To Our Valued Exhibitors, Sponsors & Vendors,

It is after a great deal of consideration, and with heavy hearts, that the Alberta Kennel Club decided at a recent meeting that we will not be moving forward with a Winter Classic in 2020. This decision was not one that was reached easily; we weighed many pros and cons on the continuation of hosting the Winter Classic. The cons out-weighed the pros. This has nothing to do with our financial position, for our Club it has come down to volunteer bandwidth, a building we cannot expand in and which creates problems of crowding, parking, and moving from the planning of one show into quickly being immersed in planning the next show.

We were very pleased with the 2019 layout, and it seemed to work quite well over the weekend. However, what people may not realize is the number of days prior to the show that set up needs to be started, and then at the end of the weekend there are so many fewer people to help take down than we had for setup. When the show ends, the Alberta Kennel Club volunteers are also responsible for sweeping the entire floor of the Equiplex. A huge task made more difficult by the amount of hair and debris left on the wooden floor. We also had vandalism to one of our trailers, leaving it without power and therefore lights. In the cold winter temperatures and in the dark, the packing up of our equipment was a frustrating experience. Lastly, our club does not have the volunteer depth to assign at least 2 volunteers outside for 8-10 hours each day to supervise parking and, requesting people to move their vehicles when they park where they shouldn’t be parking, and in the instance of this past winter show the blocked off area for the Celebration of Life were some individuals moved the barricade and attempted to park in a closed off area anyway. We have already been told by the Spruce Team that the parking in front and back of the Equiplex will be no longer available after the incidents of this past show, and all parking would be in Lot 7 only. The amount of dog poop left for volunteers to pick up as well was a sad state of affairs.

The Alberta Kennel Club has a long and proud history of service to the Dog Fancy in Alberta. We put on Shows for the exhibitors, not the volunteers. That being said, the volunteer is the backbone of the sport and our volunteers are exhausted.

Many of our Show Committee, Ring Stewards and other members who have carried the load through the pre-planning and the weekend operation of two shows per year for many years are ready to return some of that time and energy to the show and performance careers of their own dogs.

The Alberta Kennel Club looks forward to hosting a fantastic Summer Classic, and we hope we have your support going forward. Volunteers and new members are always welcome!

Should anyone have any questions in regard to our decision, please do reach out to one of our executive members, we are more than happy to hear from you, https://www.albertakennelclub.org/contact

Best regards,

Alberta Kennel Club Members