Meetings and Judges Instructions

Sail Winds Conference Center is the site of today's meetings.

The merch sales were a complete success this morning. Following the blast of purchases, the Master National crowd began making its way back, once again, to the Sail Winds Conference Center for some MNRC housekeeping and Judges instructions.

Gloria Mundell, Chief Marshall, addresses the crowd with the Handler's Instructions.

The Board Members of the MNRC.

Mark Koeneig and Dennis Bath, President & Editor-in-Chief of Retriever News.

The harbor view outside Sail Winds Conference Center

The Delegates began registering for the meetings as the Committee Chairs met with their workers in preparation of the upcoming week's activities. There is plenty of work to do, and not enough people to do it. If you have time and would like to volunteer, take a look at the following club committee listings and contact the respective Chairperson to set up some volunteer hours. Flight A, Flight B and Flight C

As the handlers began flowing in, Gloria Mundell, emcee extraordinaire and Chief Marshall, announced the important Judges Flight information. With a little help from Lyle Steinman’s hat, the Judges pairings were picked and their Flights assigned.

Front row: John Marchica and Frank Barton

Judges Dorothy Ruehman, Steve Elliott and Duwayne Bickel.

Judges Denard Quillen, Dave Illias and Martha Kress

Bill Teague of the RHTAC

Jerry Mann of the AKC

Here's how it ran down: Flight A (nicknamed Crazy 8) Judges are Dorothy Ruehman and Steve Elliott (substitute judge for Jim Morris who had a family emergency). The Flight B (or 12 Point Corner) judging duo is Duwayne Bickle and Jim Wonnell and finishing out the list for Flight C (or Wet Willie) has Martha Kress and Dave Illias. We thank the Judges again for taking their time to Judge this 20th Anniversary Master National!

As announced last night at the Opening Ceremony, the starting dog is #79, and the complete rotation is 79 - 117 - 155 - 1 - 39.

Gloria continued on with the Judges instrux to the handlers, here's the breakdown:
Guns - First and foremost, gun safety is key ... and shoulder the gun.

Birds - When the dog delivers the bird, hand it directly to the judge. If there are any special instructions, they will be posted in the final holding blind.

Honor Dog - The handler will stand for ALL honors and ALL marks. NO intimidation, loud voices. The honor dog will have a bye dog during a shift change.

Handling - If you handle, handle to the blind. If you receive a no-bird, you will go back 3 dogs. If you get 2 no birds, go back 6 dogs. If you receive 3 no-birds, go back 12 dogs. If, god forbid, you receive 4 no-birds, you go to the end of the line.

Walk-ups - Keep walking ... STOP when the bird is in the air.

Blinds - The line to the blind IS the line to the blind...challenge it. Release your dog when your number is called.

"Time is of the essence," says Gloria. "The judges are looking for quality ... there's no rush. Be mindful of the running order, be watching and be there."

Regarding test dogs, each morning there will be one test dog, unless it's the beginning of a new series.

Judge, Steve Elliott, offered his thanks to the AKC, the Master National, the host club and to all the attendees at this years National. "Good luck, relax...if you're calm and confident the handler will do better." Most importantly, Elliott brought to everyone’s attention that we need to be respectful of the grounds, be safe and watch your dogs.

Following all of the Judges info, the Retriever Hunting Test Advisory Committee provided information on the communication between them and the AKC in the last year. Topics for discussion may derive from Hunting Test participants or from the RHTAC's members themselves. More on these announcements during the Master National Report in the Retriever News.

The Master National Retriever Club's Annual Meeting began with an overview of the Club's financials from Secretary/Treasurer, Frank Barton. And as Frank mentioned, this would be the last time he will be acting as the MNRC Treasurer.

As fun as it is to talk about money, it was time to move on ... on to the slate of Judging candidates for 2010 MN, emceed by John Marchica. 
Listed below are the 6 Judges:

Ballot #1
Region 1 - Michelle Love
Region 2 - Carol Hynes
Region 3 - Bill Teague
Region 4 - Jim Charboneau

Ballot #2
Region 1 - Sidney Williams
Region 3 - Bruce Bachert

Congratulations to the 2012 Judges! See you next year!

Finally, there were two Amendments to the Constitution up for review, discussion and vote. After much discussion, a variety of votes, yay/nay, colored delegate papers and secret ballot, both proposed changes to the Constitution did not pass.

As the democratic process began and ended, handlers picked up their handler bags and a variety of treats.

Jerry Cacchio and Mike Witt from Purina.

Rick Dirmeyer, Missy Heard and Mike from Eukanuba.

Millie's Roadhouse shows of their gear...."BODY by MILLIE's."

Thank you to all of the Sponsors and their representatives:
Cabela’s
Purina
Eukanuba
Avery
Tri-Tronics
Tangelo Products
Dogtra
Sherwood of Salisbury

Whew! What a day! Time to get some rest and prepare for the running of the 2011 Master National!