CKCoJ President's Report by Kristy K. Totten for the Annual Meeting on October 13, 2024
It's been another very busy year with many new members and some exciting new activities. Lori Hoover and Donna Leigh taught several very successful and popular Puppy Kindergarten classes. We continue to have inquiries by people hoping to enroll in these. Thank you Lori and Donna for your commitment to promoting responsible dog ownership through your joyful and meaningful puppy classes! In August, Schery Umazor taught a fun Manners Class, which was very successful and she too is receiving inquiries to teach more classes.
In February, the club held UKC Obedience trials, Mari Meiners did an excellent job as Trial Chair, Thank you to all of these people for their tremendous volunteering time and efforts to make this a successful trial. Thank you also to everyone who volunteered as stewards or transporting equipment, and/or setting up and breaking it all back down.
Nosework which was started by Sharon Moore via a Zoom online course, has continued to grow and develop. Patti Kalbaugh taught a full beginners course, while Sharon Moore continued with facilitating weekly practices where participants were able to grow their skills. In July, the club hosted our first UKC Nosework Trial with Judge Sherilyn Seyler. The handlers and their dogs were amazing and many received awards and/or titles. By popular demand, another Nosework Trial is scheduled for November 8-10. This is an exceptionally successful and fun program that is accessible to all levels of handlers and dogs of all sizes and ages. Thank you Sharon and Patti for promoting, developing and teaching this wonderful program!
Throughout the fall of 2023 and into the winter/spring of 2024, practices were held at Jumbo Gym every Saturday for obedience, supervised by Sandy Harris, Wednesday evenings for agility, supervised by Sharon Moore, and Nosework at various locations every Tuesday, also facilitated by Sharon Moore. In May, agility practices moved outside to Lena Dog Park for the summer season. Sadly, the weather was rather uncooperative and although we completed two sessions of outdoor agility sessions, there were many gaps in the schedule due to rain and wind. Kristy taught an Introductory Agility course utilizing the covered playgrounds or Lena depending on the weather.
We are happy that our application for renting a couple of classrooms from CBJ is proceeding. Hopefully, we will be able to afford the lease and begin to develop expanded classes and training opportunities.
Many people work hard to keep this club active and productive. I'd like to give a special thank you to Marty Phelan, our treasurer and web manager deluxe! Throughout the year, Marty works constantly behind the scenes to manage our funds, post and coordinate class enrollments, create and update our website, including the PayPal payment system, manage our insurance, licensing and other legal requirments, all important work which is maintaing the club as a strong, growing and viable organization. Thank you Marty for your ongoing commitment to CKCoJ and for sharing your expertise.
At this time, I'd like to also make a special recognition to Sharon Moore. She has promoted a diversity of programs for our club, frequently conceiving of the idea, recruiting trainors and supervising and or facilitating the training and practices, plus managing all of the paperwork with UKC! Without her almost constant hard work, dedication and skills, we would not have many of the terrific programs that we do. We all owe her a tremendous amount of gratitutde.
Reported by: Kristy K. Totten, CKCoJ President