THE COUNTRY DOG SHOW

Summer Doldrums is a short time between planting and harvest.  What time would be better than for a Country Dog Show?  Who's dog would get the first prize?   Everyone got involved - even Sid.

Transcript

THE COUNTRY DOG SHOW          

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Well, hello.  Welcome.  Welcome.  Come sit a spell.  Haven’t seen you around these parts for a while.  How are the kids? 

That’s about how it goes this time of year. Lots of visitors walking around town.  

Just looking things over and visiting when they can.

It’s not a very big town.  You can walk it in about an hour – all the streets and back again.  Only two roads are paved; Main which is the east-west highway and the north south Main Street.  I know, I know, two Main Streets are crazy but that’s the way it is and nobody wants to change it, so, if you’re at the corner of Main and Main you’ll see the Town Hall - Fire-station. It is also the intersection that collapsed. Talked about that in the Big Dig podcast.

Across the street is B&B, the local company that keeps everybody’s propane tanks full in the winter. The old, old bank building is across the street.  Course, it’s not a bank anymore. It was Town Hall for a while then a very small grocery store that didn’t make it. 

Now its empty.  It’s on the corner of our famous park.

In our area, this is the time when farm girls and boys tie the knot.  The hard work of planting is long over.  Corn and beans are maturing in the fields. The follow-up work and chores are mostly done.  Machinery has been refurbished in anticipation of the harvest to come. And now, there is a waiting spell.  Perfect timing for a wedding and short honeymoon.  Last week Jason and Ella May, as well as a few others, were launched on the sea of matrimony.  Sometimes, the weddings are held in the park Pavilion.

In summer months, the park is the center of town. That’s where most all the fun, visiting, and get-togethers happen. The kids know the park intimately; swings and monkey-bars, ball diamond, basketball court, lots of room to run and play, etc.  The adults know the Pavilion with its serving room for lunches and dinners, a place to sit in the shade, eat and chat.  Sometimes, the stage in the Pavilion is used for music or plays.  When the Pavilion is used for reunions, it’s also an open invitation to drop by and chat.  

So, this is the time of year we call the Doldrums and the park is the centerpiece.  

As I said, Doldrums is the time between summer and harvest.  A time that hesitates a bit between the hot, hard labor of the spring farming chores, and the rush to harvest activities.  

The weather begins to break.  The trees start changing colors. Anticipation is in the air. 

It’s a perfect time for something different.  

Last year Ollie Olson had the bright idea of having a Dog Show. What he intended was to bring his friends and their hound-dogs together for an evening of conversation and libation at the Pavilion.  He put the word out at the Gas & Grill, make a small hand-made sign, then stuck it in the dirt by the road in front of the park.

Well, Anna Bailey got wind of it and took over. You know Anna.  She’s energetic, and an organizer extraordinaire.  If you want an event to succeed you involve Anna.   

A vision emerged, a plan was created, and the first Annual Country Dog Show was invented. Assistants were found and assigned tasks anywhere from hiring an expert Judge to printing and distributing the announcements.  Within a week Ollie had lost control and couldn’t recognize the event at all.  

On the other hand, an organization with a goal and a staff of faithful volunteers had been created and they had momentum.  It was exciting.  Nothing like this had ever been held at the Pavilion or in our county.  The timing was perfect. 

Harold Ickes, from Centerville, was hired as Judge.  Harold had been Judge of Dog Shows in Chicago – though that had been a quite a few years ago.  It was rumored that Jason Hoke, the famous Dog Show Judge was his distant cousin.

Gari Fuller collected the entrance fees. Donald Beal was given the task of placing dogs into classes to compete.  Becky Hilbert was Trophy and Events chair.  Even Denny, our mayor, was involved.  Evelyn, his wife was in charge of getting the park in shape for the Show.  Bleachers from the ball diamond had to be moved and set up again.  Arenas had to be erected so the dogs could strut their stuff.  Grass had to be mowed to a certain level and on and on the details went. 

It was impossible to anticipate the flood of dogs that would show up.  It seems that all kinds, colors, and sizes of dogs were drafted by their owners into the dog show. 

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Then came the big day.  Cars filled up the parking on Mill Street before 8 o’clock.  Most just showed up with Fido on a leash. 

The plan was to get the dogs registered by 10 o’clock but they just kept coming. A frantic call went out to our volunteer fire department to handle traffic; that helped, but soon they needed help.  Police Chief Shawn Armstrong sent four deputies from Bloomfield.  The start of the Dog Show was delayed till 1 o’clock 

Vickie, over at the Gas & Grill said she had never seen such a crowd.  They were swamped all day long.  

Four Show arenas were set up in the ball field using orange snow fencing.  Donald sorted and re-sorted the different dogs into groups he thought would be fair to compete. 

Mr. Ickes delegated emergency judicial authority to four assistants and he taught them how to score the dogs.  It was a crash program.  

