July 28, 2006:  Attention Cavalier Club Members

The event you have all been waiting for is coming up, our next Potluck, Doggy Play Day and General Membership Meeting will be held Saturday, September 16 from noon to 4:00 PM at the home of Melanie and Gary Johnson.  We will have the same fun events (and maybe a new one), a Costume Contest with a ribbon for the winner and a Fun Match, again with those beautiful ribbons, no show dogs allowed. The Club will provide hamburgers and hot dogs for the grill, soft drinks, bottled water and paper goods. 

Please send Melanie an email to let her know if you are coming, how many people and how many Cavaliers and what you would like to bring for the potluck.  Our last event worked out very well, we had a good distribution of foods (pupus, salads, vegetables, meat dishes and desserts) and certainly no one left hungry, including the Cavaliers. 

I will send out a reminder in early September and send the directions and map again. If you have made any new acquaintances with Cavaliers, please give me their contact information and they are welcome to come to the party as your guests and we will try to get them to join the Club. We have two new members who have applied and we will be voting on them at the Meeting. 

Since many of our members have indicated an interest in Rally, the directors voted to purchase a Rally Set and instruction book.  If you are interested in participating in informal Rally, please respond to me or Frank Yamashita by email. We would be very interested in having anyone who has some knowledge of Rally to participate and demonstrate to the group. We could have some informal lessons getting together at Thomas Square or another park where dogs are permitted and potentially have an event at the Potluck. We don’t have to be as formal as a true Rally organization in the beginning, just get our feet wet. This would be another opportunity to win one of those fabulous ribbons at the Potluck! 

Since we all last met, the Directors have acquired insurance for the Club through Fireman’s Fund which provides us with liability protection and also allows us to apply for permits from the City and County Parks Department to have “events” in parks which allow dogs, such as Thomas Square.  We know that the members would like to get together more often, even if we can’t go off leash, so we could have General Membership Meetings more frequently and have a little fun, perhaps on a Saturday or an early Friday evening. Picnics and blankets and playful Cavaliers make a great event anywhere. 

We have also subscribed to a listing in the magazine of the Hawaiian Kennel Club, Ilio, as a Specialty Club and we should be listed in the next quarterly issue of the magazine.  This is an inexpensive way to let people know about the Club and we hope to find new members through it.   People attending dog events usually find their way to the HKC booth and many purchase a copy of the magazine there, at pet shops and veterinary offices. 

In addition, the directors have discussed, investigated and deliberated the pros and cons of incorporation and we have voted to recommend incorporation to the members. That item will be on the agenda for the General Membership Meeting.  We would incorporate as a nonprofit corporation and apply for state and federal tax status as a nonprofit.  This would provide us with the ability to accept donations, provide additional liability protection and continue on the path to recognition by the AKC and one of the national Cavalier Clubs.

We would also feel safer about participating in events such as PetExpo and could have a booth at next year’s event if the members are interested and would like to participate.  That item will also be on the agenda. 

There are several show events coming up which we encourage everyone to attend and cheer on our fellow Cavalier owners. Come to a show, you might like it and decide to participate.  Beautiful little Bella, who did so well in the Fun Match, is now in the show circle and has some points under her “belt”.  Of course, that means that she can’t participate in the September Fun Match, so there’s an opportunity for a new winner! 

If any of our members would like to consider showing their dogs, especially those who might have a new dog or puppy, our President, Frank Yamashita, has offered to give a few classes so our members could get the basics under their belts and give it a try.  If you would be interested, please send Frank an email.

The Obedience Training Club of Hawaii, Inc is having several events in each of agility, obedience and rally. Links to the information can be found on the Events page on our our website .

On Sunday, October 8, the Hawaiian Humane Society is having its annual PetWalk at Magic Island and our President, Frank Yamashita, has been invited to attend an organizational meeting.  We will have more details after that meeting and I will send out another notice.  We would like to have as many members as possible participate as a group. We would have a lot of fun getting together (costumes are encouraged), showcase the Club as a group and raise some money for a good cause, all at the same time.  So put that date on your calendar as well, more info to follow. 

Please remember to check out our website to see some pictures of your fellow member’s dogs as Cavalier of the Week. We encourage you to contact Jim Arcate (our Webmaster) and send him some pictures and showcase your beautiful dogs. Any ideas of what you would like to see on the website are welcome.

In May my husband and I went to the Bath Championship Show in Bath , England and there were over two hundred Cavaliers participating even though the weather was horrid the day they were in the ring. I plan to post a story and some pictures from the match to the website soon. There were so many Cavaliers we were the only breed to have separate judges for males and females.

Kaye Walsh, Secretary