Friday: For all of those who had doubts that we could pull this off (and I admit I was one of them), the II went off without a hitch! On Friday Becky Corley and her crew were like lemmings all over the place putting up E-Z Ups, canopies, fencing . . . anything that needed doing, they did!

Rod Wieberdink turned into "orange man" from cleaning up paint balls on field 1 - I'm sure he wasn't the only one so colored! David Samuelson and his crew had a place for everyone and the small temporary city took shape.

Inside the building Carolyn Huston's crew worked on the trophy display, across the building was Marilyn Standerford's domain, looking very high tech with computers and a laser printer. At the other end of the huge building Gina Samuelson, Shirley and Phil Everson were hard at work getting ready for the evenings "snack" which was actually a full meal - the chicken was delicious! Kathy Nelson and Bob Bohanek zipped around on golf carts keeping everything going smoothly.

Bill, Janell and Dani Johnson began organizing the wonderful raffle in front of their weekend home while lots of folks stopped by to welcome Dani home and meet "Vinnie." (Somehow I missed getting a photo of him, darn it!) Even Elvis stopped by!

Saturday: Rod and I got up at 3:30 am to get to the fairgrounds by 5:30. More RVs had arrived since we had headed for home Friday evening. The day began with the singing of the National Anthems - a rich, deep voice sang "Oh, Canada," the voice was so familiar and I learned later it was Mark Shubert. Kent Standerford sang "The Star Spangled Banner". What a way to start the day! I had heard that Roxann DeVillez from Florida was the best inspection organizer ever and boy, was that the truth! I'm not sure exactly how long it took but I doubt it even took an hour to complete inspection so draws could be done.

Although I don't know the exact time, I heard comments that first runs started by 7:00 am. Kay Nierengarten was FTS for the whippet et.al. field and Katie Kaltenborn was her counterpart on the other field. Linda Livermore, Paula Davidson and Mary Hawemann were Kay's field clerks; I'm not sure who worked for Katie since I didn't get to that field at all until the running of the Gillette Stake at the end of the trial. The whippet representative was Tripp, a New Zealand import owned by Heather Jean Dansereau of Hamilton, Ontario. He did the whippets proud! All the hounds were good but the cup went to the Ibizan - another Canadian-owned dog.

The rains held off till the trial was over and then it rained so hard and was so loud on the tin-roofed building it was impossible to hear the speakers! The Masciopinto girls had a great time playing in the water after the storm. Many people stayed for the Rivercity BBQ at 6:30. I'm sure no one expected that there would be a 2 hour lull from the end of the trial/awards presentation till the dinner. Such Midwest efficiency!

Sunday: We were once again up at the crack of dawn and headed down to Farmington. Because of the rain Saturday, the raffle was moved into the building and ticket sales picked up as the noon deadline approached. Bill, Janell and Dani are to be commended on their hard work and dedication at organizing and manning the raffle table all weekend. The money earned for the Clubs was over $700! There were so many superb items donated by local folks and competitors alike, that anyone taking a look was compelled to buy tickets. (A big thank you to all who donated items for the raffle!)

A special thank you goes to Rich Lancello, DVM. Rich volunteered his time and spent two entire days at the II. Fortunately, he was not kept busy at all! Last I talked to him, there had been one popped toe for him to look at and that was it.

There were some off and on showers early in the day Sunday but when it came time for the Best in II, the sun came out. A total of 17 hounds competed for Best in II - breed winners from both days were eligible. Before the start, all the hounds were introduced and made a most impressive line-up. With 17 entrants, there were 6 courses in all. When the first runs were completed, 3 hounds had risen to the top to run off for the grand prize - the greyhound Echo, Afghan hound Stella, and the whippet Ember. When the course was completed, the judges came off the field -- a sure sign a winner had been chosen, and all adjourned to the building for awards. After all the other ribbons and trophies were presented, the Best in International Invitational went to Ember, the whippet! With that, the 30th running of the ASFA International Invitational became part of the history books.