The grand scheme was to sort the dogs into classes.  Each group was assigned to one of the arenas.  Each arena would come up with a winning dog as semi-finalist.  A judge and an assistant were assigned to each arena.

According to the plan, the semi-finalists would do a final Show in the Main Arena 

which was set up in front of the bleachers.  Everyone would watch the finals, spectators, participants and their dogs.  Mr. Ickes would select the big winner.

It was chaotic to begin with but the dog owners were having fun and helping the judges.  Becky said that she could tell a few had been through this drill before.  However, some dogs were more interested in sniffing than strutting around the arena.  

Fun was being had by all.

It was four o’clock before the semi-finalists were chosen. 

The semi-finalists were:  Torra, the Hairless Chiwawa, Roger, the Great Dane, Chewie the Border Colley, Be-Bop the Black Lab and Happy the Coon Hound.

Be-bop and Happy came from Elmer’s arena.  He could not make up his mind between the two, so both were nominated as semi-finalists.

When the semi-finalists were all done with their judging everybody moved over to the Main arena.  There wasn’t enough room on the bleachers for everybody, so spectators stood to both sides.  Also, the dog owners gathered in close to watch - their dogs in tow. 

The final strut of semi-finalists began.  Torra the short haired Chiwawa went first and did a passable job of trotting in front of Mac all the way around the runway. Though being as short as she is she had to hop a few times to get through the high grass.  She got a big hand at the end.  Mac took his hat off to the crowd.

Happy was the favorite of the hunters in the crowd.  When he and Elmer finished his trek around the arena he sat down, raised his head and let out a coon call to the delight of all.

Larry McMaine’s Border Colley, Chewie was an instant favorite.  He was just flat-out a beautiful dog with an easy gate around the arena.  His admirers stood and yelled and clapped to show their appreciation for him.

One by one the semi-finalists did their thing.  The dogs seemed to know what to do and did it.  The Show was going well.  Everyone was enjoying themselves. 

Everybody in town knows Be-Bop, Bill Bissel’s dog.  Occasionally he gets out of the fenced yard and goes visiting.  He’s amiable, calm and easy-going.  When Be-Bop and Bill finished his strut around the arena, he paused a bit, then, looking straight at the people on the bleachers, squatted then unloaded.  The crowd roared in surprise and amid calls such as “att-a-boy”, “job well done”, they gave him a standing ovation.  Bill’s face was red as a beet.

Deputy Mooney lined up to take the final stroll with Roger the Great Dane.  It was a flawless performance.  Roger posed at the end of the walk so as to say “take my picture now”.  When the applause died down everything became quiet.  Things were getting serious. 

The assistants helped the finalists line up in front of the bleachers.  It was time to compare notes, name the winner and runner-up.    

The excitement was building.  The dog owners were holding their breaths.

Now, at this point I’ve got to tell you a bit about Sidney.  Sid is an unusual German Schnauzer.  Officially, he is gramma Laurel’s dog - but doesn’t know it.  He thinks he’s the boss over there and, for the most part, acts like it.

In our town there’s an ordinance that declares that dogs must be on a leash or kept in a fence and are not to run around town.  Sid never got the message.

When Grama Laurel lets Sid out to do his thing in the fenced back yard – as many times as not, he jumps off the back porch and starts his trek around town.  

This is his town and every dog knows it – cat too.

For a small dog he is absolutely fearless and is known to terrorize dogs that are wandering around town.

Well, you guessed it - Sid got out of the house about the time the judges were putting their heads together.  Sensing adventure and perhaps a challenge he headed directly to the park which was one short block away.

The five finalists were lined up in front of the bleachers with their owners awaiting the announcement of the winner.  

Without warning, Sid, attacked.  He zeroed in on Roger, who promptly broke loose and leapt to the top level of the bleachers, pushing several people off in the process. 

Chewie, Happy and Torra, in a hurry to get out of Sid’s way, got leashes tangled and wrapped around their owners who were frantically trying to sort them out. 

Be-Bop just sat there watching all the excitement.

Like a Kamikaze pilot, Sid darted directly into groups of dogs, which by now were barking, jumping, twisting furiously to get free of their leashes.  Some were running away as fast as they could go. 

Sid shot here, then there, scattering one group of dogs after the other.  It was a disaster, at the precisely wrong moment.  

The dogs were barking, wailing and crying. People were climbing over each other trying to get off the bleachers and out of the way.  Dog owners were running to catch their dogs. 

And then, as quickly as it happened, Sid disappeared.

The moment had passed.  Chaos reigned.  Mass hysteria was everywhere.

The Show was over.  No trophies were awarded. The First Annual Country Dog Show never recovered. 

Owners finally corralled their dogs and proceeded to their cars – leaving slowly. Later that evening, Frosty said he thought he saw Sid sitting on Grama Laurel’s front porch, smiling.

So that’s it for now.

From where the corn grows tall, and pigs’ fly.

Take care.   

All my love.

Grampa Jim.