Editorial

MIDLAND COUNTIES LABRADOR RETRIEVER CLUB Editorial

Well, what can one say about 2020! I think it’s probably safe to assume most of us are glad that 2020 is finally over, and when writing my editorial this time last year, I certainly could never have imagined the sort of year we have just lived through.

Committee decided that, as it was very unlikely that people would be submitting kennel reviews this year, the printing and distribution costs of producing an actual printed copy of the yearbook would be prohibitively expensive for the Club, we would therefore produce a review of the year/ newsletter in the form of a “mini” online yearbook, which will be available on the Club’s website (www.mclrc.net ) for members to access.

Sadly, 2020 saw the passing of two long standing members of M.C.L.R.C., Les Brabban (Cambremer Labradors) and Catherine Hadwen (Beltarn Labradors). Obituaries appear in the yearbook, courtesy of Ann Britton, who has also reproduced Richard Edward’s account of the Cambremer Labradors in her Our Dogs Breed Notes on 27th. November and 4th. December 2020. Our sincere condolences are sent to their families and friends.

Dog shows and virtually all other canine events came to a halt shortly after Crufts in March. M.C.L.R.C. lost both the Championship show (including the later re-scheduled show) and the September Open Show, while the working side lost all their working tests, and a few trials, including the 2 day Open. We also had to cancel the A.G.M., the Puppy Fun Day and a further planned Judges’ Seminar Day. However, the January Open Show was able to go ahead prior to the first lockdown, and the working/field trial side managed to run a couple of Novice trials in October, and photos and reports of each of these events appear in the book.

We did manage to hold, as soon as the first lockdown was lifted, a couple of socially distanced committee meetings and in conjunction with these, a couple of informal “mini shows”. These took place, thanks to the hospitality of Michael and Judi Neachell, who also kindly took the photographs, at Wellfield House and were well appreciated by all those who attended. We were blessed with excellent weather and it was great to be able to meet up with friends again, as can be seen from the photo montage of these mini shows, which appears in the yearbook. At the second of these shows, committee made a presentation to Mervyn and Carol Reynolds to thank them for all that they have done for the Club over many years; again, there is a photo in the yearbook.

At the end of September, the Kennel Club launched its new website, which has turned out to be something of a disaster and has caused lots of issues for those attempting to register puppies, and many people had information missing from their accounts. In addition to these problems, it was a shock to see that the first colour option for those registering Labrador litters online was silver! Consequently, I have re-published an article that the late Jack Vanderwyk kindly wrote for the M.C.L.R.C.

2015 Yearbook. His excellent article is still truly relevant today.

Throughout December and January, the Club has been running an online photo competition via our facebook page. This has attracted a huge number of entries for the 7 categories, with some excellent photos, which were a pleasure to see, particularly after the rather bleak year. The judging has now just been completed and the winning entry in each group has been reproduced in the yearbook. Congratulations to the winners.

We are now still in the middle of a lockdown (mid February) and many of the shows which should have gone ahead early in this year are now attempting to re-schedule for later on. Consequently, the list of championship shows in the yearbook, whilst correct to date, is constantly being revised. It is hoped that our own open show which should have gone ahead in January can be re-scheduled, and similarly, the championship show, originally planned for April. As the vaccination program is currently getting rolled out, hopefully it will not be too long before we can resume some of our schedule of events for this coming year. In the meantime, committee will endeavour to plan and arrange events for our members, details of which will be posted on the Club’s website and facebook page as soon as is possible. I do hope to be able see you all back enjoying the hobby we share before too long, and that the M.C.L.R.C. Yearbook will be back again as usual next year.

Take care, Jenny Dobson (Editor M.C.L.R.C. Yearbook)