West of The Divide Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club Of NSW in Katoomba, New South Wales | Community organisation

West of The Divide Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club Of NSW

Locality: Katoomba, New South Wales

Address: PO Box 984 2780 Katoomba, NSW, Australia

Website: http://www.wotdsbtc.org.au

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25.01.2022 Good Evening, Until further notice, ALL club enquiries can be directed to Sharon Brooks. I will endeavour to get back to you ASAP... Thank you Sharon

24.01.2022 Good afternoon all, It is that time of year again when memberships need to be renewed as they expire in just 5 weeks' time (30 June). More than ever we need members to renew given the financial turmoil that has even hit our club with the uncertainty surrounding the 2020 shows. So please renew and if you haven't previously please consider joining for the first time.... As a special offer we are also offering our new club badges and number clips at a discounted price if you order at the same time as paying your membership (please see details on form). We know you have time on your hands with no shows or much else happening in the current ISO world, so why not print the form and get this off your plate straight away. This page will allow only pictures to be posted so there are pictures of the form attached, but if you want a form that you can print sent to you please email us at [email protected] and we will send one through to you. We will also put a link here once it is added to our website.

23.01.2022 Yesterday we advised that WOTD SBTC Committee were going through a process to select 2 Australian Breed Specialists as reserve judges in the event that one or both of our international judges are unable to or unwilling to risk their health to judge for us in May at Albury. Our Committee were asked to do this by way of a secret 1, 2, 3 nomination from all Australian Specialist judges. The top 2 nominations were Sandra Smid (Qld) and Sue Swalling (SA). Both ladies have been con...tacted and agreed to be our reserve judges and we are doing contracts with them as we speak. The way the voting has panned out, if we require 1 reserve judge it will be Sandra Smid and if we need 2 reserve judges Sue Swalling will join her. It goes without saying that all of this is subject to DogsNSW final approval which in this case would seem to be just a formality. We hope our exhibitors support our shows come what may and in these unusual times you can now enter knowing who will be judging you if our contracted international judges are unable to come to judge for us.

22.01.2022 Firstly, a happy new year to all. Sadly, it seems 2021 will be presenting more challenges to us in the dog world, starting with our 2021 shows. As a courtesy to all that may have already made plans and bookings to be with us in Wellington in October, we have learned today that there are circumstances outside of our control that almost certainly will necessitate us changing our show dates and location this year.... The Committee is working through all options and will make a further announcement once we have a clearer picture.

21.01.2022 WOTD SBTC is now in a position to present the Schedule for our 2021 Shows to be held in Harden on 8/9 May as part of the Twin Towns Canine Festival. Attached are also introductions to our judges. As the first post COVID Specialties for our breed this represents a fantastic opportunity for us all to come together in more than a year and support our Australian judges but, also to support a fledgling club that has struggled to survive the pandemic after it hit just 8 months afte...r our first shows. We are on the first weekend of the 2 weekend cluster, so for those looking for a bit of an escape, keep an eyes out for the schedules of the 8 All Breeds Shows that we will post as soon as we get them. Roll on 8/9 May and fingers crossed our Victorian friends get out of their latest lockdown in just 5 sleeps time!

19.01.2022 UPDATE REGARDING WOTD SBTC 2020 SHOWS We wish to advise our members and exhibitors that we have submitted the necessary paperwork to DogsNSW to reschedule our 2020 Shows to the weekend of 14/15 November to be held in Young, NSW in conjunction with the Young & District All Breeds Kennel Club, with our originally contracted overseas judges David Levy and Dayna Lemke. We expect that it will be approximately a month before we will know the outcome of our application, so at this s...tage please pencil the date in and await further advice from us once we have a decision. We will also advise a new deadline for our merchandise orders that we recently announced once we have a decision. Edited to add: Murray Valley Kennel Club have just announced the cancellation of their shows that included the WOTD supported entry show where Charlotte Holman was judging. For those that donated sashes for this show, we are working with Young & District Kennel Club to see if they can contract a Stafford Specialist to do Terriers for one of their 3 shows, in which case this will become a fully supported show in the same way as MVKC was. If you wish your donation to be held until a decision is made that would be fantastic, but if you want a refund now please PM David Lowe.

