The Tennessee Valley Kennel Club, Inc. Membership has its Privileges Our Future Presented September 2012 Where we are today We are a member club of the AKC founded over 75 years ago. We are a group of Canine enthusiasts dedicated to advancement of Pure-Bred dogs. We are a club that is actively giving back to our community in civic and charitable ways. Many of our members are very successful in numerous areas of AKC competition We provide timely educational programs for our members on a monthly basis. Today - Continued We serve as the host club for the Great Smoky Mountain Cluster of Dog Shows. We have an annual awards program for our members to recognize their achievements. We are a cohesive group of active fanciers with varied backgrounds and experience from the Novice to the Most seasoned of experienced exhibitors, breeders, and judges. Where are we going?? We want to be a club of Inclusion we want ALL of our members to be active and serve the club in some capacity. We do not want members that are just on the roster We want to provide opportunities for our members to compete at the highest levels of competition through training classes and Mentoring Performance Over the last three years we have made great strides in our performance area. Through the hard work of our performance committee led by Beth White and Ace Russell we have been providing obedience and agility classes for the community at a low cost. Last year we had 5 obedience sessions (5 weeks each) with 52 students and 3 agility sessions of (5 weeks each) with 28 students
We will be adding an Introduction rally class as well as an advanced beginners agility class with field trips. Things we need to do. We want to work in harmony with our Government officials to be sure we are represented in our interest of Pure-Bred dogs. We want to create a growing partnership with our Local Veterinarians and the UT vet school to keep everyone informed on cutting edge technology as well as a referral system for our members. We want to grow and expand our shows and trials so that we may provide great opportunities for education, competition, and community partnerships and awareness Committees The current board believes that it is very important for all of our members to have a job and be involved. It is also believes that in some cases it is time for change and diversity on many of our committees and a need for some new additional committees to be formed to stay current with our goals and objectives. We have reorganized some of these committees to allow for the development of our members, the infusion of new ideas, and the opportunity for our members to learn and be in a position to continue our growth for many years to come. First: On the Wednesday before our cluster the AKC will be holding seminars on what it takes to be a show chairman. The board has agreed to cover the cost for any club member that may wish to participate in this opportunity to learn what it takes to run a show or trial. Committees Continued The following people have been nominated by the board for the following positions. 2013 Show Chairman; Friday: Pat Hodges, Sunday: Carol Sommerfelt with Barbara Price as the assistant show chair for both shows. 2013 Trophy Committee: Cheryl Kienast (chair), Maryellen Kasten 2013 Show Hospitality: Catherine Bell 2013 Obedience Chair: Phyllis Fortune Committees continued 2013 Cluster representatives: Carol Sommerfelt, Catherine Bell, Pat Hodges, Jean Dinkins and Walter Sommerfelt (Non-Voting Cluster Coordinator), 2013 Judges Selection: Chair; Walter Sommerfelt, Janis Flaherty, Barbara Byrum, Kay Irwin, Keith Bailey 2013 Agility Trial Chair: Dawn Darr
2013 Cluster Vendor Committee: Quinto & Donna Burchi, Erin and Victor Franco, Charmaine Daum 2013 Saturday Evening Benefit Chair: Open Need Volunteer Performance Committee: Chair; Beth White, Ace Russell, Julie Haase, Jean and Axel Ringe, Phyllis Fortune, Dawn Darr Programs: Chair; Barbara Price, Pam Stanner, Walter Sommerfelt, Keith Bailey Committees continued Membership/Phone Tree: Chair; Jeff Banta, Erin & Victor Franco, Neena Van Camp, Pam Stanner Club Awards: Jeanne Ringe Annual Awards/Picnic: John and Barbara Byrum Legislation: Open, need volunteer Rescue Liaison: Jeff Banta Club equipment managers: Jeff Banta, Phyllis Fortune Meet the Breeds event: Gene Price, Erin & Victor Franco Conformation Class: Janis Flaherty Performance Classes: Ace Russell Junior Showmanship: Kay, Mike & Jessica Irwin Budget & Audit: Pam Stanner, Eddie Dulaney, Ruby Valentine, Catherine Bell Christmas Party (Dec 4, 2012): Catherine Bell Parliamentarian: Carol Sommerfelt Did you know? The city of Knoxville in considered the Most Dog Friendly city in the United States. That we have more dog parks than any other city in the U.S.A thanks to the cooperation of the city, county and grants from Pet safe dog village. In East Tennessee, and Western North Carolina we have at least 8 All-Breed Clubs. Over ten clubs approved for agility trials Over 35 specialty breed clubs
Numerous clubs and groups dedicated to field trials, coon hunting, Beagle Trial, Fox Hound Hunt Clubs, Lure coursing clubs, Tracking clubs, Flyball groups and so many other groups that are involved in doggy activities. What other things might we plan to do? To better answer that, Let s look at many of the types of activities, service s and competitions available our dogs. Back in the Dark Ages ( really not all that long ago) we had three types of AKC competitive event: Conformation, Obedience, and various types of Field trials. In the 25 or so years we have seen those areas have expanded and new ones have appeared on the scene. Along with the above we also have competitive events in: Events Rally Obedience Tracking Agility Lure Coursing Hunt Tests Herding Events Terrier Go to Ground Fyball Other types of things being done with our dogs. Freestyle Weight pulls Dock Diving Retriever Trials Water Trials Therapy Guide Dogs for the blind General Assistance Dogs Search and Rescue Carting K-9 Bomb & Drug Scenting Frisbee Competitions Stupid Pet Trick Sled dogs And, My dog can do that Things to do continued These are just a few things we can do with our dogs, and we are certain you can come up with even more events & competitions as well as activities to do with our dogs.
