2007 Vizsla Club of Illinois Double Bubble - Busch Farm, Winnebago, IL

What a great weekend! I kept hearing this over and over – music to my ears.

The weather gods cooperated and gave us two days of perfect weather and it as enjoyed by all.

I want to say a quick thanks to those who helped with setup; Jim Gingrich, Greg Wegler (thanks for the power washer!), Jim & Linda Busch, Jon Peck – I hope I have not forgotten anyone!

On Saturday we ran the mock hunt test fondly known as “The Lake Inferior Tyro Classic”. Big thanks to our judges Mark Spurgeon & Jon Peck and our substitute judges of Brad LePoudre and Dan Cieslak. We can’t forget to thank their trusty mounts “Hunter” and “Buck”. We were able to run 26 dogs which ranged in age from 3.5 months to several years old.

Saturday evening was our annual membership meeting outdoor style! The steaks were fantastic and having everyone bring a dish worked out quite well. The wide variety of dishes were fun to sample. After our meeting we asked everyone to stay an extra few minutes to load the chairs and tables back into the barn. Doing this saved us a lot of time on Sunday. Thanks to all!

On Sunday we held our fun games and demonstrations.

Rubber Ducky Race
Jim Busch spent many hours on his tractor dredging the creek for this annual favorite and trust me, the excitement during the race was well worth all of his effort. He coordinating the betting and had 20 entries at $5 each which gave our winner a $70 purse. Who was the winner you are wondering? Good old number 10 which I happened to bet on! Must have been my lucky day!

Bird Planting Contest
Our quail expert Rodney Albin showed our participants how to properly put their birds to sleep. Our kids did such a great job that they longest slept for 75 minutes! In order to wake these long sleepers up, we ended up using a starter pistol. I believe that it took three or four bangs before our winner woke up. The placements are as follows:
Junior Division –
1. Brant Spurgeon – 75 minutes
2. Noal V. – 74 minutes
3. Emily – 70 minutes
4. Tristan Justice – 68 minutes
Senior Division
1. Megan Wegler
2. Jackie
3. Katie
4. Haily Teal

Pigeon Race
There were only four pigeons in the coop for this year’s race – Not to worry; betting was at an all time high! The birds were marked and named by the kids so we were betting on “Hailey”, “Dana”, “Lightening” and “Bubba”. Jim & Linda’s neighbor graciously let us borrow a fantastic wagon for the ride to the release line. The birds were set free and “Lightening” was the first one to touch the bird barn. The bets paid out $4 to each winner.

Wing ‘n String Puppy Pointing Contest
We were blessed with a stellar group of puppies to show off their instinct! Mark Spurgeon handled this event and helped to showcase the talented puppies. This event is always a crowd favorite and this year did not disappoint. We had 17 puppies strut their stuff and in the end we had to have a “Wing Off” in order to place the four best pups. The placements are as follows:
1. “Roxie” – owned by The Hesgaard’s
2. “Penny” – owned by Greg Wegler
3. “Gracie” – owned by George & Mary Haines
4. “Sadie” – owned by Karen & Jeff McElroy

Fastest Hotdog Eater
This was a new addition to the Double Bubble roster – thanks to Pam Spurgeon for suggesting it and running it! This contest was not how many hot dogs your vizsla ate, but how fast they ate a few slices spaced out on paper plates. This event was a crowd pleaser and was loads of fun to watch – we will definitely have it again next year. The placements are as follows:
1. “Holly” – Brant Spurgeon 8:82 sec
2. “Abby” – Amy Johnson 9:65 sec
3. “Bentley” – Christa Ferris 12:50 sec
4. “Ruby” – Liz Barshack 13:29 sec

Locate & Point
Once again this annual race was handled expertly by Rick Mitchell and his crew of helpers. We had a great entry of dogs – one of Rick’s crew was so impressed by what he saw that he may be converted to our beautiful and talented breed! The winners are as follows:
Tyro Hunter
1. Jerry Gabriel & “Crystal” – 02:13:00 sec
2. Randy Caldwell & “Pepper” – 02:30:00 sec

Tyro Young Dog
1. Jake LaPre & “Pink” – 00:40:16 sec
2. Tim May & “Cheyenne” – 00:41:56 sec
3. Jason Roe & “Charlie” – 04:05:00 sec
4. Mike Lentini & “Ruger” – 01:12:00 sec

Field Trial Hunter
1. Joel Peterson & “Lili” – 00:41:82 sec
2. Steve Whitney & “Cali” – 00:51:13 sec
3. Gene Wolf & “Sonny” – 00:59:22 sec

Field Trial Young Dog
1. Katie Zwart & “Jessie” – 00:41:82 sec
2. Greg Hedien & “Katie” – 01:42:00 sec
3. Greg Wegler & “Kayla” – 02:11:00 sec

Raffle Drawing
This year we had some excellent raffle prizes! Donations were made by Dog.com, Lupine Collar, Dr. Foster & Smith, Jodi & Dan Cieslak, Pam & Mark Spurgeon, Cathy Gallagher and Lisa Starbuck. Thank you for buying tickets and supporting our raffle. Thank you to those who donated.

Tear down this year went amazingly fast since we already had the tables and chairs packed away. Thanks to all who helped; Brad & Cindy LePoudre, Jon Peck, Randy Boggs, Dan Cieslak, Jim & Linda Busch.

My apologizes to anyone who I did not list – I really appreciate all of the help and hard work that it takes to put on this event. See you next year!

- Submitted by jodi cieslak