Well the four-day Eastern Cluster will definitely not be in Boston next year but will be at the spanking new Civic Center in Providence Rhode Island! My how those Staltonstalls, Almays and the rest of that so-called Brahmin tribe of Bostonians must be twirling in their graves at that move. Eastern in Rhode Island and not Boston! At least when the venerable Philadelphia Kennel Club had to move they stayed within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. But say one thing the Boston people gave their all in trying to keep Boston as a venue and hopefully it will be back next year – 2010 – where the show belongs in Boston proper. Certainly John Beale and his committee left no rock unturned in their efforts to find a downtown site which economically just proved impossible to do. Candidly I have never been that crazy about the Bayside Expo Center which really is in Dorchester which I think is a suburb of Boston. Watch what happens when you ask your GPS to go to 200 Mount Vernon Street in Boston. You end up in Greater Roxburry as did much of THE TAKE THE LEAD materials, to say nothing of the dozens of exhibitors (including this writer) who landed in front of some nice lady’s home instead of at the dog show! Of course the ironic thing is that after signing the Providence contract Bayside contacted the Cluster to tell them that the Expo center may be available for 2009 – but they wanted a 90 day prior to the show cancellation clause which of course the Cluster had to turn down. Knowing John as well as I do (he and his wife Pam are just incredibly nice, sincere, concerned dog people) every effort will be made to return these shows to their proper geographic venue.
Well the Pointer bitch in her quest to be number one all-breed swept all four shows where on Saturday night she got her 100th All-Breed Best. Quite an amazing statistic considering the fact that 93 Bests were awarded in 2008 so far. She went to 189 shows in this year, won 158 Group Ones with 93 Bests. Quite a 
percentage, don’t you think? In 2007 she went to 34 shows – with 14 Group Ones and 8 BIS’s. I must say that the competition for Best the two nights I was there were remarkably strong and I thought both best in show judges were hard pressed in making their decisions. And I will add that ultimately I could not have more agreed with their awards as difficult as it was to make the choices. On another night you may go a totally different way but there was truly no denying the Pointer on the nights I saw her win.
The Take the Lead party was quite the success. The food way above par and the monies raised were in excess of $30,000 without the dinner proceeds being taken into account. Afterwards many of us retired to the hotel next door where many people were staying as well. Not a luxurious place but more than basic it was and in the lobby where the bar was located much talk took place about the coming Board elections. Some heated discussions were in order and while I will not go into the nitty grittys of who was supporting or not supporting whom and the reasons for doing or not doing same the procedure for running the Forum became a hot topic.
Some people asked me about our Editorial in which we questioned why the By-Laws Committee seemed to have changed the Forum where the questions and answers are informally asked. Then of course came Jim Crowley’s explanation, which was not only contained in DOG NEWS but sent to all Delegates as well. To my mind what he wrote was totally unacceptable. It seems the By-Laws committee, which was officially delegated by the Coordinating Committee to run the forum delegated its authority to 
run the Forum to Crowley. Crowley either acted alone or on instructions from the By-laws Committee to change the forum procedures. Talk about passing the buck and not taking responsibility. That sure sounds like the case to me here. Of course I have subsequently learned that the Delegate Committees all have a Staff member do work for them. As I understand it, this was meant to protect staff from getting requests from various committees and committee members in the extreme. Whether this was what was accomplished in the By-Laws Committee or with Crowley I leave for you to determine but to me it sounds more like a mere passing of the buck. It appears to me this was a decided effort to do away with extemporaneous questions from the floor, which attempt fortunately got nipped in the bud. Now I understand a member of that committee is holding a brunch DURING the Invitational in direct competition with judging and other events in Long Beach at a yacht club near the Invitational. I don’t know what tune this committee marches to but it is a strange one for sure.
Hope to see many of you at the Invitational as DOG NEWS will be co-hosting the Judges and Visitors Lounge there. This is the last issue of the year and I hope you all have a great holiday season no matter the holiday of your choice. See you the 2nd of January in Palm Springs for sure. Have a Happy Christmas and a healthy and wealthy (that would be nice) New Year too.