19.01.2022 2020 SHOWS UPDATE AND DOG FRIENDLY ACCOMMODATION On Friday in her weekly update the DogsNSW President included the following statement: "If matters continue to improve, we may be able to contemplate Specialty Shows being held from mid-August, with All breeds shows possibly from late September. This is all dependant on Government changes continually being updated in our favour"... Also on Friday, the Prime Minister announced that from 1 July, sporting stadiums with less than 40,000 capacity can host crowds of up to 25% of their capacity. Today, the NSW Premier announced that from 1 July, indoor venues could host as many people as the venue can hold using the 4sqm rule. Our cautious optimism that our shows will proceed as planned on 14/15 November is being more strongly reinforced as time marches on. This weekend we have been advised by the Young and District All Breeds Kennel Club that there will now also be 2 other Specialties held on the grounds that weekend (Jack Russells and German Shorthaired Pointers). This means accommodation will be in stronger demand than first expected. As Young is only 30km from Harden we included Dog Friendly accommodation in this region on our last year's list, and we are sharing it again now so that those that intend attending can get in before everything books out. Powered and unpowered camping sites are also available on the showgrounds - see https://directory.fullrangecamping.com.au//young-showgrou/ The All Breeds Club has also advised us that they have not yet selected their judges but will be doing so after they receive the guidelines for holding shows from Dogs NSW later in the month. They will let us know as soon as they have selected them.

19.01.2022 ANNOUNCEMENT RE WEST OF THE DIVIDE SBTC RESCHEDULED 2020 SHOWS It is with deep regret that the Committee advise that the tough decision has been made to cancel our 2020 shows that were rescheduled to be held on 14/15 November in Young. This decision has not been taken lightly and is due to the fact that it appears inevitable that our interstate breed fraternity will not be able to join us on these dates, and unfortunately these exhibitors are vital to the success of a breed s...pecialty. After consultation with the NSW Police Superintendent of the Victorian border patrol, we were advised that the border check points between here and Victoria will remain in place as long as there are any restrictions in play in Victoria and they anticipate that the border will remain restricted to Victorians until December at least. On top of this, yesterday, Qld closed its borders again and South Australia tightened its restrictions still further. One of the main reasons we had hoped to hold these shows was that we had already, at some significant cost, purchased all the sashes/prizes etc for our shows originally scheduled in May. Steph Clark did an amazing job in organising all this and our trophy table would have been truly magnificent. However, we have now been advised we can get the sashes changed to 2021 and the trophies can be used in future shows.Given the sashes will not now go to waste we hope that the sponsors of these are happy to have that sponsorship transferred to next year. However, if you do wish to "unsponsor" please let Sharon Brooks know and we will accommodate your wishes. We look forward now to October 2021 at Wellington and hope that a vaccine is found for COVID19 by then so we can see all of our Stafford friends once again.

18.01.2022 Just as we are sure all Stafford enthusiasts were, we were saddened to see that both ACT and Victoria’s Specialties have been cancelled as a result of the challenges thrown at those clubs by the COVID pandemic. We have had a few people make contact regarding what the likelihood of our (now) May shows being cancelled is. We don’t have a COVID crystal ball, but the NSW government seems to have a more flexible approach to management of the pandemic and as such we are not (curre...ntly) subject to some of the requirements that made the ACT and Victorian clubs challenges in putting shows on more difficult than us. Therefore, we are cautiously optimistic of proceeding, and are pressing on with planning on the basis that our shows will be held on the new dates of 8/9 May at Harden.

17.01.2022 A reminder for all our members and those that wish to join for the first time that these are due in just a little over 2 weeks time on 30 June. This year there is a special offer of club badges and/or number clips available if purchased along with membership. Thank you all in advance for supporting our club, it is deeply appreciated in these difficult economic times.... Here is a link to the membership form and instructions on how to process/pay: https://63e6bed8-56a7-4eda-839d-f57476a5496e.filesusr.com/

17.01.2022 One of our major sponsor Proplan for our 2020 shows

15.01.2022 Over recent months we have received a number of enquiries regarding club merchandise. In the next week or so we will be running another merchandise order opportunity and will have a couple of new items also available. Even better, we will be able to accept credit card payments this time around which will make the ordering a lot easier than in the past. So keep an eye out on this page in the next week or so for your opportunity to order some of our merchandise.

