Long Island's North Shore was for many years not only a hotbed of breeding kennels, but for an equally long time the home of many AKC officials and the most powerful players in the dog world. Through the years, the shift in American life was reflected in our dog show world as well, and not only was there a change in power structures at AKC, but the viability of and the strength of the Long Island shows severely challenged and weakened. Venues became increasingly more difficult to find and keep, whilst the members of the three North Shore power clubs—Westbury, Long Island and Ladies—were altered radically. Nonetheless, to the great credit of the club members who evolved through the years, and despite overwhelming odds against them, remarkable comebacks for the shows have occurred. Not so much in the size of the entries, which remain perplexingly low, but in the spirit and determination of those involved with the clubs. Long Island and Ladies are held in May, while Westbury (along with Suffolk and Brookhaven), are now held together the last week in September. With the exception of Long Island, all five shows (Ladies is back-to-back) are held at the glorious former Coe Estate, the Planting Fields, in Oyster Bay. It is hard to find better grounds in the entire country than the Planting Fields. Really, it could hold 3,000 or 4,000 dogs easily and brings back memories of Old Santa Barbara, or so I think anyways. These shows are happy to draw 1,200 entries, if that!
Why are the entries so low? Well, there are any number of reasons thrown around. It is said people hate to drive on the L.I.E. (let me tell you, you don't have to take the L.I.E. to get there, but if you do take it, is it any worse than most metropolitan expressways? I think not). People say the hotels are too expensive—get with it! Stay 15 or 20 minutes away from the show grounds and you can find reasonably-priced hotels aplenty. The slates aren't up to par—you know, that's a specious argument, since the make-up of today’s slates is practically irrelevant these days to the exhibitor/handler. They basically go where "it looks good." Nonetheless, all of the above are considerations, as is the most overlooked of the reasons: There's just too much competition show ways in the Northeast corridor on that weekend! The old 200-mile radius rule, which allows shows Upstate New York, Maine, Virginia and South Carolina, dilutes the entries. This rule must be revisited for any number of reasons, but its effect on show-giving clubs can be disastrous. Just look at the Memorial Day weekend, to say nothing of the following weeks in Virginia and North Carolina… and the whole East Coast for that matter. With all the conflicting shows, does it surprise anyone that some entries go up or down? There are only so many dogs to be shown.
Now, then, the May shows on the Island seem to have weather problems continually. This year was no exception, although both Saturday and Sunday had sufficiently good weather to increase gates at both venues. Long Island is held at the Roslyn County Museum, which is the magnificent summer home of yore of the Frick magnate. This show is a smaller family affair-type venue, reminiscent in a way to the old Abbington Fair show. Thousands of spectators come, which most shows can lack today.These visitors are a major part of its success. The grounds are questionable, as is the ingress and egress, but what it lacks in convenience it more than makes up for in spirit and uniqueness. It is run and feels like the shows of old. And there are far too few of these kinds of shows around today. Whether a similar affect could be achieved at the Planting Fields—a short, ten-minute drive away—is a conversation that has been known to have been had on numerous occasions.
As for the winners, the Dal shown by Mike Scott the first night, the Wei bitch bred by Judy Colan and shown by Allesandra Folz the second night, and the Lakeland Terrier shown by R.C. Carusi on the last night were the adjudicated Best in Show winners. All, I may add, more than adequate representatives of their breed.
I would be more than remiss—nay, it would be negligent—for me to not write something about Peggy Westphal. I met Peggy at the first dog show I ever exhibited at in 1964. It was in the Old Teaneck Armory, and we remained friends throughout that longtime period. It was the Kennel Club of Northern New Jersey, as I recall. Her daughter Carrie was perhaps two years old, and in typical Peggy fashion, she "crated" Carrie while she showed her dogs. No one thought anything about doing that, but decades later, a similar incident in California resulted in a police arrest! Times change, but Peggy certainly did not. She was as kind as she was eccentric as she was loyal as was she talented, both artistically and as a breeder. She never was meant to judge and gave up her judging status in a comparatively short time. We were frequent visitors to the house in Bedford, as was she to our home. You won't meet the likes of Peggy in many a year. Graham, her son, and Carrie were the apple of her eye. She was one hell of a person, and it was through the dog world our friendship began. •