In a message dated 10/7/2006 4:57:37 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, Wasatchgld@xxxxxxx writes: Not everyone is persistent enough to continue if they get the message that they are not welcome. If they get that message locally, then again nationally when they attempt to join the PC or lists, they will see our breed as a closed group. You know what? I've never seen a club, Specialty, All Breed, Herding, Obedience turn down a volunteer. (And I've seen a whole bunch of clubs). If someone feels they have to be "made" to feel welcome, I think it's backwards thinking. There's a lot of things harder in dogs than finding your place; there are dogs that will die before they reach old age, bitches that don't take, puppies that don't take their first breath. (And that's in every breed). Going to a show and saying "Hi my name is"....and saying it until you meet a friendly face is... IMO...cake. Speaking of cake, I remember we used to do something like tail-gating. (Now, we got away from that because it's hard to get a food vendor and we were taking away from his business.) But you know, there was once I made wwwaaaayyyy too much fruit salad (one version was fresh pineapple, cilantro and a little ground black pepper...OK and a bit of white wine.) I met EVERYBODY that day lol:) But seriously, if a less than enthusiastic welcome makes someone leave this sport, IMO they weren't cut out for it anyway. Kathy member GSDCA, DVGSDC three generations of Dual Titled TC'd Champions live here! visit _Pine Hill German Shepherd Dogs_ (http://www.geocities.com/pinehillgsds/) ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2006. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - URL temporarily deleted due to AOL issues ============================================================================