On June 15th of that year, thirteen individuals representing several of our concept groups attended that first planning meeting. In that meeting our agenda addressed: • The general concept of the event • Outline needs for individual subcommittees • Location for the event • Selection of a date • Possible corporate sponsorship • Introduction of Walter Sommer- felt and Sherry Webster as Chair and Assistant Chair for the event. • Association with ALSAC and The Ladies of St. Jude auxiliary as St. Jude partners in the event. • Finance • Insurance • Publicity • Various exhibitions • Special events • Competitive events • Demonstrations • Major organization participants • Breed participation • Concessions • Parking • Equipment • Gate/Admission, Etc. This initial meeting was met with great enthusiasm and all agreed to move forward with the plan. Every- one also agreed it would take at least one year to 18 months to put it all together, but all in attendance were committed to the project. It was understood from day one that we were all volunteers and that no one would be compensated for their time and talents. YOU WIN WITH PEOPLE One of my favorite books is my wife’s autographed copy of the late Woody Hayes book, You Win With People . Hayes, the former head coach of my beloved Ohio State Buckeyes, de- voted the book to the team concept of how every single member of any suc- cessful organization plays an impor- tant part in the eventual outcome of any endeavor. What I learned most through the process of putting this event on was that Woody had it right. I needed to develop a leadership style that was
and I saw St. Jude as the best friend of a child in need and thought it could be a combination that might work. Having been involved in dog shows since the early 1970s, I was curious as to why shows only held conforma- tion and obedience together when there were so many other things that could be done with our dogs. I con- templated, “If there was an event that included the many diverse aspects of competition available to dog lovers, would the public come to learn, ob- serve and participate in our wonder- ful world of dogs?” With the support and encouragement of my wife and best friend Carol, I started putting together a plan of ac- tion and possibilities. I had started my judging career in 1985 and had founded the Mid-South judges’ group. We were one of the earlier judges’ groups in the country at the time and met monthly to learn about the various breeds presented by knowledgeable breed mentors. Our members came fromWest Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and South- west Kentucky. At one of our monthly get-togethers, I mentioned my idea and asked for thoughts and feedback. Many thought it was a good idea, but thought it had a very small chance to succeed. One member, Sherry Web- ster, thought it was a great idea and agreed to team up with Carol and me to pursue the idea further. THE SPRING OF 1994 THE PROJECT STARTS By the spring of 1994, Carol, Sherry and I had given the idea a great deal of thought. We considered what types of events, demonstrations, educa- tional, and entertainment events to include (what all might be involved), and was it truly a realistic concept? At the time the AKC was still basically a Conformation, Obedience, and Field Trial club and we had this vision of so many other opportunities outside of AKC events in which dog owners could do so much more with their dogs. So, inMay of 1994, we sent out a letter to a list of possible participants in our project to gauge interest in our concept.
“I CONTEMPLATED, ‘IF THERE WAS AN EVENT THAT INCLUDED THE MANY DIVERSE ASPECTS OF COMPETITION AVAILABLE TO DOG LOVERS, WOULD THE PUBLIC COME TO LEARN, OBSERVE AND PARTICIPATE IN OUR WONDERFUL WORLD OF DOGS?’”
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