14.01.2022 Please find below the Schedule for the 3 All Breeds Shows to be held in conjunction with our Shows at the end of May. The Friday judge is a Stafford Specialist, and as has been mentioned previously WOTD SBTC is fully supporting the Friday Show with BOB, RUBOB, CC, RCC, Class in Breed and Opposite Class in Breed sashes. We encourage everyone to support these shows and the Friday in particular.... Here’s to a great weekend and 3 specialist judges

14.01.2022 Please find below the Schedule for our upcoming shows on 30/31 May 2020 in Albury. As a result of the fun we had last year and by popular demand the handler/dog lookalike class is back and we are hoping for more entries in this class this year and if they are of the quality of last years attempts this should be bigger and better than last year. Our "Wanker of the Day" award is on again, Shaun Hunt the judge this year so if you intend to make any mistakes that might have you i...n the running then make sure he doesn't find out about it, that is unless you really want to win it. We can promise the weather wont be as cold as last year. Late May in Albury usually brings quite nice weather. Overnight lows around 3-5 degrees and daytime temperatures of around 17-22 degrees, and usually plenty of sunshine and little in the way of wind. Finally, we will be running a pre-order merchandise offer in the lead up to the show, so please keep an eye out for that, with some now offerings for you to ponder over. Please share with all your Stafford friends and remember as the only club in the country that gives you, the exhibitors, the opportunity to select the judges we genuinely hope you support us in our second year.

12.01.2022 Only 3 left !!!

11.01.2022 UPDATE REGARDING WOTD SBTC SHOWS SCHEDULED FOR 30/31 MAY 2020 In these uncertain times 24 hours can make a lot of difference and in the past 24 hours 2 things are standing out to us: 1. The clear message from most properly informed sources is that public control measures will escalate into the winter and what we are seeing now is still just a ramp up.... 2. DogsQLD who 24 hours ago were adamant they would continue events have now come out and done the same as Victoria - no shows until the end of April, so longer than NSW. Further they have advised clubs with shows in May to decide NOW whether they want to cancel or postpone. Our intuition tells us that our shows now have little chance of going ahead on the dates they are currently scheduled for, even with our reserve judges we have selected. As a result, we have instructed Show Manager to suspend entries for our shows while we explore the possibility of postponing the shows until the Spring. Aware of the fact that there are already Stafford specialties in July (QLD), September (Newcastle), October (SA) and November (WA) and the NSW show calendar is also quite congested we have no idea at this stage whether we can achieve this plan to postpone or not. We will share the outcome with you as soon as we are able, but for now we would ask all our exhibitors to consider these shows as postponed.

11.01.2022 We have now received the quote for sashes for the WOTD supported entry of Charlotte Holman at Murray Valley Kennel Club on the Friday of our (now) triple header specialty weekend in Albury on 29/30/31 May. Please see below for sponsorship opportunities, and if you wish to sponsor please either PM David Lowe or email ([email protected]) advising which sash(es) you would like to sponsor. Please support Charlotte's appointment.

11.01.2022 We are pleased to offer our merchandise, now available for pre-purchase to be collected from our Championship Shows in Albury in May, or posted if desired. The range includes a couple of new items (badges, number clips, pens) and a change from printed to etched for the wine glasses and shot glasses. We also now have the capacity to take credit card payments for those that wish to shop that way.... Whilst we will have some stock at our shows to be purchased, due to limited funds we will not have a full range of merchandise available, so if there is a particular item you would like, then a pre-order is the best way to be assured of getting that item. We are also offering a discount on merchandise for those that either renew their membership or take a new membership along with this order. Cut off date for orders in Good Friday (12th April), so you only have a month to get your orders in. The full order form which includes instructions on how to place your orders can be found here https://63e6bed8-56a7-4eda-839d-f57476a5496e.filesusr.com/. Happy shopping!

