Allen Starts His Quest for Judge's License

Allen has been the top registrar in the nation for three years running, it's about time for him to work for his judge's license.

In Watsonville in mid July, Allen said, "I took the written test yesterday!"

He passed with flying color and on July 28, he started working on the first of the eight shows required for his judge's license.

Allen is smiling and checking on rabbits at the judging table in the two top photos. Those who were in the show would tell you that Allen was so dead serious that we would walk by and tease him, "Allen, breathe!" or "Allen, Smile!"

At least Allen has a nice smile for the pictures.

The third picture shows him training the new person for the KW booth in Watsonville in mid July. This will not be a common sight in the future as he will be working for his license and then judging in shows.

The Best Peaches in The World

Ed and Melissa grew up in the same neighborhood.

Ed and Melissa had the same 4-H leader who taught them about rabbits.

Ed and Melissa did not meet and Ed went off to college.

Ed came home after college, wanting to do something with the farm and went to a class that educated future farmers. There she was, Ed and Melissa met and fell in love.

Now they are a married couple with an adorable son Russell and a precious daughter Lena living on a farm. Melissa went back to rabbits, from a serious exhibitor to a registrar and then reached the ultimate goal: an ARBA licensed judge. Ed is the "enabler", helps and supports Melissa's hobby of rabbits. Ed's hobby is to grow delicious fruit in the family farm and Melissa is the major helper.

When summer comes, Ed is the most popular person in the shows. Everyone wants to buy his delicious peaches, nectarines and apricots. In the third picture we see a full box of white peaches. Ed's white peaches are the best in the world. The next picture shows a "combo" box that has one layer of peaches at the bottom and on top is a layer of nectarines, apricots and pluots (cross of plum and apricot).

All their peaches are picked tree ripe; they have to be handled with care. The next two pictures show their help sorting the peaches into different grades. The peaches are then put into boxes; each box weighs about 20-22 pounds and Ed delivers them to the specialty shops all over the Bay Area.

Show Winners at the Cathy Patrick Memorial Show

Eric also sent the information about the winners at the open and youth show.

"Cathy's father is an avid scrollsaw artist, and he made a clock to be donated to the overall BIS (best out of the open and youth) to be picked by Bill.

In youth, Hannah Means won Best 4 class and BIS with her Gold English Spot. Youth Best 6 class was won by Elyse Hablitzel with a NZWhite, Open Best 6 class was a NZwhite also (not sure who's it was), and Best 4, BIS, and best overall was a Sable Point AFL buck bred/owned by Brian Hartzell."

The top photo shows Brian with Bill and Cathy's Family. The second photo is the youth Best In Show winner and judge Mike Adams from OH. The third photo is the youth 6-class winner.

We thank Eric for providing the photos and texts for the two posts about Cathy's Memorial Show.

Friends and Family at the Cathy Patrick Memorial Show

ARBA District Director 8 Cathy Patrick passed away in June. On July 28, a memorial/benefit show was held. District Director 9 and judge Eric sent in photos and report:

"The Cathy Patrick Memorial Show was held on Saturday 7/28 and was an incredible success. It was held in central OH, about 1.5 hours north of Columbus. There were exhibitors that arrived from as far away as Massachusetts! Of course there were exhibitors from KY, MI, OH, IN, IL, PA, MD, WV, VA, NJ, NY and Canada as well. There had been tornado warnings the night before, and flash flooding throughout the area; making travel a bit daunting. The show committee stayed up through the night to ensure that the showroom was "de-flooded", and that everything was prepared despite the adverse weather. At the risk of sounding corny, or sentimental, I liken the day to a spiritual experience. Despite the humidity, mud, and tight space (no one had dreamed that so many folks would travel that far) EVERYONE was in such good spirits and more than kind. Of the judges that volunteered their time and expenses, Cindy Wickizer had the expense of flying in to judge as well! The building was donated, most sanctions were donated, and the raffle was probably the best one you've ever seen. Proceeds went to help ease some of the medical costs that were not covered by Cathy's insurance. Bill, Cathy's parents, Cathy's children and some of her grandchildren were there as well."

"The show was every bit if not more of a memorial service as it was a show. As you moved through the showroom you could hear "Cathy...." stories, and folks reminiscing about times with Cathy and Bill. It was a really great to have this opportunity for everyone to gather together to celebrate Cathy's life."

Eric provided many photos and descriptions. Here are some of them:

1. Cathys' daughters-Rachel, Dawn, and Michelle (granddaughter Kendall with her mother, Michelle); Ron Riddle, Todd Naragon, Cindy W, Howard Keller, Eric Stewart, Bill Patrick, and Brad Boyce

2. Cathy's grandson Steve, and her daughter Rachel writing for the open mini rex...Rachel showed mini rex for many years with great success...now she and her husband raise outstanding horses.

3. Katie and Brad Boyce, Executive Director of ARBA.

4. Kristi and Greg Rogers spearheaded the effort to put this show together...we owe them a debt of gratitude.

5. Karlie Hoy and Elaine were my fearless writers for the day. Even though these folks were from PA, they came a LONG way to get to this show.

Photos of the open and youth winners will be posted tomorrow.

Pretty Girls with Pretty Orchids

Pretty girls and pretty flowers are a natural combination. Betty is sharing the photos of her two pretty girls, Sevenah and Baylie, posing in front of the pretty Orchids.

NCAG Members go to Lambtown

Tracy sent in these pictures to share.

She and Franco went to Lambtown fair at Dixon on Saturday; they ran into Lindsay and Jocelyn. They all had a great time looking at demos, classes and booths.

Top picture is Tracy and Lindsay; the second picture is Jocelyn. The third picture shows the goodies that tracy bought. The next three pictures show spinning demo, sheep shearing demo and a very expensive and very cute Suri Alpaca. Tracy saw him doing tricks, like waving and kissing his owner.

Sevenah Wins All Breed Reserve In Show

California Rabbit and Cavy Shows put on all breed shows in Monterey on Saturday.

The shows were held in an open barn; it was very cool, cool to the point of being cold. The temperature did not break 60 degrees for the entire day.

Betty's English colored senior doe Chu's Sevenah took all breed Reserve In Show in show A. The top is a picture of her on the grooming stand. The second picture is Best In Show winner Randy and Allen with their Mini Rex and Betty with Sevenah.

The third picture shows Sevenah waiting in the carrier for being judged. The fourth photo shows her squished in the judging coop during the picking of Best In Show and Reserve In Show.