2014-2015 Annual Awards Banquet
The National Bird Hunters Association held our awards banquet in Memphis, TN on July 25, 2015 at the historic Ames Plantation. We originally planned to host the event at the Hall of Fame but due to set-backs in their roof replacement, we scrambled to secure a different location. Tonya Brotherton, from the Bird Dog Hall of Fame, assisted with the preparation for us. We hosted approximately 80 individuals in Bryan Hall and had a great evening!
We would like to thank our sponsors Purina, Garmin, Christie Enterprises, Gun Dog Supply and Gundog Central. Without their generous support, our organization would not be able to recognize the outstanding performances from this past year�thank you very much! Dean Reinke from Purina was generous enough to join us.
Our weekend began on Friday evening with a social gathering at the Courtyard Marriott in Collierville, TN. This was a great time to reunite with individuals we haven�t seen in quite a while, and meet new people. After the social hour, many people enjoyed a ride into Memphis to partake in some nice BBQ and a walk down Beale St. There is so much to keep you entertained, it was a great evening!
Saturday morning began at 8 a.m. with the business meeting led by President Marty Robinson. Nearly 30 people attended and offered insight on how to move the NBHA forward! This past trial season was an exciting time for the NBHA. We named five National Champions, an outstanding Futurity winner, along with five Regional Champions!
We continue to research venues to select a permanent location and date for our National Open Championship. We plan to make this Championship a �destination� event for handlers, families and spectators. The ability to secure centrally located grounds, will allow access to more individuals, thus drawing more qualified dogs. Watch for news on this as the year progresses. We hope to have a report finalized prior to our national meeting in 2016.
The Hall of Fame committee worked diligently this past year to update the NBHA display at Grand Junction. We added and painted walls as well as created and hung missing plaques. This year we inducted two individuals and two dogs into the NBHA Hall of Fame � Ken Tolbert, Arnold Hall, CH Admiral War Bond and CH Attitudes High Finance. We encourage everyone to stop by our display at the Bird Dog Foundation and Museum to see all the work we have done. We are looking forward to adding historic items, new plaques and pictures!
Speaking of the Hall of Fame, one of the highlights of the meeting was getting to hear the stories and recommendations for Hall of Fame dogs and handlers. This year we elected one dog, CH L�s Busy Bee, as well as two individuals, Scott Miller from Kansas and Harold Woodward from Arkansas. They will be inducted and awarded their plaques next year in Nashville!
We began our evening at the Ames Plantation, with a cocktail hour and the opportunity to bid on some great raffle items like Ross Young and Bob Bertram prints, Purina dog food and Garmin collars to name a few. The NBHA was truly blessed this year in having Hall of Fame member Buddy Smith and his beautiful wife Clarice in attendance, as well as John Rex and Diane Gates! It is great to have people, from other field trial venues, join our walking association. We really appreciate those who took the time to stop by and lend their support. It was great to have Rhett Kermicle and Blake Kukar in attendance as well.
The 2014-2015 Dog and Handler of the Year awards were recognized throughout the evening. Pictured above with Purina representative Dean Reinke (second from left) - the Open Handler of the Year went to Oscar Whitt (third from left) of Attalla, AL and the Amateur Handler of the Year went to Joe Barton (left) of Decatur, GA. Both of these men worked extremely hard and ran some great dogs that were competitive all year long! Their efforts were rewarded by Purina with a year�s supply of dog food, and an embroidered jacket. They also received an NBHA plaque recognizing their accomplishments! The Open Dog of the Year went to CH Indian Creek Wingman, owned by Jillian Stuhr and handled by Garry Malzone, both of Franklin Lakes, NJ. Wingman is a five year old, tri-colored male setter. The Amateur Dog of the Year went to CH Starfire Supersport, owned and handled by Ray Brown of Paducah, KY. Congrats to both Jillian and Ray on a great season. We would like to congratulate ALL of our award winners this year, and each and every person who enter one of our trials and put your dog on the ground. We deeply thank you and look forward to another exciting year. A special recognition goes out to all the judges, bird planters, trial chairpersons, gallery wagon drivers, and galleries who supported the NBHA, thank you for all of your hard work.
Chris Gebhardt, and many other people, put together the raffle and auction that ANY organization would have been proud of. Scott Turner offered his auctioneering expertise and really got the crowd involved - we greatly appreciated that! Thank you to EVERY individual, kennel, and/or business that donated items. This auction is a vital part of our association! Gary Lester offered a stud service to National CH Miller�s Dialing In, Gates Kennels donated stud service to 2x National CH Shadow Oak Bo and service to CH Erin�s Kentucky Gambler was also auctioned off! Other stud services were also offered from the strings of Erin�s Kennels, Steve Hurdle, Wright Kennels, and the Tracy�s, just to name a few. Ross Young and Bob Bertram donated artwork to the auction. Purina donated a year�s supply of dog food. Garmin donated various collars to our cause, and there were many more items that made this year�s auction a great success � I apologize if I did not get everyone by name � you are ALL thanked!
We ended the evening by drawing the winners for our year-long raffle that we kicked off last fall. There were numerous winners of Garmin collars and Yeti coolers. The Beretta shot gun winner was Tim Kisieleski, the winner of the Texas quail hunt was Jordon Bell and the grand prize winner of the Polaris 800 with custom made dog box was Martin Stojkovic of Kentucky. Thank you to EVERYONE who supported this fund raising event throughout the year. A special thanks goes to Ken Sauer for all the hard work he put into this initiative.
We are looking forward to another great year. Come join us next year in Nashville, TN for our awards banquet! We would love to have you join us!
