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Ringraziamo l'ATHENS CANINE SOCIETY’S |
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Celebrating ten years of successful activities, Athens Canine Society, the first all-breed Club in the country’s capital to become affiliated with the Kennel Club of Greece and the F.C.I back in 1993, held the first-ever double International in Athens, culminating in about 1200 entries in a single weekend. The Society, formed by a group of enthusiasts ten years ago, has held 15 International and 18 International Dog shows and numerous educational seminars so far. In 2002 the shows held annually grew to three (one National every March and two Internationals, every May and October), all managed by the Board of Directors consisting of 5 people under the leadership of the inaugural Chairman, Mr. George Kostopoulos (an international judge and successful breeder of Afghans and Whippets), with the help of the General Manager and a show committee formed by a group of volunteers. The club runs its activities from its Athens-based office in the country’s capital, where monthly educational seminars are held with guest speakers experts in various canine-related fields. In the beginning of this year the Society’s webpages first went online, offering information about Greek dogdom and international access via its links to other clubs pages to over 8000 visitors so far. Entries from 17 other countries and some very distinguished dogs from across Europe made this a very multinational event indeed. The panel of judges included well-respected names like Joyce W. Mann from Scotland (Mrs Mann will judge BIS at Crufts 2004), popular Dutch all-rounder Mr. Hans v.d. Berg, experts Annika Ulltveit-Moe and Paul Stanton from Sweden, Soile Bister and Johan Juslin from Finland as well as Greek judges Mr. Kostopoulos, Mr. Zoumboulidis, Mr. Makaritis, Mesdames Winsor-Ginala and Kiourtzis, Messrs Vasileiou, Kalantzis and Katsikis, a total of fourteen judges sharing about 600 entries per day. The attraction of 2 x CACIBs plus three Breed Club Specialties (for Bulldogs-judged by English connoisseur Mrs Sheila Cartright of “Tyegarth” fame, French Bulldogs-judged by Mr. Makaritis and Hellenic Sheepdogs-judged by the Club’s chairman Mr. Drivas) drew many top-contenders to the lush-green grass rings of Marathon Land, a beautiful privately-owned showground neighboring the famous ancient site of Marathon, where many events of next year’s Olympic games will take place in the new sports facilities nearby. The President of the Dutch Kennel Club, Mr. Cor Last, visiting the shows, was very enthusiastic in his comments about the well-run organization of the event and other well-known foreign visitors, such as Ana Mesto & Carlos Salas from Spain commented on the warm, welcoming atmosphere of the shows and the enthusiasm of the people that made the main-ring finals so special. Mr. Simpson of “Triglyph” Boxers came all the way from England to watch his favorite breed and Mrs Ann Bradley, well-known Dobermann breeder and judge from the UK joined the Greek Kennel Club officers who attended to wish “happy-birthday” and continuing success to the active Athenian Society. There was indeed a “Birthday Party” held on the site after BIS on Sunday, complete with cake (decorated with the Society’s logo: two ancient Greek hounds sillouetted within an outline of Acropolis temple) and bottles of champagne. The venue offered a convenient restaurant-bar and the weather, with the exception of a few drops of rain on Sunday that quickly gave in to a not too warm sunny day, comfortable for people and dogs alike, was pleasant and kind in general. Large tents and umbrellas were provided for shade. Several commercial and club stands shared the tastefully decorated grounds and a recently launched book about the old native breeds of Greek animals (including dog breeds of course) received much of the public attention. The shows were held under the auspices of the local Municipality and were well-attended by visitors and media alike. The area offers many attractions, being both a historical part of Attica and near the seaside, with many shops, restaurants and nightclubs. On Saturday it was Mr. Van De Berg (Netherlands) who elected B.I.S from the ten group finalists (including several International, World, European and multi-National Champions) and he gave the top spot to none other than “Carlos”, the American Staffordshire Terrier bred in Spain and owned in Croatia, who came to Greece fresh from his triumph over 10.000 dogs in the FCI European Championship Show held in Bratislava two weeks before. From an equally distinguished field (with “Carlos” again representing the Terrier group), Mrs Joyce W. Mann from Scotland elected yet another American breed, but this time a black American Cocker Spaniel dog, bred in Russia and owned locally, for BIS. Her decision drew enormous cheers and signaled the celebrations after a weekend that was exhausting for the organizing committee but worthwhile for all the friends of the Society, old and new. It was O.K.A’s 14th and 15th International event and already the Society is working ahead for next years shows, its 16th and 17th Internationals respectively (to be held on May 22-23 and October 2-3, 2004). Full results and fotos from October 2003’s weekend already in it’s website: http://okathens.8m.com/ The Board of Directors of Athens Canine Society (O.K.A) wants to thank everyone who attended this double-international event and is looking forward to greet them again in Athens next year. Inquiries welcome at tel/fax no ++30 210 5227388 or via e-mail: okathens@hotmail.com Postal address: Athens Canine Society (OKA) P.O. Box 34004, Athens 100 29 Greece. |
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