Judges at Santa Rosa

Allan judges English Angora. Danielle is writing down his remarks.

Armando is seriously judgeing English Angora.

Joey gives a big smile.

Keelyn is examining an American Fuzzy Lop.

Doug has not been in shows for a while; he and Tammy are having a happy reunion.

Randy is always happy in rabbit shows.

Carol is looking at the back side of a Rex.

Manuel at the judging table with wife Linda in the background.

Ray is judging Californian.

Chris judges Netherland Dwarf.

Sonoma Marin RA always has a wonderful line-up of judges. We did not get pictures of all of them; here are pictures of some of the judges in the show.

Workers at Santa Rosa

Stephanie is the show superintendent of the Sonoma-Marin RA show on Saturday. She was everywhere trying to take care of things and to get the show running smoothly.

In the first photo, three of the show committee workers make a pose together. Stephanie, Kasey and Keelyn all work hard in getting the show going. In the second photo, show superintendent Stephanie is talking to judge Troy. In the third photo, the crew is getting the equipment back to the truck. When everyone is gone, they are still cleaning and loading.

Thanks to all those who worked in the show, we all had a great time.

Allen Is Home!

Randy and Cali welcome me home, and Randy tries on my Tabaski boubou!

Goodbye to my host family.

Goodbye to my American friends in Dakar - "Be Africa" without me!!

Allen arrived in the US on Sunday. Here is his report about his trip home:

"Three months flies when you are having the time of your life. Saturday night, I packed my boubous, African masks, French textbooks, and put on my "American Eagle" attire for a long flight back to California from Dakar.

Though I tried to prepare myself for "leaving", my last days were emotionally and fully spent. My Senegalese host family and I became very close during my study. It wasn't long after I arrived that my host father, Muhamet, told me regularly how I made his home full and happy. Muhamet is a kind, gentle, and generous man who gives and gives before he thinks of himself. With his large, poor family (16 brothers and sisters) in the less-than-developed city of Kaolack, he weekly sends whatever money he has to them. It didn't surprise me that I often found him deep in thought with worry always on his face. He told me recently that he was able to forget his stress and feel happy when I came home from school during my stay each day. I honestly can't imagine how I impacted their lives nearly as much as they impacted mine, but it's really beautiful. They fell in love with my idea to bring rabbits as a food source and income to families in Senegal, and promised to continue to pray for my return with my project and hope. I plan to work with Rotary International over the coming months/year to create a solid plan to return to Senegal, instituting the project.

Though I left Senegal with a bit of a torn heart, it felt whole and warm to return to Tollhouse, my mountain view, and my family: Randy, Cali, and the farm. Now it's time to break in this Judge license; I fly to Portland this weekend to begin my new, longly anticipated path as a rabbit judge... I can hardly wait!"

Charlie Visits at Santa Rosa

Santa Rosa is about one hour away from Charlie's home. Comparing to other shows, this is the most convenient place for him to visit a show. So he came to visit when we were there on Saturday.

It took him at least 40 minutes to say hello to others before sitting down with the Angora people. He is a popular guy.

Here are two photos of Charlie, one with Betty and another with Andrea. It's hoped that he will have bunnies soon and return to the show circuit.

Judy Is A Proud Grandma

Amy with Kade in the hospital.

Grandma Judy holding Kade in the delivery room.

Judge Ron is the proud grandpa.

NARBC president Judy sends wonderful news from Indiana: Her daughter Amy is a mom for the second time. Kadence Ann (Kade) was born Jan 6th 2008 and weighed 7lb 15 oz - she was 21 inches long.

Amy used to show rabbits as well. She won the Best In Show youth in the Angora National when she was only 9 years old. Now the third generation of Angora girls are on their way. Two-year-old Gracie is already working in the barn with Grandma Judy.

Grandpa Ron is a very active judge and a top breeder of Silver Marten. Ron and Judy won the Best In Show with their Silver Marten in the 2004 ARBA convention in Rhode Island.

Big Winners at Santa Rosa

In youth show A, Melanie took Best In Show with her Mini Satin.






In youth show B, Keelyn took Best In Show with her Florida White. Keelyn is pictured here with judge Troy and Reserve In Show winner Eleanor with her Dutch.

Keelyn and show A winner Melanie are sisters; They must have some secret formula to make double BIS winners in the same family!






Ashley Jones won open show A Best In Show with her Californian.







Randy and Allen (not in the picture) won Best In Show in open show B with their Mini Rex. Judge Armando made the selection.






Sonoma Marin Rabbit Association has been around forever. The show held in January is always well organized and huge. These winner won over a lot of rabbits to make it the to the top. Congratulations to all.

Elio Wins All Breed Reserve In Show

Judge Armando and Betty with Elio.

Betty with English Angora, Tracy with Satin Angora and Giant Angora, Carol W. with French Angora. These are winners of the Best of Breed.

Finally, after a 7-week wait the first show of 2008 has come. We were all so looking forward to going back to shows. The show is well attended and the building is wonderfully spacious.

In show B, Betty's English Angora colored senior buck Chu's Elio won all breed Reserve In Show. Elio is barely 8 months old, young for a buck to have achieved such an honor. He has the coat of a matured doe; it is dense, long and well textured. His face is very bucky, broad and somewhat goofy. Elio is also one of the finalists in the Best In Show judging in show A.

This is one of the rare occasions that all four breeds of Angora are represented. During the Best In Show selection, English Angora was mentioned as top contenders in both show A and B; French Angora was mentioned as one of the top five in show B.