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Events
Our
first official event, a sledding demonstration in Locke, NY, was a blast
despite pouring rain and mud everywhere. More than a dozen Chinooks and
their owners learned about harness fitting and motivating dogs to pull,
then got together at our vice-president’s house for a pot-luck. As is
true at all Chinook events, the food was fantastic and the dogs were
extraordinary! See the full event report below.
The only thing that was missing was the rest of you – the Chinook owners
of the Mid-Atlantic region.
Next
year, we hope to hold another event further south, and with your help we
will be able to hold informational workshops, just-for-fun socials, or
maybe even a conformation show one day. We just need you
as an active member of the club to keep our initial momentum going.
For
more information, contact: events@midatlanticchinooks.org
July 22, 2006 Locke, NY:
The Mid-Atlantic Chinook Club (MACC)
held its inaugural event, a pulling seminar, last Saturday in
conjunction with a UKC conformation show in Locke, NY. While the
venue was nestled in the scenic beauty of NY's Finger Lakes region, it
was a little hard to enjoy it when the day started off gray and wet!
Torrential downpours greeted the Chinooks and their families who
arrived early at the show site, but, undaunted, everyone set up a chairs
and coolers under the dubious cover of some shade tents. In true
Chinook fashion, the group turned a miserable morning into a warm
community gathering, swapping stories and Chinook lore to the
drumbeat of the rain, and steadily rising waters in "Chinook
Swamp".
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How wet was it
? Check out Maria, with umbrella, under a tarp! |
Moose having fun in the rain |
The Main Event was scheduled to
start at 1pm, but was postponed until after 3 to accommodate ring
times for the 10 Chinooks that were showing. The 11 Chinooks who
weren't showing demonstrated great patience in waiting for the
show activities to finish up! Finally, showing was over for the
day, and the rain ceased just in time to get everyone back out onto
the VERY muddy field to talk about SLEDDING! MACC Publicity
Chair, Maria Sommer, welcomed everyone and kicked things off with a
discussion of basic sledding terms and equipment. A handout,
created by CNE! for their rigging seminar this spring, was given to
all participants so they could study at home later. And,
brand-new MACC t-shirts were available for the humans to "suit
up" in before starting the festivities. Some people even managed
to keep their t-shirts clean for more than 5 minutes -- although muddy
pawprints do go well with the MACC logo!
The group mixed in sledding
pros (human and dogs) with novices, which provided a great balance as
we moved onto the interactive portion of the day. GreatMountain
Chinooks brought tons of harnesses, tires hooked up to tow lines, a
drag sled and Callicoon Chinooks and Rivertrail Chinooks had drag
sleds and scooters. Thanks to their generosity, any Chinook
and owner at the event was quickly fitted with a borrowed harness and
hooked up to something to pull. Rivertrail Bruno and owners Kris
and Alicia Nestle were the first participants, and they got things
started with a bang. Within five minutes, Bruno was running
after Kris as fast as he could drag the tire! Quickly following
were Lighthouse Mystic Seaport (Doonerak) and Forever Greene
Talis (Tali) with Patti and Perry Richards, GreatMountain Atlin
with Kim Kramer, Rivertrail Silvie and Chimera with Laura Morgan,
Hurricane Jenga with Eileen Koehler, and GreatMountain Passaconaway
(Conaway) with Karen Hinchy. Joyce Maley even hooked up Mystic's
Hurricane Sydney (Sydney) to a tire for a bit! Unfortunately,
Elizabeth Johnson, who had survived the stormy morning and shows with
Hurricane Crispin's Soul and Woodsrunner Mister Tumnus wasn't able to
stay for the event - hopefully it will work out next time!
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Bruno getting
things started |
Jenga getting
going |
Silvie pulling nicely |
After the first few minutes,
everyone was wet and muddy and having a grand time! Several of
the other contestants from the dog show came to watch the fun -- they
must have been jealous they didn't have Chinooks, too! After a
bit, pro pullers GreatMountain Mahoosuc and Pippa Passes Callicoon (Calli)
joined in the fun, each partnering with a less experienced Chinook to
pull a scooter. Mahoosuc and her brother Atlin took a spin, and
when Atlin decided to take a rest, Conaway joined Mahoosuc for the
trip back. Then Calli and Jenga showed everyone how it was
done. Thanks to Erin Koehler, who bravely rode the scooter
through the puddles behind all the dogs that got hooked up! The
day concluded with puppies GreatMountain Tupelo Jackman (Jack) and
Willowemoc (Willow) demonstrating that sled dogs are born, not made.
At just shy of 4 months old, they took off with the tire they were
both hooked up to!
Jenga and Calli on
the scooter |
Conaway hooked up
to a scooter |
Exhausted, wet, muddy, and
thrilled, participants adjourned to a pot-luck dinner at MACC VP Laura
Morgan's house. The food was plentiful, the conversation
excellent, and the dogs were entertaining as they ran in and out of
the rain. Jess Maurer-- who not only provided sledding
expertise, but also took a turn as event photographer -- hooked up the
camera to a laptop and everyone was able to see a slide show of the
day. Isn't technology great?
Overall, the first MACC event was a
resounding success -- bundling fun, community, excitement, and good
food that is the hallmark of any Chinook event!
Kim with Atlin,
Perry with Doonerak, Joyce with Janacek, Sydney & Kodiac, Maria with
Calli & Willow, Patti with Jack & Tali, Eileen with Jenga, Brian
with Mahoosuc, Erin with Moose and Abnaki, Laura with Indy & Lilo,
Karen with Conaway.
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