The Gossip Column: September 9, 2022
Where has the year gone? It’s the WESTCHESTER KENNEL CLUB WEEKEND, with due respect to the SOMERSET HILLS and TUXEDO PARK KENNEL CLUBS — the traditional start of the fall dog shows. While realizing the sound economics of holding the three shows in New Jersey, I like many others long for a return to LYNDHURST. The last two WESTMINSTER KENNEL CLUB dog shows held at the LYNDHURST ESTATE in Tarrytown, New York, brought back lots of old memories from when it was the home of the WESTCHESTER dog show. Those heady days of white pants and blue blazers worn by club members JUD STREICHER, CHET COLLIER, PETER KNOOP, SANDY SCHWARTZ, BUD MCGIVERN, BOB HETHERINGTON, ROBERT SOLOMON, BILL METZ, SAM DRAPER, RINK REYNDERS and TONY HODGES, to name a few. Their respective wives sat at tables selling catalogs that cost only $2.50. The ladies weren’t members; in those days, it was an all-male club. The official show photographers were BILLY GILBERT and EVELYN SHAFER, and there was a full complement of FOLEY BOYS to help you unload and drink the beer you bought for them.
It was also the home of the Great Dane National Specialty, a sight still vivid in my mind, with names like MARY & GERRY JOHNSTON, POPPY & AL FELDMAN, ARLENE & LOWELL DAVIS, ESTELLE & DONALD BOOXBAUM, CAROL GROSSMAN, DINNY TONG, ROSEMARIE ROBERTS, LINA BASQUETTE, KITTIE KOLYLER, DAN LASKY, JOHN & PAT MORRIS, EPPIE BARNEY, ED LYONS, VIC CAPONE, SALLY CHANDLER (while some may not remember SALLY and her Sheenwater Danes, you might be familiar with her son, the actor KYLE CHANDLER), GRETCHEN WYLER, JOEL ROSENBLATT, ERNEST RICCIO, NANCY CARROLL DRAPER, DAN LASKY and even a very young and cute JOSEPH VERGNETTI with his Great Dane. It’s good to mention the names of old friends who contributed so much to our sport and are a large part of our history. Maybe the names are not familiar to you, but their kennel names are behind many dogs in the ring today.
Getting back to today and Westchester located in New Jersey, I realize things change and they can’t stay the same, but of course the New Jersey venue has one thing going for it that Lyndhurst could never provide: WEGMANS. ...
Celebrating Anniversaries … KAREN & GARY WILSON, KAREN & SAM MAMMANO, PAM & BOB LAMBIE, GREG & SULIE GREENDALE-PAVEZA and KAREN & RC WILLIAMS. Celebrating Birthdays … KIMBERLY CALVACCA, SCOTT SOMMER, MICHAEL SHEPHERD, GAYLE BONTECOU, ADAM BERNARDIN, GEORGIA HARRIS, NAN GILLIARD, MARY JANE CARBERRY, SIOUX GREEN, PATRICIA ULLOA, JOHN RONALD, WENDY KELLERMAN, MIKE STONE, DORIS BOYD, CONNIE CLARK, RICK BAGGENSTOS, BETSY DALE, JUDY SILKER, KEN KAUFFMAN, KAREN JUSTIN, VIRGINIA MURRAY, TINA YUHL, CAROL GROSSMAN, KATHY MENAKER, CHARLES BARIS, HOLLY ELDRED, ANNE KATONA, JULIE LUX and the ageless GENE BLAKE.