Hall of Fame Inductions..

Just a quick reminder that the Hall of Fame Inductions are Saturday February 9 at the National Bird Dog Hall of Fame.  Hope to see you there!

http://www.birddogfoundation.com/index.html

Groundhog Day...

The roots of Groundhog Day go back to the Bible and perhaps even earlier. 

The Romans considered February [the name comes from februa, to purify] as "a time of cleansing in preparation for a fresh start" because the month comes halfway between December 21, the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, and March 21 (the Spring or Vernal Equinox). 

The connection to the Bible is that in Hebrew tradition mothers were required to purify their children in the temple 40 days after giving birth. 

Mary, mother of Jesus, purified Jesus on Feb. 2nd, 40 days after Jesus's birth, establishing the tradition of the "Feast of the Presentation." 

The early Christians, working off of an earlier Roman tradition, associated February 2nd with the lighting of candles (i.e. "the bringing of new light") and established "Candlemas" as a Christian tradition. In the ancient Pagan world, Groundhog Day was known as Imbolc. 

A Candlemas rhyme was developed to mark the occasion of the turning of the seasons, and the rhyme suggested that Candlemas itself was a kind of weather predictor: 

Somewhere along the way the weather-predictive power of Candlemas came to be associated with badgers. No one is quite sure why, but it is probably due to pre-Christian Germanic tradition that associated the romantic roamings of this large weasel with the start of a slowly lengthening day. 

In any case, when German and Dutch immigrants came to Eastern North America there were no badgers to be found, and so they transposed their badger tradition to the groundhog, which also burrowed in the ground and which also came out of hibernation at approximately the same period of time. 

In 1887, Clymer H. Freas, city editor of the Punxsutawney Spirit newspaper in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania came up with the idea of a "Punxsutawney Groundhog Club" as a kind of boosterism for his ill-begotten city (the name Punxsutawney means "place of sand flies"). 

It was a crazy idea, but perseverence paid off. Over the course of several years, story and ritual were heaped up, and the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club stoked the flames of a myth, claiming that "Punxsutawney Phil" was a legendary groundhog that never died and could predict the weather for six weeks in advance. If Punxsutawny Phil can see his shadow, so the legend goes, then six weeks of winter are supposedly at hand. Of course, that's not too big a leap: six weeks is approximately the time of the Spring Equinox (March 20th.) 

In December of 2004, the 100-year-old civic boosterism of Clymer H. Freas came to its latest fruition when Congressman John Peterson (R-Pa.) managed to snake $100,000 in Federal funding out of Congress for a "Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center". 

The "grand opening" of the Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center was Groundhog Day, 2006, but (you will be relieved to hear) it already has a home on the Web.
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"If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain,
Winter will not come again."

(From the Terrierman blogger) 

Dont judge a dog by the color of her eyes

Sadie pictured here was a reject because her eye color wasn't brown and the color of her nose wasn't black. She fits the red setter standard in every way and is breathtaking to watch in action wether it be wild birds or preserve birds. As i've seen so many times folks come to look at red puppies and won't take a second look at the one with the yellow eyes or the brown nose or the one with a little white. I thought we were supposed to judge our red dogs on their performance and health and breed to that and not be so freaked out by a brown nose or yellow eyes or even blue eyes. You could be over looking a champion.

Marge Moffat passes...

We just received word that Marge Moffat, a lifetime member of the National Red Setter Field Trial Club and one of the first editors of The Flushing Whip, passed away on Saturday January 26 2013 in Grand Rapids MI.  Marge and her husband Tom were major contributors to the Purest Challenge in the early days of the club.  An obit can be found at http://obits.mlive.com/obituaries/grandrapids/obituary.aspx?n=marjorie-moffat&pid=162711715#fbLoggedOut

Although Marge had not been active in the club in recent years, she still corresponded regularly with Deb Fazenbaker, the current editor of The Flushing Whip.  She also was good friends with a local man who owns a red setter out of Conneaut Creek Red Setters, and Marge had frequent visits with his red setter and enjoyed these visits immensely.  Marge and her husband Tom were former residents of the Upper Peninsula where they were active hunters and field trialers.  

Rest In Peace Marge... you will be sorely missed.  Thank you for your service to the Purest Challenge.

Reminder: Hall of Fame Inductions!

Reminder that the Red Setter Hall of Fame Inductions will take place on Saturday February 9 2013 at the National Bird Dog Hall of Fame in Grand Junction TN.  Come celebrate with us as we induct Joe Edwards of Come Back Kennels and his beloved foundation dam Come Back Lady into the Red Setter Hall of Fame.

Red Setter History Project...

The National Red Setter Field Trial Club is working on some historical pictures and documents for its website. We have numerous pictures for which we have no dates, and sometimes no identification of dogs or people. If you have some time and wouldn't mind taking a look at some of the pics, let me know if you happen to have any information about the "unknowns." Thanks for checking!

http://nrsftc.com/?page_id=495

A product of the Purest Challenge

Red Setter Championship & Futurity...

Come join us in March as the National Red Setter Field Trial Club runs its National Championship and Red Setter Futurity on the grounds of the Jim Edgar Wildlife Management Area in Chandlerville IL.  The trial will feature both an Open and Amateur Championship run on All-Age standards, as well as several supporting stakes.  The Red Setter Futurity will be conducted immediately following the Championship, and is run on Shooting Dog standards.  We also will be offering a one-hour Walking classic run under the banner of U.S. Complete, and it is a U.S. Complete points trial.  For complete information check out our link on the red setter website at  http://www.nrsftc.com/PDF/TrialAd.pdf   Print off a copy and mark your calendar.  This trial has something for everyone, from Championship horseback stakes to walking gundog stakes, and everything in between.  Join us on Friday for our banquet and awards presentation at the Riverbank Lodge... ask for the special "field trial" rate when you reserve your room!   http://www.riverbanklodge.com/

Join us... 

...in our Pursuit of the The Purest Challenge...

...the quest continues!

Hunt with the best...

...go red