OH! WHAT A DAY – BUT NOW HAS ENDED

 

Mandy Checking the Days Programme

News, throughout the country was one of rain and floods, with forecasts of further rain yet to fall. Thankfully, the rain stayed away until the last event of the Fun Day had been completed and only as folk left the venue on their return journey home, did it start to fall; quite heavily. Yet, I do believe that on leaving, they left with a good feeling; one of having had an enjoyable day with many happy memories in their minds to dwell upon – until the next Fun Day comes around.

 

The Fun Day has always been intended to be just that – a day of enjoying our dogs in the company with others of the same ilk – not primarily a fund raising day. It is usual for me to leave, until the last paragraph, all details on the money raised by the event, but this year, it appears many have set out to assist in making the Day a great success.

 

Some may have said a prayer; others may have kept their fingers crossed; many paid a little more in their sponsoring of Captain Pugwash; certainly, no one did a ‘Rain Dance’. Therefore, all have the right to learn of that which their efforts brought forth, just a little bit sooner.

 

Financially, in spite of the weather keeping many at home, the Cairn Terrier Fun Day has gone on to further success. The final figure will show takings of just over £1500: the best yet. Also, things get even better, we are now the owners of our own agility equipment and this together with our gazebos are available to the Cairn clubs, should they have the wish to use them.

 

A £1250 cheque has been sent to the Cairn Terrier Relief Fund to assist them

Mandy Davies MC with megaphone And food

in meeting veterinary fees for those dogs, with a lifetime’s medical condition, which they have re-homed. The balance will meet this year’s expenditure on hire of venue; insurance; printing; etc.; with a portion being retained as working capital for future Fun Days. The next Cairn Terrier Fun Day will be on Saturday, 21^st June, 2008.

 

Amanda-Jayne Davies became our Mistress of Ceremonies for the day, so successfully, that she has been asked to give a repeat performance in 2008. Wonder if we can get her to dress up as Alice? Well, Alice did get a glimpse of the White Rabbit before he vanished - at the end of last year’s Fun Day. Mandy quickly got into the mood of the day; her comments and information were appreciated as these assisted all by keeping everyone focused on each event as it was taking place. When the actual Wacky Races got underway, Julia found Mandy’s commentary on things as they happened to be most helpful, especially during the time between races, for it allowed her attention to be fully given to the handlers and their dogs. Must confess to never having seen Mandy trying to speak through the megaphone, whilst having a mouthful of food – wished I had, when the camera was at the ready.

 

Naturally, the day started the customary bacon rolls – didn’t want a revolt – followed by the opening of the stalls; light refreshments and the opportunity to have practice runs both on the Agility course and the Wacky Racecourse prior to the actual races.

 

Amy Firth was available for the micro-chipping of dogs; both she and the Fun Day were happy that at the end of the day it brought a sum of money to add to the Day’s takings. Also present was a new stall selling quality grooming aids manufactured by Mars and this has been booked to appear again in 2008.

 

Chris Granger and Carol Woodward were soon in full flow; gently persuading any would be passers- by to dip into the container to draw out a ‘lucky’ number and win a bottle from their Bottle Stall. Chris’s daughter had been roped-in to run a raffle with two prize winners, both fortunate to win a bottle of a rare Special Vintage Whisky; each bottle had its own number, as they came from a limited number bottled.

 

A big thank you must go to Carol Confue and her daughter, Sharon; both took a course - at their own expense and which they successfully passed - in a necessary Health & Safety examination to allow them to cook and serve hot food on the day. This had been caused by a malicious person contacting the local Health & Safety Department to complain on certain things they had observed whilst at last year’s Fun Day. That had been our fourth Fun day and only praise had ever been received - never a complaint - from many on the good food that had been served each year, but we did have to follow the recommendations given by the Health & Safety Officer. It can only leave one to feel sad for the person who made the complaint. Once again, Carol and Sharon were assisted by Bill Cammish in his taking of the filthy but very good money at the pay-out counter.

Another Satisfied Customer

 

Ann Weaver and her daughter were the first on the scene in the morning and quickly got the kitchen in order and the food displayed to their liking. Again there was a table laid with a wide selection of free biscuits – the ginger ones tasted even better from being dunked into hot tea. A selection of fresh cakes to suit most tastes, hot and cold drinks, ice cream of different flavours – it was apparent that much planning had gone into deciding on their requirements for providing the light refreshments. Good food, nicely displayed, will tempt the taste buds of most and though the attendance was down in numbers, this was not reflected in their sales; their takings virtually equalled that of last year.

Ann Waugh did her yearly task of completing the appearance of Captain Pugwash with her face paints; also as one looked around during the day, they saw many of the children with their faces having been painted. Sharing the tent with Ann was Deidre Burnett with her Terrier Rescue Stall; for Deirdre it was a first time attendance at the Fun Day but she is already making plans for next year and these include a novelty attraction with a difference – hope it comes to be.

