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Three shows of
the Bluewater Kennel Club Circuit were held in the town of Blyth,
Ontario. This
is the Community Center Building which housed the obedience and
toy rings at the Blyth shows. Again, I set up crates and
grooming table inside the building to access electricity and in
case of rain. Inside, the rings and areas used for
grooming were the interior of a concrete ice skating rink. It
must also have been used for hockey, because to take the
shortcut to the
restroom, I went through the team seating box and through rubbery
plexiglass curtain strips which hung in the doorway to the hall,
probably to help keep the cool in the rink when it was iced over
for play.
You can see from the photo, that on the outside of the building
exhibitors were allowed to park very close to the loading and
unloading large door on the right side of the photo. In
fact, that is my white minivan with the tailgate door open
second from the loading door. I was amazed how sensible
the Canadians are about exhibitor convenience. I actually
drove after the sporting group was over from the Monday showsite in Sarnia
directly to the Blyth showsite (before I went to my hotel) to
set up. I was about the second person to set up in the
building around 7 p.m. the night before the show! This is not to
mean there were not show people present; many many RVs were
parked and set up all around the outdoor rings. And there
were show committee members inside the building doing last
minute chores and checks. In fact, when I shyly inquired about
where I could set up close to "hydro" (electricity),
one of the show committee members leaped over the 4 foot rink
wall and plugged in my 30 foot cord without hesitation.
Ever had that happen at a show in the states? Man, I love
these Canadians! They really are a pleasure to know.
Another incident where I had to laugh at myself was when I also
put out my traffic cones Monday night in Blyth to save me a
parking place several hundred feet from the loading door for the
next day's show. In the states, no one would have ever been allowed to park near the
loading door, though as it turned out such close parking in no
way hindered loading or unloading! I LOVED being able to
park so close to where I was set up in the building, and this
happened every day of the circuit!
The show secretary (i.e.,
superintendent) tables and the show photographer tables were also
set up in the building. One of the things I did not budget for was show photos. I just
figured if I won, I would be sent the photos two to three weeks
after the shows and would order and pay for them then.
Well, at all the Canadian shows I attended, the same
photographer attended and digitally processed the pictures
within minutes after they were taken. You saw the show
shots of your dog on a computer screen and chose the one(s) you wanted and decided on
your package. I think the first 8 x 10 or package (5 x 7s or 4 x
5s or whatever you chose) was $40 for each pose. Then
additional purchases of that pose were $8. Fortunately, one of
the packages was a CD with your photo on it. I spent
entirely too much money on 8 x 10 show photos plus CDs, but
don't begrudge a penny of it! I was totally thrilled every
day Bill Gates won, and I had no idea when or if he would win
again. Each photo would let me remember every happy Canadian
win. When Bill Gates actually finished with a Group 2,
that meant I had a photographic record of his whole Canadian
Championship which I loved. As it turned out, Bill Gates
finished at Blyth, but went on to win Best Opposite Sex at the
English Setter Club of Canada National Specialty the circuit
after Blyth, so I have show photos of each of the 3 locations of
the circuits we attended.
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