From Cindy James WOW! Such a small word, but so much meaning! My time at the International Conference was so much fun! I meant people who I only knew by name from printing WCFO Title Certificates; made new friends; meant a few older friends; meant all the original WCFO Founder Members who helped create this wonderful venue; viewed awesome routines (thanks to all who entered both live and DVD!); learned from the best trainers (thanks Kathy, Donella, Misa, Andy, Ray and Attila) [each seminar held so much information my head felt like it was going to explode! LOL!); had stimulating conversations about the freestyle sport; got in in-sight to views from other WCFO Judges (thanks Una, Carolyn, Anna, Ray, Donella, Misa, Attila & Kathy); meant many beautiful dogs (Hunter, Jonee, Kiss, Pippin, Casey, Remi, Cadence, Charleston to name a few); ate lots (too much) of yummy food (thanks Patie!); went shopping a couple of times (thanks Kris & Pat & Patie); got the alphabet and my name and numbers written in Japanese (the writing is so beautiful, like small pictures) (thanks, Misa!); learned about kite flying, and not the kind I use to do as a kid and with my kids and grandkids, LOL! (thanks, Tristan!); heard some lovely music that was choreographed wonderfully; meant a funny looking man named Marvin with this awesome dog, Magic (thank goodness Magic knew what she was doing, uh?!); had time for two private lessons (thanks Ray and Andy); had the best roomies all week (thanks Naomi and Kathy); and the flight to and from was short and sweet. What more can you ask for??? How about a bonus in less than 1 minute Ray was able to help me with my balance issue (did you know turning your foot to the outside as you place it distributes your weight differently 16 and helps with balance? I didn t, now I do!). That alone was well worth the trip for me!!!!!! Sharing and Bonding was the motto and we sure did accomplish that! Returning home on Monday, I felt a bit lonely and homesick. Is that possible??? For me, it was as if we were one big family with several different interest and one common one, freestyle, and that felt great. Maybe it is because I have never attended an event like this before, but I think it was because everyone was so honest and caring and went out their way to make me feel welcomed. Thank you one and all!! Hope to see all of you again! Carolyn, Kris, Pat, Marilyn, Patie and Anna, Emerald City K9 Freestylers and Paws 2 Dance members did a great job in presenting this event... The awards were beautiful and the decorations just right! I especially loved the New York Skyline...and the T- shirt design was fantastic. So much detail! There is tons I want to get started on.. work on my core and balance and practice what Ray taught me; build a Dog Fitness Area like Kathy Clayton showed us; listen to different forms of music and see what I can find; try training methods & tricks from Donella, Attila, Misa & Andy, and see if I can remember the dance steps from the small routine Misa taught us! So much to do and so little time. I want it all done now!! LOL! Hope you can make the WCFO National in November, but if you can t, I look forward to printing your title certificates and placing your pictures in the Paws for Applause! And don t forget, Tucson in July and November 2016 The Tucson Two-Step. We will be very happy to have you attend!!! Keep dancing and creating!
Gail Walsh and Panda I have been delinquent in sending my thanks for a fantastic week of freestyle. Nothing better than living and breathing canine musical freestyle for five full days with friends that share the same enthusiasm for the sport. The competitions were great. Loved watching the routines. I thoroughly enjoyed the workshops and of course especially enjoyed visiting with old friends and meeting new ones. A huge thank you to everyone that helped to make it the success that it was and an extra thank you to the small core group that did so much work putting this on. Surprise For Patie! Click treat, treat, treat. Hi All, It is now two weeks since the beginning of the International Conference in Seattle. What an interesting, educational Conference! We had two days of entertaining Freestyles routines! Wow! What fun!! Both days drew to a close with delicious dinners along with awards, lots of chatter, laughter and exchanging of ideas. Saturday and Sunday were spent in Workshops led by the Judges and trainers from all over the world - what an amazing opportunity learn and share experiences and information. Thank you to all of you for sharing your years of experience with all of us - lots to think about!! All in all it was a super experience! There are so many people to thank for making this Conference possible for us all. Led by Patie Ventre and coordinated in Seattle by Kris Knight and Carolyn Money, there was a whole crew of workers toiling away for over a year. Thank you to all involved!! I'd like to thank all of you who donated items for the Rufus Raffle! It was fun to see everything when I set the tables up Wednesday night. I wasn't able to stay for the competitions or the raffle draw because of Mom's situation, so I REALLY want to thank Pat Moore and Violet Fischer for taking over the raffle duties for me at the last minute. Thank you so much Pat and Violet! Marilyn Annette Granbois & Jake 17
Belgian Malinois border collie Portuguese water dog Golden Yorkie Terrier Labrador English springers chihuahua schnauzer keeshound English mastiff I Love MY AUSSIE All American SHeltie Papillon I Love Siberian My Husky Pyrenean shepherd Pomeranian Dandie dimont Pap/powder puff smooth collie schnauzer/poo 18
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After another 26 hours of travelling, I arrived home at 10:30 last night. I had to teach today, so it is only now, Tuesday p.m. that I am able to go on line and write to the group. I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to WCFO for inviting me to attend the International Conference. I thoroughly enjoyed judging all the wonderful routines both live and on DVD, and I finally got to meet some of the people from the names that I read about in WCFO newsletters, and on this group. It was a honor to be asked to attend the conference, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the "sharing and bonding". I have come home with a large number of new friends. I would like to congratulate everyone who worked so hard to put this event together - I don't know all the names, but please accept my thanks for everything that you did. Thank you for the beautiful necklace that I received as a gift. It is so special with the lovely Border Collie, and I will certainly wear it with fond memories of my time in Seattle. For everyone who gave me their email addresses, now that I am home, I will start sending off the information that I promised to send. After the conference, I stayed with some friends for another week and had a wonderful time doing some sightseeing around the Seattle area. It was with sadness that I left America to return home, but had a huge welcome home from my dogs. I hope that in the not too distant future, I will be able to return to America to judge and give workshops, as this is something that I love doing. Regards, Kathy Clayton Dear Marilyn, Kris Knight and I would like to thank you for the beautiful job you did in assembling all the great raffle items for the Rufus Raffle at the International conference... Over and beyond and anyone who was privileged to win any one of them was very lucky... I really wanted the $100 gift certificate to Amazon but alas some other lucky soul won it... Your baskets were packed full of interesting and useful items for the dogs and people... Anytime you want to be in charge of our raffles the job is yours... We also want to send our condolences on your mom s passing from pancreatic cancer on Monday... We know you would have been at the raffle and conference had you not been tending to your mom and spending the last of her days at her bedside... Our hearts go out to you Marilyn and your family Sincerely, Carolyn Money for The Emerald City K-9 Freestyle Dancers I am so pleased to see that these publications still have up our conference fun and photos. Check out the sites photographed and written by my press friends. Special thanks Ranny Green, Alan Burner, Josh Truillo. See ya at Westminster or in Manchester, Connecticut in November for the North American National. Thank you all, Patie Ventre http://www.seattletimes.com/photo-video/photography/fourlegged-dancing-competition/ http://www.seattlepi.com/local/slideshow/world-canine- Freestyle-dog-dance-competition-116030/photo- 8552519.php 20