President's Letter
Winter 2011
Welcome to winter!
Thank you to all the BCSDA members who attended the October AGM in Aldergrove. What a festive, Halloween setting for our meeting, thank you Wendy LeGare for the decorating. The minutes are included in this edition of the Look Back. As well as the AGM, members were also invited to a discussion hour of various topics selected after dinner. This format for open discussion worked well and many ideas brought forth with follow up sessions occurring now with your Board of Directors.
One such idea was to freeze stock and sanctioning fees for the 2011/2012 year. As of November 30, the Board of Directors has approved the freezing of stock fees for the 2011/2012 trial season. This means that trial organizers will not need to collect $1/run from each competitor and consequently not have to forward this money to the BCSDA. Currently, there are adequate funds in the stock insurance account to cover possible claims for this year. At the 2012 AGM next October, this freeze will be re-evaluated by the membership. Sanctioning fees remain unchanged and trial organizers are asked to forward $10 along with their trial details to Lynn Landry. The sanctioning fees help cover some of the cost of the association’s liability insurance.
During the AGM, members had a chance to view an early draft of the Website Survey. The final version of the survey is included in the Dec Look Back. Members can respond either by mailing, scanning and emailing, or electronically completing an on-line version. Final date for submission is January 21, 2012. The purpose of this survey is so that the BCSDA website committee can make some changes to our website based on the needs of our members. PLEASE take the time to complete this survey.
I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season. Stay warm this winter!
Jennifer L'Arrivee
Spring 2011
While the winds still blow outside and the endless snow keeps falling, I would like dedicate this message to all the many volunteers that make the British Columbia Stock dog Association a fantastic organization. We are all brought together with the common interest of ensuring working stock dogs remain just that, working, and that brains, physical stamina, and heart are chosen over beauty.
Ruedi, our Look Back editor has been compiling your articles, results, and pictures for the past couple of years and spends countless hours organizing our quarterly publication. I thank him for patiently waiting for all my emails – usually never early I might add, and I know his “real” work keeps him very busy. We are one of the few stock dog associations in North America that have this regular magazine – and it is all due to the many people over the years who have kept the Look Back going strong.
Lynn, our secretary-treasurer keeps the entire association organized! She tracks all our fees and dates and keeps important numbers I ask her for at her finger tips. I’m not sure how she can find this information so quickly, our offices definitely don’t use the same filing system. Thanks Lynn for helping me through the first few months.
Kristi, has been our BCSDA webmaster and now built the Western/Canadian website. She fixes all my mistakes on the Western website and makes everything look BETTER! I am hoping she can make it through the upcoming season of more questions!
To all the Kootenay Stock dog Enthusiasts, Penny, George, Shirley, Leanne, & Hugh who are doing an amazing job organizing and fund-raising for the Westerns and Nationals to be held in August. This is an enormous under-taking and this is one dedicated group! Thanks also to Wendy Legare and Kristi Oikawa for your assistance with this trial. Wendy will be collecting entries as soon as Penny & I get them ready! Many other BCSDA members have offered to help and they will certainly be called on as we get closer to the time.
I would like to thank the hosts of the various monthly winter trials that many members have enjoyed: John Carter (The Handy Ranch Dog Series), Lee Lumb (Stirling Acres Series), and Jacqui Barrie (R/J Arena Series). These trials provide a great opportunity for handlers & dogs to train and socialize during the winter months.
Thanks also go to the Board of Directors who responds to the many emails regarding BCSDA correspondence. Everyone in the BCSDA leads busy lives outside of our association, and I would like to personally thank everyone for giving up some of your time to maintain this community of working stock dog enthusiasts. Remember to volunteer when you head to the trials this upcoming season – all our trial hosts spend countless hours preparing so many of us can have a weekend of fun!
I wish everyone an early spring!
Jennifer L'Arrivee
Summer 2010
Greetings,
We were a bit too soggy on the coast, but this wet spring has certainly greened up the Cariboo, Okanagan and Interior regions. Lambing is done and you can now get back to training your dogs in anticipation of the summer trials.
Lee Lumb continues to do a excellent job of offering both training and trialing opportunities throughout the winter at Stirling Acres. The arena series is now complete, as is her mini-camp series. There remains the popular June Herding Camp followed by the novice trial on June 19th & 20th. Lee hosted a Patrick Shanahan clinic in April where work was done on a mountainside Coldstream Ranch field with handlers and dogs challenged by double-lift work.
John Carter’s Handy Dog Ranch series at Down River Farms in Laidlaw concluded on June 6th. . John hopes to repeat this series beginning next fall. He regrets to announce that the arena trial that has run in conjunction with Hope Brigade Days in September will not be held this year.
