Great Lakes, Great National
By Carol Anne Kriesel
This month I've asked APONC member and AKC judge Carol Anne Kriesel to report on our national specialty..
How can you describe the anticipation prior to a national specialty, especially when there's a possibiity of viewing 50 Polish Lowland Sheepdogs strutting their stuff around the show ring? Friday, June 9, saw the arrival of dogs by car, van, and camper at the host hotel in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. Eleven judges attended the afternoon judges' seminar and gloried in the number of dogs available for hands-on. A small puppy match followed, and an awards banquet was held in the evening. Expectations for the following day's specialty were not dampened by the thunderstorm that hit in the early morning hours.
Saturday dawned wet and gray, with temperature in the mid-50s, but this was going to be a wonderful day for a dog show in Wheaton, Illinois. The location was the DuPage County Fairgrounds, and the rings were indoors. The stage was set for the classes at the Wheaton Kennel Club show for the fifth Polish Lowland Sheepdog national specialty, with the largest entry for a national so far.
Patricia A. Jung did the honors in Puppy and Veteran Sweepstakes. Her Best in Puppy Sweepstakes was Ch. Ozdoba Kontekst, owned by A. and V. Klocke, while Best of Opposite Puppy was Sasquehanna Literat, owned by A. Erickson. The Best Veteran in Sweepstakes was Ch. White Star's Tigger Too, owned by M. Hirata, and Best of Opposite Veteran was Ch. Elzbieta's White Zinfandel owned by M. Finch-Cirtwell.
Irene Bivin then entered the ring to begin judging the regular classes, with 43 of the 50 entries present. She selected Leon Crescendo Z Wielgowa, owned by P. Burton, as her Winners Dog. Reserve Winners went to White Star's Bentley z Bluegrass, owned by M. and J. Cirtwell. Uroda Starpondulac Rivendall, owned by S. Potter and D. Gray, was the choice for Winners Bitch, and Reserve Winners Bitch was Polish Hill's Be My Valentine, owned by P. and V. Siehr. Bivin selected Ch. Zhiggins Goral White Star Z Banciarni, owned by M. Finch-Cirtwell, for Best of Breed. Winners Dog was Best of Winners, and Best of Opposite Sex was Ch. Nowinka Kosy Dziechcinek, owned by N. Bogdanow.
Awards of merit went to Ch. White Star's Baron, owned by K. Wozniak; Ch. Pondulacs Principessa B-Rossa, owned by B. Stransky; and Ch. Rola at Elzbieta Tramperus, owned by M. Korzeniowska and D. Engelking.
As the dogs, exhibitors, and spectators went back to their hotels or homes to warm up (and maybe change clothes), the highly popular Polish food banquet was on everyone's mind. What a feast it was! There were pierogies, stuffed cabbage, hunter's stew, kielbassa and sauerkraut, blintzes, and more! It was followed by the American Polish Lowland Sheepdog Club's annual meeting, at which there was a quorum for the first time. After the meeting, a raffle drawing was held for big, beautiful baskets of PON keepsakes and dog goodies.
There was also an auction for some terrific PON memorabilia.
On Sunday the Polish Lowland Sheepdog classes were a supported entry, and even though the entry dropped, there were still trophies and majors. This national is now in the PON history book, and we look forward to next year's gathering: Look out, Las Vegas! I wonder if there will be Polish food at the banquet? –C.A.K.
Thanks, Carol, for this report
–Russell E. Tesarz, 205 Colonial Ave., Concord, NC 28025; retesarz@aol.com