Agility Trial to Benefit American Belgian Malinois Rescue

Camp Bandy, July 27, 28 and 29, 2012

© American Belgian Malinois Rescue

We had another incredible turnout this year at Camp Bandy, 3 days of agility, fun and food at the beautiful Camp Bandy facility in Amherst Junction WI.

At the beginning of July the plea went out for prize items and by the 2nd week of July the UPS and USPS people were making regular stops at our back door, delivering boxes and envelopes containing the most amazing prizes. Everyone outdid themselves this year in the diversity of items received, everything from an awesome Coach bag, to a monster M & M-themed basket that came cross country via transport, a sweet needlepoint featuring several breeds of dogs, collars and leashes, baskets of toys and treats, Kona coffee directly from Hawaii, video camera, doggie pool, 3 sets of jumps and a set of weave poles, a copper and pearl necklace…. well I could just go on and on, it was amazing.

Cinder and I drove up to Stevens Point Thursday evening as we would be starting out very early Friday with set-up. Brenda Blume and her 2 Malinois came down from the Wausau area on Friday and helped with set-up and accepting prizes that were still arriving with the competitors. Laura Bronk helped immensely with set-up again this year and came up with the excellent "rotating bag" idea. Sandy Shepherd and Maple from northern Illinois arrived late morning to help with ticket sales on Friday.

Saturday morning came early and on arriving at Camp Bandy I found Linda Redfield already selling tickets at 8 a.m. Sharon Roundy and her husband Joe, and of course Tate were on site Saturday and Sunday taking photos and selling tickets. Sharon is a natural at selling tickets and could be seen throughout the next 2 days in her pink fireman's hat with ABMC/R logo and long lines of tickets draped over her shoulders. Thank goodness Joe was there again this year and is responsible for all the wonderful pictures shared in this report and all the great signage for the event.

Ticket sales were steady throughout all 3 days and there were so many items (103 to be exact) that new prizes were always being spotted by players.

Rebecca Bronk was on site catering the food again this year and as always, OMG, the lasagna is to die for. It just doesn't get any better than running the course with your dog, lunching on Rebecca's wonderful fare and then purchasing that "arms length" of tickets in the hopes of winning that perfect prize…. Maybe a jump, maybe that really nice bottle of wine… or maybe that supercool leash … or that basket of Kong toys… or a one-hour private lesson with Joan… or a $50 Amazon gift card…!

Linda and Jared's 2 new rescue Malinois, Jaina and Jude, made their debuts during this trial and ABMC/R Phoebe and her mom Karen Albright also debuted this year. Of course Rescues Koa and Grinner competed as well. Come on folks, we need more Mals to compete next year!

There were a total of 789 runs this year. We also added FAST classes on Friday and Saturday which were a big hit.

And the preliminary results were outstanding – the prize drawing produced total funds of $1,287 ($897 in 2011), and a total in the area of $5,400 ($3950 in 2011) for the entire event.

To date (over the past 6 years) this event has raised over $27,500 for Rescue. Kudos to Linda and Jared Redfield for their superb orchestration of this event six years running. They make it look so easy!

Our thanks go out to our trial secretary Lorah Marquardt, Linda and Jared Redfield, Laurie Bandy, Dave Dachlet, Beth Knotts, Jane Zank, Mary Ann Ralston and all the on-site volunteers who made the agility trial such a success.

And to all those who donated items for the prizes, thank you for your ingenuity and speedy response to our plea. The prize drawing is such a attractor for this trial and has risen to the level of a tradition for everyone associated with the trial. With such anticipation on the part of the trial attendees, it's hard not to do well with all the great items we received.

This is an outstanding event and if you are ever in the North Central Wisconsin area at the end of July, you really need to stop by and bring your Rescue Malinois with you.

Lin Karrels
Transport Coordinator
American Belgian Malinois Club Rescue

A huge apology if I missed anyone, especially those who dropped items off at the event, please contact me at and I will have your name added to the list.

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