March 2013

I hope you all made it through winter without your Westies getting too muddy. We were not successful with that since we live in the Santa Cruz Mountains and BonneeBelle loves to hunt - rabbits, quail and she particularly loves to dig in gopher holes - not a clean adventure for a Westie.

At the Annual Meeting in January we elected Club officers for the year. I appreciate your confidence in electing me President for another year. All of your officers and directors are dedicated to doing the best that we can for the Club (which is more than can be said for some of those we have sent to Washington, D.C.). A complete list of officers, directors and committee members is shown at the end of the Tartan.

We have a couple of important Club events coming up in the next month or so. The first will be the Club Specialty Shows for 2013. These shows will be held on Thursday, April 11, and Friday, April 12, at Cal Expo in Sacramento. This is the most important event that the Club holds each year. Without a Specialty every year, we would not be an AKC Club. We need everyone's support for the shows.

We want to thank all of you who have so generously contributed to the Specialty already by placing ads in the catalog and contributing to the trophy fund. The best way to support the Club now is to be at the show on Thursday and/or Friday. It is a great opportunity to see some beautiful and talented Westies in both the conformation ring and in the obedience ring. Yes, I know it is sometimes hard to believe that a Westie can be in obedience - they do have minds of their own. However, if you visit the obedience ring you will see at least a couple of excellent Westies there. So please show up in Sacramento for one or both days and cheer on the Westies in BOTH conformation and obedience. If you cannot be in Sacramento, please help by contributing to the trophy fund. To donate contact Gail Krieger gailaurie@hotmail.com or you can send a donation to our treasurer, Ramona Rule, (24183 Hillview Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94024). The Specialty Show and dinner have always been one of the Club's biggest fundraising events because of the auction after the dinner. This year we are not having a dinner due to a lack of interest in the last couple of years (we have been unable to meet minimum requirements for banquet rooms). I think this is a terrible shame since the dinner is a good opportunity to visit and get to know the other Club members better. If you would like to have a Specialty dinner next year and think you would attend, let me know. If we have the interest, there are members who are willing to spend the effort to put the event together.

The other important event coming up on Saturday, April 27, is the Spring Fling at Vasona Park in Los Gatos. We will once again have the Parade of Rescues at this event. We had this parade last year at the Tartan Games in November, but it is typically held at the Spring Fling. Contact Mary Young and get signed up to bring your wonderful Rescue Westie to the Spring Fling.

Jim Gilcrest
President, SFBWHWTC
831-462-6440
Jim@GilcrestConsulting.com