 

Marilyn Hawkins and Louise Peers took the entries for the Fancy Dress and the Novelty Events, with John Hawkins handling the sale of the tickets and the draw for the prizes in the general Raffle. All being newcomers to their appointed tasks, they quickly settled down to carry out their duties in a calm and efficient manner – as shown it the photographs!

My special thanks are reserved for Wendy Laker for putting up with me moving her from one task to another at short notice. Julia – of the Wacky Races - thought a friend would be able to bring her equipment but with less than three weeks to go, was told of her not being able to make the day. Quickly, some equipment was purchased; on turning my hand to carpentry, an A-frame was made; then I found a plank for a see-saw, with Mick, our son-in-law, providing a suitable base for this. On asking, found Wendy was willing to switch jobs and run the event – which she did, very successfully. Next year should see further additions being made to the course. Will the return justify the expenditure? Does this enter into the equation when the dogs have great fun; they certainly enjoy the freedom and the challenge that an Agility course provides for them?

 

 

Volunteers for clicker training

 

A ‘clicker’ training demonstration given by Mark Williams saw several volunteers coming forward to offer their dogs to be used as guinea pigs and their owners soon became ‘gob-smacked’ at just how quickly it was possible to get the dogs to act in response to the clicker. Mark and Lyn had come well prepared with clickers, booklets but, more importantly, a list of places in various regions where those who were interested could take their dogs for clicker training.

 

 

Will no one ever learn that Captain Pugwash is nothing but a scurrilous scoundrel of the worst type of pirate? One can but admire his audacious attempts at extracting money from good, god-fearing Cairn or any other gullible folk that he comes across. Pugwash holds the opinion that all landlubbers are cowards and weak-kneed; put on earth for him to torment and rob of their worldly possessions. On this occasion, he overstepped the mark by sitting ‘under a table bearing a barrel of water, holding his head in his hands’ - not as we all expected of putting his head into the water and holding it there for two minutes. However, his celebrations were short-lived! 10 gallons of water were poured over him together with another two gallon bucketful from a lady, who hadn’t parted with any money but simply recognised Pugwash as being a cunning rogue, only fit to be punished.

 

 

Preparing for the start

Julia and her friend soon had the Wacky Racecourse up and running; with plenty of folk giving their dog a practice run before the Races proper. Special rosettes had been commissioned for the Winner and the Runner-up; these were displayed near to the Starting Gate to attract entries. Both organisers got as much fun from the day as did the runners and their owners. A ‘special’ prize was awarded to a three-legged dog which ran the course three times – it lost its rear leg when a horse stamped on it; it was a case of lose a leg or lose a life but with the love Blubber is getting from his owner, the right choice was made. Missing from the day was the ‘blind’ cairn which had run the course every year since the first Fun Day; he had been put to sleep, due to kidney problem. Julia is already talking of next year’s Fun Day and of the Whippet Club being prepared to donate both rosettes and prizes.

 

 

The Fancy Dress Competition is always brilliant due to the wide variety of costumes and the spirit of good fun and so it was this year. The children’s costumes were not only excellent but also open to questioning. I do believe ‘Brownie’ points were there to be won; the judge – who just happens to be a seamstress for the country’s leading theatres - asked the exhibitors on who chose the subject matter and did they play a part in the making of the costume. Those who are familiar with the story of Little Red Riding Hood would have been very surprised to see she also had a ‘little’ identical sister – this entry won the Children’s Class. The Adult Class called for a strong decision – Bill and Ben the Flower Pot Men finally won over a strong contender in Little Miss Muffet, complete with a horrible green and black spider – it was more than enough to turn the curds and whey, sour!

The novelty classes attracted a reasonable number of entrants and especially pleasing were the four to six month Puppy Class; this had an entry of eight very nice puppies. The six to twelve month Puppy Class attracted an entry of eleven; whilst the Veterans came out in force with an entry of thirteen dogs from which the judges could choose their placing. It had to be left to the judges – for the exhibitors thought theirs to be the Prettiest Bitch – but with twenty-one pretty girls in front of them, it did take a little while to place them in order. Mark and Lyn had a difficult decision to make in the Best Six Legs Class as with one entrant there were only five legs – so they compromised and allowed it to be judged as the ‘Best Three Legs’ - provided the handler hopped around the ring on one leg. The judging was done in such a pleasant manner that they, the exhibitors and the ringside spectators, all enjoyed the dogs in the ring.

 

At the end of the last event, a few drops of rain began to fall; everyone vanished and the drops turned into a downpour of heavy rain – with the gazebos needing to be taken down and the site cleared. My grateful thanks go to John and Marilyn Hawkins for staying to assist with this very last task, at the end of a most enjoyable day.

 

On asking a first time visitor on how she rated the day – found she gave it a big, big ‘TEN’.

 

Finally; my thanks go to all helpers and supporters for without you the day would not be possible. There is still a need for a few more helpers; volunteers will be most welcome and you don’t have to be a Cairn Club member.

 

An apt summing up of the day comes in an e-mail received bearing these words:

 

“Pity, we have to wait so long for another enjoyable Fun Day.”

 

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