Posted for my breeder Tari Hafner 2005 Specialty Chair
I have been very hesitant to write but figured I had better do so before things got any worse. There is always a desire to keep a specialty location secret from the general membership until the year before a specialty but it is getting us into trouble this year. Let me start out by stating that there are no plans to hold the 2005 national specialty in Lancaster, PA. This rumor was started by someone who is in no way involved with the planning of the specialty and has no first hand knowledge. Rumors are hurtful and damaging at best. Yes, I have been very hurt by these rumors, more than I can even explain here. I will not speak for the others on our committees. We have worked very hard over the last year and believe that we have a really wonderful location for the specialty but that is all I will divulge until after 2004. You will all just have to wait and see. We had problems with another club not giving us releases (you would not believe how difficult that is) but as our good fortune would have it, another breed moved their specialty to the fall of that year freeing up the time and location we really wanted all along. This location is experienced in hosting dog specialties and actually hopes to attract more in the future. I can guarantee that you will all have a truly great time if you come and I expect that many of you will indeed come. As far as the rumors being damaging, we are moving forward with what we believe will be a long remembered specialty - perhaps on many levels. We did visit a location in Lancaster which we all felt was a wonderful location for a specialty. The convention center/resort was a lovely place and they offered us a really good package deal. They came highly recommended by one of the local dog show superintendents. They have hosted numerous specialties for several breeds. One breed has signed up to hold theirs there every year until 2008. They have been hosting 3-4 specialties each year since they started doing them a few years ago. Imagine the positive impact these other breeds can have on this area. They have the ability to show people what well bred dogs are and to promote their breeds in a responsible manner. Education is the key and I am glad that other breed clubs see the golden opportunity to educate in this area. Education works, boycotts do not. I expect that those who have been so vocal about not coming to Lancaster if the specialty were held there will be hard at work trying to change the legislation to protect dogs. I expect that they will be working in many areas where this is a concern, not just Lancaster. I would enjoy having all of you present your efforts and results at the specialty in 2005 so that we can all share in what will hopefully be your successes and not failures. If all that energy is turned into a positive work force, it could be unstoppable. For those of you who have supported us regardless of where we held a specialty, I applaud you. You are the ones who make this job worth doing. It is a very difficult job and I don't think anyone appreciates all the work that goes into making a specialty happen until they have been there. But, it is you, the ones who come to a specialty to enjoy the beautiful dogs and showcase the best the breed has to offer, that I tip my hat. You are the ones who will impact Bernese in the most positive way. You are the ones who who make all the hard work worthwhile. You are the ones who make us forge ahead to produce the best specialty we can. I am indeed thankful that most of you are supportive of all our hard efforts. So, let's stop all the talk about the specialty being in Lancaster and move our energy on to better topics. Tari Hafner 2005 National Specialty Chair
