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| DRAGON Show Summary- 2008 As most experienced exhibitors know, a show is much more than who won which awards. The show experience begins on Friday morning and, for club members, ends well after the last bird is packed up and loaded in the cars for the trip home.
After experiencing sunshine and record warm temperatures in the mid to high 70's all week long, Michigan gave us low 40 degree temperatures and a rain/snow mix all weekend long. Despite the weather, inside the show hall the spring-like sound of bird song filled the air. 2008 was possibly one of DRAGON's most successful shows to date- a lofty mark to overcome as DRAGON annually hosts the "Grande Dame" of American Singer specialty shows. Our goal is to ensure that every exhibitor- from the most accomplished to the newest novice- has a wonderful experience at the show and we met and exceeded that goal in a resounding manner once again. Mr. Tad Rykojc of Parkton, Maryland judged 138 singers and over two dozen young and old hens. Fifteen exhibitors competed for the usual exceptional array of rosettes, sculptures, crystal, pewter dragons, cash prizes, tea pots, and more. DRAGON members continued their 2008 winning streak at their own show- each of the top ten birds in this year's show was bred by a DRAGON member. Marion and Marilyn Omiatek took best in show with an old bird. These two folks from Chicago are faithful DRAGON members and show attendees. They also won the Best DRAGON bred award, which is presented to the best bird bred by a DRAGON member. For their win (in addition to the blue rosette and medallion awarded by the ASC) they received $100, the large DRAGON sculpture awarded to the Best in Show, and a large rosette. For their Best DRAGON bred win they received a fine quality pewter dragon. The winning did not end with Best in Show for the Omiateks- they also took 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 9th! Tom Yang, DRAGON's current show manager, took 2nd and 7th. Michael Grohman, a long time DRAGON member, took 6th and 10th. Judy Snider, one of the chapter's founding members, took 8th. All birds with the exception of 7th place were old birds. The Omiatek's winning bird also won the rosette for Best Variety Note. Their daughter, Mari Reynolds, also won a rosette for Best American Singer tone. The complete list of winners can be found here: DRAGON Show Results. For his first time out showing American Singers, Paul Cruise of Charleston, South Carolina did very well- taking both the Best First Year Fancier and Journeyman awards. DRAGON was honored by the presence of novice fanciers Mr. and Mrs. Paul Cruise and Linda Marshall of Charleston, South Carolina and Roger Miller of Florida. Our annual raffle was a large as ever and included a great selection of various bird foods, bird room supplies, cages, household items, handmade quilts, Christmas decorations, and too many other things to list. Two male singers, two beautiful orchid plants, a very nice lamp designed to provide full spectrum lighting for birds, and a lovely free-standing oak quilting hoop were offered for silent auction. For the second year, Georgian Franczyk provided behind-the-scenes organization and Charlie Schembri was the front man "extraordinaire". Those two have proven to be a highly successful pair! Judy Snider and her team of hardworking assistants provided exhibitors and visitors with tasty food and liquid refreshments both Friday and Saturday. They offered a wide variety of homemade sweets this year which were wonderful, as always. Charlie Schembri's friend at Valentino's Pizza sent over some of the best pizza many of us had ever tasted for Friday night's dinner! Judy provided a lovely antipasto salad to accompany it. No one ever leaves a DRAGON show hungry, that's for sure! Once again DRAGON members showed exceptional dedication to the American Singer fancy. DRAGON members lead the fancy by example- together, we can accomplish far more than we can individually. Through hard work and dedication, we can make this fancy thrive! GREAT JOB, DRAGON members! |
