Donald Sturz, 2022 BIS judge for the Westminster Kennel Club. Photo by Julie Lynn Mueller.
Fri, 08/06/2021 - 5:12pm

The Gossip Column, August 6, 2021

Donald Sturz tops the roster of 2022 Westminster judges

The end of the three-day rollout of the WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB judging panel was like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with the announcement of DONALD STURZ heading the panel. DONALD has done it all, exhibited in Junior Showmanship, bred and showed several different breeds: Goldens, Corgis and Miniature Poodles. He is currently a delegate for the Poodle Club of America, and judges the Sporting and Hound groups. He has judged at WESTMINSTER several times, including two groups and is a lifelong friend of Dracula (some will get that).

He will have seven dogs sent to him by Sporting Group judge DR. ELLIOT MORE, Hound Group GENE BLAKE, Working Group FAYE STRAUSS, Terrier Group RICHARD POWELL, Toy Group ROZ KRAMER, Non-Sporting group EVALYN GREGORY and Herding Group ANN REDMER. Junior Showmanship will have LISA GALLIZZO and AMY BOOTH judge the preliminaries, with KAREN MAMMANO judging the final.

There are some judges who will be adjudicating for the first time at WESTMINSTER, and they include GREGORY ANDERSON, NANCY TALBOT, LESLEY HILTZ, JUAN MIRANDA from Mexico, ANN INGRAM from Ireland, IAN GABRIEL from England, BERGIT COADY-KABEL, ALBERT EASDON from Scotland, ANGELA PICKETT, BILL LEE and NIOMA COEN. All and all, a very impressive panel. ...

All of us were saddened to hear that there were two passings this week of well-respected and formidable breeder-exhibitors from the Midwest. Basset Hound breeder and exhibitor DONALD C. MARTIN has passed away. DON, the patriarch of the MARTIN FAMILY, was known worldwide for his association with Basset Hounds. His three children, all very successful in their own right, include BRYAN, aka BASSET BOY, who is, without exception, the most successful Basset Hound handler in the world; PETER, who is a judge of Hound breeds, and HEIDI, who is one of dogdom’s most talented artists. The MARTINS were part of the Chicagoland powerhouse group that had every boldface name in the Midwest, including COOPER, FUNK, SCHWARTZ, MCCLAIN, DOWNEY, AUSLANDER, JENNER, FLOWERS, GERSTNER and PRAGER

We send our deepest sympathies to his wife EDNA KAISER MARTIN and to the MARTIN children and family. ...

Golden Retriever breed and exhibitor CONNIE GERSTNER has passed away. Her Malagold Goldens have produced many top winners and are included in countless pedigrees. Even her marriage to FRED MILLER, president and owner of the UNITED KENNEL CLUB, didn’t keep her from her first loves: breeding and exhibiting Golden Retrievers. She passed a long line of dogs along to her daughter GERI, who added English Cocker Spaniels to the family. The family has requested donations to the Golden Retriever Club of America Foundation. We send CONNIE’s family our deepest sympathies. ...

CHRIS BURKE, the larger-than-life former assistant to SALLY & MARK GEORGE and then to LELSEY & EDDIE BOYES, has passed away. CHRIS was always affectionately called the fourth BOYES son. Happy go lucky, just a real nice human being. He will be missed by many, and we send our condolences to his family. 

 

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