The Paxton Valley field trial at Hollen Farm in Falkland ran May 22nd & 23rd . There were 71 teams that ran each day in Open, PN and Nursery classes. It was a great trial with Patrick Shanahan judging, good sheep, yummy potluck dinner and interesting weather! We saw everything from sun to hail during our stay in the Paxton Valley. Raingear and gloves were borrowed and good humour saved the day. Thanks again to Holly & Len for hosting us all.
This season will see the following BCSDA sanctioned sheep dog trials: Dawson Creek on July 23rd -25th ; Metchosin on July 30th – August 1st ; 7Up Ranch on August 7th & 8th and Sandhill Lea on Sept. 4th & 5th. Please visit the BCSDA website for additional trial and clinic opportunity information. Log on to the USBCHA website for trial opportunities south of the border.
This is an early “heads up” about our annual general meeting to be held October 23, 2010 in the Okanagan/Cariboo/Kamloops/Shuswap region. Jennifer L’Arrivee and Gayle Cochlan are organizing this meeting and the location will be announced in the September “Look Back”. The executive positions for election this year are President, Trial Director, Member-at-Large One and directors from the following areas: Cariboo, Kamloops/Shuswap, Okanagan/Kootenays, Prince George/North. Our nominations chairperson will be listed in the next “Look Back”.
It’s important to be aware of the procedure for dealing with motions that arise from our general membership. In our association bylaws Article V. Annual General Meeting reads:
2. The functions of the Annual General Meeting shall be:
a. To elect Directors
b. To debate and vote on matters submitted by the Board of Directors and committees
c. To receive and act on reports of the President and Secretary/Treasurer
As you can see, it is essential that motions firstly come to the BOD and not “cold” to the AGM. It is the BOD’s responsibility to thoroughly research the issue and make a recommendation before a motion will be put to a vote by the general membership. It’s imperative that motions that are intended for the next AGM be submitted to the BOD as soon as possible.
Let’s support those great folk who open their fields and flocks to us. Have a great trial season!
Charmaine Henderson
Spring 2010
Greetings to All,
Wow! Did the Olympics really come and go that quickly?! Were you working your dogs or sitting in front of the telly cheering on the Canadian athletes? A friend asked me in jest if I thought that herding might become a summer Olympic event and I replied that it’s too elite a sport for the Olympics!
The calendar on our website is filling with BCSDA sanctioned events. Lee Lumb’s winter arena trial series has the final date of March 27th remaining, hosted by Chris & Terri Hanson in Armstrong. John Carter’s Handy Dog series in Laidlaw continues through June 6th. Entries are now open for the Paxton Valley Sheep Dog field trial in Falkland on the May long weekend. Stirling Acres will host a two-day herding camp followed by the Coldstream Classic novice trial on June 19th & 20th. Please note that the dates for the traditional crowd-pleasing Metchosin Sheep Dog Trial will be July 30 – August 1. We’re excited to attend Lorne & Lynn Landry’s inaugural Sandhill Lea Sheep Dog Trial, September 4th & 5th, in the beautiful Cariboo. There are clinics to attend to help you hone your skills and more trialing opportunities listed on the websites of other associations, as well as the site which serves Vancouver Island handlers. Kristi Oikawa (our trial director and web mistress) keeps the information on our website as current as possible once trial dates are known to her.
At the AGM in October, 2009, a motion concerning our requirement for BCSDA membership for residents of BC who compete in our sanctioned trials at the ProNovice and Open levels was made and referred back to the BOD for discussion and recommendation. The board has concluded this discussion and the decision to make changes to our membership policy is included in this edition of Look Back. This decision is to be ratified by a general membership vote at the next AGM.
The second motion that arose from the AGM and was referred back to the BOD refers to the location of our AGM with a move to a more geographically central location such as Kamloops. The board is leaning towards keeping the rotation as it currently exists, while examining the implementation of video conferencing with one or more satellite locations to serve members who are unable to attend. We have some highly technological members who are eager to set this up.
The four western provinces have come together to establish a new committee, the Western Championship Sheep Dog Trial Committee, which will formulate guidelines for the hosting and running of the Western Championship trial. There are two representatives from each province on this committee and our reps are Gayle Cochlan and Jennifer L’Arrivee. Gayle and Jennifer will report to our BOD as the committee work progresses.
Members of BCSDA have expressed interest in the genetic testing of border collies used for breeding and whether we might administer a subsidy towards the cost of this testing. One of the purposes of our society is to “Promote the breeding, exposure and growth of stock dog breeds…….”. Research will be done into the feasibility of this subsidy.
Many of you are lambing right now, so your days (and nights!) are very full. The arrival of these babes along with the pussy willows, return of the red-winged blackbirds to our coastal marshes, daffodils on the roadsides and new grasses in the fields are lovely harbingers of spring. Take joy in your training and trialing. Hope to see you on the field!
Charmaine Henderson