2026 ESCC/ESAA Combined Specialty RETROSPECTIVE

I am not sure if this constitutes an "OP ED" because though I am webmaster for ESCC and write our bimonthly newsletters, I don't consider myself to be an "Editor." As well, my husband and I don't show our five setters, we are blessed by them daily and as an extension, blessed by the greater English Setter Community. That said, we have lived with and loved English Setters for 21 out of 22 years of marriage. We are former members of the National Capital Club of English Setters and current members of the English Setter Club of the Carolinas, as well as past and current members of ESAA. Long story short, my husband grew up with English Setters, with his first 6 month old puppy at age two. Fast forward (many) years later and we continue to be smitten with the breed and breed lovers. Why don't we show our setters? - believe me, we tried. We were gifted with a beautiful Fieldplay bitch, age 4-1/2, a gorgeous blue Belton, finished at 18 months. The goal was for us to raise her, while the breeders continued to pursue two litters. We would show "Tia" and subsequently a puppy from one of her litters. We got our 11 year old daughter involved in the process as a Junior Handler. We bought a puppy (Ellie). I took the George Alston Boot Camp class and with a spectacularly beautiful orange bitch, failed miserably. We still maintained our membership and involvement in our NCESC club and our longtime relationship with our breeders.

When we relocated to North Carolina and were still working full-time, we lost connection with clubs. We also found Huntwood English Setters and continued bringing English Setters into our Family. When Judi Hunter, (Huntwood) called to let us know she would be showing at the 2023 ESAA Nationals in Asheville (20 minutes from our home), we jumped at the chance to reconnect with the wider ES Community. Thanks to Judi, we became acquainted with BJ Parsons and Kristen Apodaca who took us under their wings and now are happily established with the English Setter Club of the Carolinas (formerly CCESC).

BUT, though we have attended many, many, many shows over the years and know a little about conformation, have helped our setter friends potty their dogs or hold their dogs during shows, we really knew NOTHING about what goes into putting on a dog show. HENCE, this retrospective. We learned so much from working this specialty . . . Here's how it went . . .

Former Show Chair and Club Member Lynda Chase was not available to Chair and coordinate our 2026 Specialty. Rob, Secretary of the Club along with Cheryl Pfeiffer, Board Member at Large agreed to take on the task as Chair and Co-Chair (Rob with NO experience). Since Rob is retired, he took the Chair Position and he and Cheryl agreed on the distribution of duties. And then they went to work. For people who have lived in the show world and are familiar with the process, this might not have been so daunting. But we were literally going online, asking board members with experience for answers to simple questions like - so Best of Breed, then?. . . . It wasn't until this specialty that we got the order of awards. To say the least, we learned there are many intricacies to the process of coordinating a show. There is the specialty host (in our case it was Victory Lane Classic), the Superintendent, the AKC and ESAA to coordinate dates, contracts, premiums, etc. Not to mention the site, grooming spaces, RV hook ups, etc., etc. and all that our exhibitors would need to attend - and then the awards and the ribbons and then fund raising to pay for it all - the raffle - (thank you Janet Coates and Charles Reitz). For instance, the awards, Cheryl showed me the color coded spread sheet she made for securing awards for each class throughout a five day specialty. It looked like a foreign language to me. Thankfully, she could decipher the code and all got done. WHEW! I was only working in the background trying to put out blitz FACEBOOK posts and hype the event in our newsletters and on our Website. But, my husband as Chair, worked it full-time, so I was acutely aware of all the phone calls and the emails and the phone calls and the text messages. The cool thing is that you get to meet some very nice people along the way. You also meet some folks that are not quite as helpful, bless their hearts.

So why am I writing about this? Well, if you have looked at the photos of the event, (they say a picture is worth a "thousand words"), at the end of the day, it is all about the Setters and the Setter Lovers. Look at the smiles. Look at the setters. Interesting, I met a woman whose daughter shows setters and also competes in another breed. The mom told me she has never seen anything like the camaraderie that exists with the English Setters. People in the ring competing with each other are laughing and smiling with each other and helping each other. Just like a setter - so people focused. Look at the pictures - that tells the story!

Our Board Members will be meeting in the next week or so. They are already planning and talking about next year's specialty. Club members will be updated with their progress at our upcoming meetings. From my perspective (a novice, helper and bystander), I hope we can get more of our club members involved. KUDOS to Janet Coates for hours and hours of work in getting our raffle together. I think she needs help with that and certainly during the event as she is competing. She stayed very late at night to set up after she had taken care of her setters and prepped for the competition. Our yield was wonderful, so her effort was rewarded. But, during the specialty she needs help with set up and then Charles manned the table, but was unable to see any of the competition because he didn't want to miss out on ticket sales. Thanks Charles. This is just one example where maybe, others can assist and we can certainly discuss at our club meetings. All in all, it is about the setters and the setter lovers. This is a unique and special community. I am grateful to be a part of it and I thank you all.

Looking forward to our 2027 Shows!!!!

Best, Patty McBride, Webmaster