not avail- able during the pandemic and, therefore, the in-person sharing of knowledge, ideas, and planning for future events is suffering. Even in those locations where events are permitted, many of the venues will not guarantee a club that the show will not be canceled even up to and including the day of the show. Therefore, many clubs continue not to take the financial risks of having their show canceled at the last minute—at a significant financial hit to the club as well as the exhibitors losing their entry fees.
BY WALTER SOMMERFELT
At the time of this writing, there are still numerous states and localities where putting on a show is either prohibited or postponed because of ongoing regulations regarding social gatherings. With the vaccines now available, only time will tell how rapidly the restrictions will be lifted or modified.
50 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, APRIL 2021
Powered by FlippingBook