10.01.2022 The following is an update on the status of our 2021 shows. On Monday the Committee met to discuss the situation that has arisen with the Wellington Valley Kennel Club and as a result decided to proceed to request that DogsNSW change the dates and location of our 2021 shows. We considered a number of shows within the western and southern regions taking into account the desire that we choose a date that was at least 3 weeks away from any other Specialty in the country.... Eventually we came up with Saturday and Sunday 8th and 9th May in conjunction with week 1 of the Wattle Town Canine Festival to be held at Harden. As such we have submitted the paperwork to DogsNSW to have these dates and location approved and we have just obtained advice of that approval. The Wattle Town Festival consists of 8 All Breeds Championship Shows and 1 All Breeds Open Show put on over a 9 day period, so, if approved, there will be plenty of other showing opportunities on offer for those keen to avail themselves of those opportunities. The grounds at Harden have been enhanced somewhat since we were there in 2019. There are around 100 powered camping sites with water supply to each, and a brand new toilet and shower block that is the size of a house. There are plans to put permanent shelters in each ring but whether this is completed by May remains to be seen. In relation to judges, given comments in recent days by various government officials that international borders will stay closed until at least late in the year, we took the view that we needed to contract Australian judges for 2021. Once we receive a response from DogsNSW on our draft schedule and judge’s contracts that were submitted this afternoon we will have more to share with everyone. David Lowe President

09.01.2022 We will be uploading our next merchandise order opportunity in the next couple of days, however, it has come to our attention that some people who purchased glasses last year may have experienced a situation where the logos have "washed off" Whilst we are moving to etched glasses this time around, the supplier has advised us that the printed ones were supposed to be dishwasher proof and as such was surprised to hear of this problem. If anyone who has had this problem would like us to attempt to work with the supplier to replace them, please email us at [email protected] and we will take up the issue with the supplier for you.

07.01.2022 As many are aware, in 2020 our Championship Shows are being held in Albury on 30 and 31 May in conjunction with Murray Valley Kennel Club. We are very pleased to advise that (subject to all normal formalities and approvals being completed) that on the Friday of that weekend, Murray Valley Kennel Club has appointed Breed Specialist, Mrs Charlotte Holman "Borolo" (Qld) to judge Terriers. We are quite excited about this as it, in effect turns our Specialty weekend into a triple ...header with 3 breed specialists awarding CC's to our breed on the weekend. As a result WOTD has decided to fully support Charlotte's appointment by awarding sashes to BOB, RUBOB, CC winners, Reserve CC winners, Class in Breed winners and Opposite Sex in Breed class winners. We hope and encourage all Stafford people to support Charlotte on the Friday and in doing so create the atmosphere intended of a triple header. We will be calling for sash sponsors as soon as we get a quote from our sash supplier, but if anyone wants to jump in early please either PM or email David Lowe ([email protected]) nominating which sash(s) you wish to donate. We expect them to be slightly less than the recent rosette sponsorships for our own shows. See below for the sponsorships available.

06.01.2022 Given the level of world chaos as a result of Coronavirus, we have been asked privately by a couple of people what plans we have for our shows in May if our judges either are not able to or are unwilling to travel to judge for us. Firstly, we have been in contact with both of our judges in the past 24 hours and made it very clear to them that we have absolutely no expectations that they should compromise their health and well being to honour their judging contracts. Both have... responded saying that, at this point in time, they intend coming to judge for us. However, we all know from events of recent days that we are all in a very fluid situation and things can change very quickly. It is for this reason that the Committee has commenced a process to select 2 Australian Specialist judges to be on stand-by in the event that one or both of our current judges is not able to judge for us. This process will continue over the weekend and once we have made our selections we will then need to establish availability etc. We anticipate that we should know who our stand-by judges are by the end of next week, and we will then let exhibitors know who they are so they can enter knowing who would be judging in the event that either or both of our overseas judges cannot judge for us. Kind regards, David Lowe President

