NATIONAL WORKERS' PARTY

Wednesday, September 18 was a day to pay homage to the workers that make a National possible.  There are too many people to try to mention them all and they have filled the roles of marshals, gunners, gun captains, equipment managers, bird steward, parking attendants, social media reporting, photographer, hosipitality workers, and the list goes on.  The once tireless, now getting a little tired have worked for months to get ready for this week.   Sheila Andrew and crew at the house are up early making breakfasts and making sure the coffee is on to start the day.  The vehicles start moving around at 5:30am as Jim Andrew starts the day with crew to get birds loaded and heads out before the sun is up.  At the grounds the cooks are maning the griddle to serve up breakfast sandwiches, then lunches to feed us all.

The National can’t exist without the gunners – gunners are club members, family, friends, and competitors.  Gunning is a time-honoured tradition where you may be paired with a partner from the other side of the country and you get to create new acquaintences and friendships or at least get to hear some good stories!

The day doesn’t end when the last dog runs…crews head to the next site and get set up for the next day’s tests, while back at headquarters, the bird crew is taking care of todays supply and getting tommorows ready to go, and the ladies have another house-full for dinner. The back porch is a gathering place for a quick beverage and a few laughs before the cycle starts again.

On Wednesday, the workers party is a way to say thank you and gather with old and new friends to celebrate what is “The National”.   On this night we feast on salads, beans, and Hubert and Jim man the fryers and cook up pickerel, fries and blue gill. And then desert – pies, pies, pies! Thanks Dan DeVos for the pickerel

Wednesday was also the wind-up of the silent auction – thank you to those sponsors and individuals who donated items for the silent auction, an important fundraising component to the National.  Congratulations Judy Harwood on winning the Garmin 550 collar!

We also paid tribute this night to Jane & Dave Thompson for their decades of contributions to the retriever sport with a gift of dedicaton bench.

THANK YOU can’t be said enough!