Summer 2017 Saber Tails 29
Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
By Susannah Cooper
In July, the
presidency
passed from
Tiffany Cannon
to me, Susan-
nah Cooper. It
is an honor to
serve in this
role and, al-
though I’ve
been on the
Board of Di-
rectors and
have been an
Officer in the
past, I don’t
take the role
of President lightly and will work hard to ensure this
club continues to grow and thrive in a rather tumul-
tuous environment. Tiffany will continue to be very
involved, taking over full-time as the editor of Saber
Tails while Katherine Howell continues to serve on
the editorial committee and concentrates on her ju-
nior year in college. Without the role of editor being
divided in two, the issues should be out on a more
timely basis in the future.
This issue of Saber Tails focuses largely on the re-
cent national specialty in Charlotte, North Carolina.
What a wonderful time we all had. It was wonderful
to meet some new people and spend time with old
friends. Bev Childs put on an incredible show with
fun events for everyone who attended. Clearly, our
club is becoming more diversified in its interests and
we will continue to work toward offering something
for everyone at the specialty shows. Please do try to
join us at a future event. 2018 will be in Reno, Ne-
vada and 2019 will be in the Texas Hill Country.
In addition to write ups and photos related to the
specialty, this issue features several articles written
by club members on a variety of topics. It also fea-
tures two articles offering opposing viewponts re-
lated to the topic of the club withdrawing from CHIC.
This decision continues to be controversial despite
the fact that the controvery is being brought up well
after the decisions were all made and finalized. That
is perhaps the most disturbing part of the current
position being taken by the Heath Committee and I
can assure you as President, we will be working with
the Health Committee to determine how we can get
the feedback we need before we reach the point of
voting on topics. Late feedback is frequently worse
than none at all.
None of us wants the communication difficulties be-
tween a comittee and the club leadership to affect
membership. We hope you will take these articles
for what they are. A disagreement that the club will
work through and be stronger for in the long run.
None of us in any leadership roles want our actions
and decisions to alienate club members or divide the
club. Please understand that we all want what’s best
for the dogs we love and hold dear to our hearts.
Our members come from a wide variety of back-
grounds, belief systems and cultures. For several of
us, we only have one thing in common...but it’s a re-
ally good thing! Our scruffy PBGVs bring smiles to all
our faces, give us stories to share that we can all re-
late to and bring us together despite our differences
- powerful stuff from our fuzzy-faced friends. On to
better topics in the future.
Like most things in life, the best way to make an im-
pact is to get involved. We really need volunteers for
all sorts of open positions, including some as big as a
rescue representative and future show chair. Please
volunteer, even if you aren’t sure what you’re doing!
We’ve all been there and everyone starts somewhere.
Stay happy and healthy and keep your dogs close.
Feel free to reach out to any one of the Officers or
Directors if you have something you think needs to
be discussed.
Susannah Cooper