Since my election to President in April, 1999, we have had many wonderful events.  With another successful Swiss Day behind us, thanks must go out to everyone who helped - especially our Chairpersons Susan Costa and Cindy Beckman.  A good time was had by all and positive comments were received from all of our judges.  Our annual Draft Workshop is on-going with the hard work of Draft Chair Jim Maxwell and his crew.  At our July quarterly meeting, Membership Chair MaryAnne McDonnell reported that we have over 50% of our membership living in our core area.  Now we can proceed with our application to the AKC toward sanctioning.  Our secretary, Susan Costa, will be preparing our application.

Some of our members went up the coast for a weekend of fun on the beach.  It was overcast for the dogs and they got to run off leash on the beach, which they all enjoyed.  We were invited to attend the Swiss Independence Day celebration and delighted everyone there with out Berner Sennenhunds.  In the near future, our club will be having a Practice Draft Match to prepare us for having a sanctioned Draft test.  Our first supported entry as a regional club was at the Sir Francis Drake kennel Club show on September 19th in San Rafael.  Thanks to Karen Ericson for setting this up, and to the Trophy Chair Michelle Long and all the members who pledged trophy donations.

The future for our club looks equally, if not more, active.  We will be having our usual calendar of events with the inclusion of a Draft test and continued supported entries. With our hopefully successful AKC sanctioning, we can begin having our own sanctioned AKC matches.  As our club gets busier, it will take the continued support of all our members to have successful events.  I don't see this as a problem with everyone willing to pitch in and help when we have events.  We will be working on the club's organizational skills and setting up many of the jobs for events well in advance.  This way, everyone knows their job and the need for a last minute search for help is kept to a minimum.  It will take experience to perfect, but I believe we have the people who are more than willing to put forth the effort needed to host successful events.

I hope to see all of you in the near future, and keep having fun with your dogs.

Larry Bohlig, President