Parade of Champions

Have you ever had to get up early on Saturday morning of the National and get your Champion ready to show in the Parade of Champions? Have you ever wished you could get up early enough to watch the Parade of Champions?

Well ... we're kicking it up a notch for the 2011 National. The Parade of Champions will be held before the Friday night Buffet/Auction. The Parades will take place during cocktail hour. An open bar will be setup in the main ballroom where conformation is being held, and our applause worthy Champions will be paraded.

In addition your Champs biography will be published in the catalog, which means you will have to send Champ's biography to our Parades Chair - Hanna Kolzow (hkolzow@yahoo.com). Hotel napkins with a biography can not be passed to Hanna 5 minutes before the Parades, please.

2011 Logo

Here it is ... The Havanese Club of America, 2011 National Specialty Logo.

The logo was designed by Margaret Dominy and Louise Donner. The logo is representative of North Carolina. The flowers along the ribbon are Dogwoods - the State Flower. The "plane" in the logo is the Wright flyer. On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright piloted the first powered airplane 20 feet above a wind-swept beach in North Carolina. The flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. Three more flights were made that day with Orville's brother Wilbur piloting the record flight lasting 59 seconds over a distance of 852 feet. Thank You to Margaret and Louise for yet another great National logo!

(The "model" in the logo wishes to remain anonymous.)

VIP Seating Offered

VIP Seating will be offered for the 2011 National Specialty. What's that? If you purchase a VIP Seat, you will not only sit in a special reserved section, but your seat will be a Picnic Time chair embroidered with the National Logo! And, you can take your VIP Seat home. You can either travel home with the chair, or special arrangements will be made to ship your chair home. What a deal! So, what does a deal like this cost? A mere $150.00! A limited number of VIP Seats will be offered, so reserve your's early. To reserve your spot in VIP Seating contact the Assigned Seating Chair, Kathy King, at kat0504@gmail.com You will be able to pay for your seat when you register for the National. (The OnLine Registration will be available within the next few weeks.)

We will also be offering our "Standard" Assigned Seating ... $25.00 for the three days of conformation showing.

(So as to give "credit where credit is due", Thank You, Connie Banitt, for the VIP Seating suggestion.)

Motorhomes at National

To our RVers: We have made arrangements with the hotel for RV parking. The area will be paved, and you will not only be able to park your motorhomes, but you will be able to stay in them too. Since July in North Carolina can be a tad warm, generators will be permitted!

This is the first dog show this hotel has ever hosted, so we really need to be respectful of this priviledge. There will be a charge for RV parking, and we may have to limit the number. As National draws nearer, more information will be available.

National's Superintendent

Foy Trent has been selected as Superintendent for the 2011 National. His experience in working with the Havanese Club of America will prove to be invaluable.

National Website

Thank You to all who commented on the new National website - http://www.hcanationals.com/. Some changes were made and some additions were made. The Hotel is now accepting reservations. Please make your reservations through the website the Hotel set up for HCA. You can access that website through either our website - http://www.hcanationals.com/ - or directly through the Hotel's website - http://www.starwoodmeeting.com/StarGroupsWeb/res?id=1009033892&key=7DE22

(Think the word "website" was used enough?)

Later ......

The Reason

Why do we go to National? To showcase our dogs. To interact (or, to use a common buzzword, network) with others in the Havanese world. To see friends we've known for a long time, and to make new ones. To put faces to the words that float through cyberspace throughout the year. Some go with a passion to learn. Some go with a passion to win. The list continues, but whatever your reason .... see you there!

First Blog

Good Morning,


This is the first Blog for the 2011 Havanese Club of America National Specialty to be held in Durham, North Carolina, July 20-23, 2011. With this Blog we hope to keep everyone up to date on what is happening to prepare for one Fantastic National!

This past Thursday, September 2nd., Tom Wogan and Karon Fowler met with some of the staff at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel, the site of the 2011 National. We took a tour of the facility, and it's awesome. Lots of space for our events. Easy to get to. Lots of FREE parking. We are really psyched.

On Friday Carol Croop and her husband Roy joined me on a tour, as representatives of the Central Carolinas Havanese Club. The CCHC will be handling Hospitality for the National, and they have some great ideas to make your stay in Durham memorable. The CCHC will also be assisting the HCA Membership Committee at the HCA Meet and Greet on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings of National Week.

Jenny French stopped by to check out the room for the HRI Reception to be held Thursday, July 21, 2011. I'm sure she'll agree, there will be plenty of room for all the donations, and the people attending. The HRI Reception has become one of the premier events of the National, with Thanks in great part to Charlene Edwards.

Finally, Sandy Fisher came by to see if the hotel's facilities could handle Agility. It was decided that for the safety of the entrants (both four legged and two legged) another facility - close by - would be found. We'll keep you posted as plans for the Agility Trials progress.

And, that's about it for now. Let us know if you find the blog helpful.