So... How can we incorporate as many of these activities into one event? The Future First: We believe that if we can somehow build our cluster or multiple clusters by including as many of these events as possible, we can draw exceptionally large crowds to our event. We feel the large group of attendees will not only generate significant revenue they will also increase awareness of these activities and become a source for new members for the groups and clubs that participate Where could we stage this event? We currently have a very good facility in Chilhowee park that gives a variety of areas that could be used for the event. We would not rule out moving to another venue, city, county, or even a nearby state if we felt we could be successful with our event. We will keep an open mind as we work to include other clubs and organizations in building our event and our Brand name Chilhowee Park Chilhowee #2
Chilhowee #3 Chilhowee #4
Growing the participation of groups in the cluster We foresee this as a long term project. We plan to create a presentation that we can take to clubs and groups within a 125 mile radius of Knoxville. Our research shows we have very large numbers of specialty clubs, field trial clubs, All-Breed and Obedience Clubs, Foxhound Hunt clubs, Flyball, dock diving, and lure coursing clubs, as well as clubs outside our area that also do a variety of events Events ` Flyball Competitions CGC Events Herding Demonstrations Obedience Trials
Celebrity Dogs The event will draw vendors and crowds All-Breed Shows
Events c Sponsorship & Charitable Giving: We feel that if we can generate interest from a variety of groups we might look into establishing a Charitable Foundation. The creation of a 501C3 non profit would not only give us tax advantage status but also allow us to really seek title as well as event, and other types of sponsorships. These sponsorships will generate revenues that would offset our costs as well as provide large donations for various charities such as the Children s Hospital of East Tennessee, St. Jude Children s Research Hospital, The AKC Humane Fund. The UT veterinary Scholarship program as well as other deserving groups. The Charitable donations would bring us in front of our community and show everyone that Dog People not only care about our dogs but that we also care about our community. How might that work? And how would the clubs make money? Under the concept the Event would sell sponsorships, rent all of the facilities, pay for advertising, cover the overwhelming majority of the costs. In exchange they will receive all vendor monies, gate receipts, parking etc. The clubs would pay only for their judges, trophies, stewards and a few other items specific to the club. The clubs would be in a virtual No risk situation. They would collect and Keep all of their entry fee s from which they would pay for the judges, superintendent fees, stewards, ribbons, trophies etc. and
KEEP 100% of the remaining funds How do we make it happen? The success of our vision really depends upon ALL OF YOU as members. We need to form a committee to develop a presentation that can be presented to clubs and businesses to recruit participating groups and events as well as sponsorship funds. We need to develop the plan, the various committees that will be needed within the event. As well as exactly what we wish to include and how to incorporate it into a working model at the facility Events So what else could we do? We could host a main stage for demonstrations. Set up health screening Do art contest with some of the local schools and put the winning art on T-Shirts with the sponsors, Kennel Clubs and other group logo s on the shirts for sale Work with major corporations Bass Pro, Pilot, Cabellas and other businesses that might serve as sponsor and bring some of the events into Knoxville We can work with the UT as well as local Veterinarians to provide educational opportunities at the event. Will You Help? This will be a large as well as a long term undertaking. However it is one with the potential for GREAT REWARDS. If you feel you can be involved and are willing to serve WE NEED YOU! Let us all work together as one, by doing this the TVKC will not only be one of the Premier Clubs in the U.S.A, but we will also be a major player in The most pet friendly city in America.