This year, the National was particularly good to us at Darby-Dan. We were privileged to earn three Selects, two of which we own. We were also pleased to see two pillars of the breed honored by the Parent Club: Mary Ellen Kish was added to the Roll of Honor and Fred Migliore earned the Lloyd Brackett Award. Coincidentally, both of Mary Ellen and Fred figure into our breeding program. Mary Ellen bred and owns 5X Sel CH Kismet's Heartthrob, the sire to our Sel CH Jack, Sel Exc CH Miranda and her brother, Sel Exc CH Darby-Dan's Key to the Cure, owned by Katrin and John Hedelmeier. And Fred bred Eko-Lan's Fracas, the grandmother of all three. I guess it makes sense that they were recognized in such an important and distinguished manner. But with every rainbow there is a cloud. At the Victory Dinner, the LaMar Kuhns Award was posthumously bestowed on Billy Rossi. Billyâ??s mother, Cathy, and Marilyn went to the podium jointly to receive it. Cathy stood nearby while someone else read her speech. It included comments about how Billy was a good father and husband; how Tom Castriota and Joe Bihari helped him in his career; and how the Girls were there for him when he was sick. And not a word was mentioned about Marilyn â?? his wife of 15 years, partner in a highly successful handling business, an incredibly talented groomer, the person who made shine the many, many champions they finished together, and the one who helped plan the campaigns of those dogs. It was all I could do to remain in my seat. I am sure I could feel Billy turning over in his grave. To say that this was a disappointment would be a brutal understatement. It was a sour evening during what was an otherwise excellent National.  Dan Smith Darby-Dan German Shepherds  ________________________________________________________________________ Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2007. 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 - www.showgsd.org ============================================================================