05.01.2022 IMPORTANT UPDATE RE WOTD SBTC SHOWS Last week our Committee met to review arrangements for our upcoming shows and made the following decisions: 1. Reaffirmed our commitment to proceed with our 2020 shows in Young on Nov 14/15 using our previously announced Australian judges, Sandra Smid and Sue Swalling. ... We took the view that dog showing will be operational again by then. This confidence was reinforced when the NSW Premier announced just 2 days ago that community sporting activities can recommence in this state from 1 July. We feel the only thing that might affect our shows is extreme weather. Whilst on the subject of the 2020 shows, several people have pointed out to us that Sue Swalling has withdrawn from judging some appointments in recent times citing health issues. We can confirm that she has advised us that she is greatly enthused by this appointment and absolutely intends to be there. 2. Our 2021 shows, subject to all necessary approvals, will proceed as previously advertised as a triple header in Wellington, NSW on 15/16/17 October with 3 International Stafford Specialists and 2 other All Breeds Shows with International judges. Stafford Specialists being Lourens ten Napel (Sth Africa), Nigel Merrick and Paul Quinn (both UK) 3. We will be re-contracting our original 2020 judges Dayna Lemke and David Levy for our 2022 shows. 2020 represents an opportunity to show our respect and support of our local Specialist judges and trust that everyone will do just that.

03.01.2022 WOTD has received notification that its application to reschedule this year's shows to 14 & 15 November to be held in conjunction with the Young and District Kennel Club in Young, NSW has been formally approved by Dogs NSW. Whilst we truly hope to have our originally scheduled judges David Levy (UK) and Dayna Lemke (USA), who have both indicated their availability to the club officiate, it would seem the comments made by the Prime Minister today in his Press Conference that r...e-opening our international borders any time soon is not even on the radar, our confidence in proceeding with them as our judges is not high. We have previously announced our reserve judges are Sandra Smid (Qld) and Sue Swalling (SA) and it would seem the most likely scenario, at this point in time at least, is that these ladies will be our judges. After a couple of calls today to people in Dogs officialdom, it would appear there is some confidence that shows in Australia may be running again by September. If this is the case there are 4 specialty weekends to consider, SBTC Northern NSW, SBTC SA, SBTC WA and WOTD, all of which may have to use Australian judges. As part of the "new normal" we hope that Stafford people put aside past biasses and start supporting our local specialists in the same numbers as the internationals as without such support some of these clubs may well disappear down the financial gurgler.

02.01.2022 ***PENDING COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS*** We are very excited to share with you all the updated schedule for our upcoming shows! The committee have been working hard to make necessary changes I have included pictures of the ring we are allocated and also the fully fenced off lead area! ... Young is a beautiful place in November! In the middle of cherry season, there will also be a cherry vendor on the grounds I hope to see everyone there! Any questions please message the club directly. See you all soon!

02.01.2022 We have had a number of enquiries about on site camping including powered sites at the Albury Showgrounds for our show weekend on 30/31 May. For all enquiries relating to the showground such as camping, rental of buildings and grounds etc. phone the Showground Trust on 0417 990 010 or email [email protected] Please keep in mind there is also an All Breeds Show on the grounds with us that is running 29/30/31 May, so whilst there are a reasonable number of site...s, they will be under demand from their exhibitors also, so please dont delay if you wish to use these facilities. We expect the All Breeds Show Schedule to be out in the next couple of weeks.

02.01.2022 UPDATE RE 2021 SHOWS On the back of quite a few enquiries about our 2021 shows please find below answers to what are essentially FAQ's. 1. The COVID crystal ball is, at best, problematic, but if things stay as they are now or even close to what they are now, our shows will definitely go ahead on 8/9 May in Harden.... 2. DogsNSW Board meet on 10 February. We expect our Schedule and Judges to be approved at that meeting. So keep an eye out in the days after that for the Schedule. 3. There are 8 All Breeds Championship Shows and 1 All Breeds Open Show to be held as part of the cluster we have joined with over an 8 day period. So if you are an incurable showaholic suffering insatiable withdrawal due to the COVID shutdown there is plenty of scope for a holiday and a "fix" of monumental proportions. We will share the Schedules for those shows as soon as we get them. 4. Accommodation in the area is "tight" but there is a list of dog friendly accommodation on our club website. Camping on the grounds is available, with powered sites aplenty and a brand new amenities block. Accommodation is likely to fill up quick once the All Breeds schedules become "public" 5. "Wanker of the Day" WOTD award will be running again both days (Shaun Hunt judge) and the Dog and Owner lookalike will run again, so start planning for that!