Office News
Jerry Gennings, 68, long time president of the Arkansas / Louisiana Region, passed away suddenly Friday, January 22, 2010. His death left friends and family shocked and saddened, as Jerry appeared to be the picture of health. He is survived by his wife Barbara, two brothers, three sisters, sons Jerry Jr., Brian, and Brad and a grandson Christopher.
He campaigned three fine dogs, 1x Champion Southern Bee, 2x Champion Bloomburg Rebel and 1x Champion Bloomburg Lady. Rebel was second in the AR/LA Region Championship in 1998 and placed second in A field in the qualifying round of the Trial of Champions in 2000.
When visiting with Jerry it was apparent that his young grandson Chris was the pride and joy of his life. Telling of visits to a nearby park and lake with “Papaw” were the conversations Jerry liked best. Whenever the conversation led to Chris Jerry’s eyes would light up and a big smile and laugh would always accompany the story. He liked to take his dog to the park and let her run as Chris was very fond of Jerry’s dogs. All of his friends knew of his three sons and his affection for them. Several times Jerry was heard to say that if he was a younger man, he could have not played the field trial game, because of raising his sons. In other words, he put raising his family first. It was not a secret to anyone who knew Jerry’s lovely wife, Barbara, he had definitely married up. Jerry’s friends knew of the deep love each felt for the other. This was no more evidence of this than on a trip to the Trial of Champions with Robert Franks. The trip was made in Robert’s truck with Jerry along for the ride and the directors meeting. Between braces Jerry had Robert drive him to town to several banks in search of a certain state quarter Barbara was collecting. There can be no truer love than to leave a national field trial to search for a present for your wife. Jerry was that kind of husband.
To his friends Jerry was honest, trustworthy, and dependable. If he told you something, you could count on it. If you needed help, he helped. If a friend was needed to listen, he always had the time. He truly cared about the people around him; this is evidenced by the number and quality of friends he cherished.
Being a Region Chairman is not a glamorous job. It is hard work with many problems and very little thanks. The Region depended on Jerry to have it’s business in apple pie order, which he always did. He asked very little of the members of the AR/LA Region, while giving much. A member of the Razorback Field Trial Club of Monticello, Arkansas he was at the trials early filling up the water buckets and donating gas for the ATV’s. He gave much to the club and richly enjoyed the fellowship with club members.
It is hard for Jerry’s family and friends to let go. The sudden death of such a fine man leaves words not spoken, trips not taken, lives left on hold, and dogs not run. For this we can grieve, or more importantly give thanks to our maker for letting us share in Jerry’s time on this earth.
It was said by one of his best friends that Jerry can now spend the night at the trial grounds clubhouse with departed friend John Robinson, waiting for the dogs to be turned loose the next day. Yes, Jerry is waiting patiently for each one of us to join him for another trial, another story, another camp out, and another wonderful day. May you rest in peace my good friend.
Robert Franks,
Secretary AR/LA Region
2009 NSTRA Scholarship Award
This year’s scholarship award program under the supervision of Vice President Frank Llano was a huge success! Due to Franks continuing emphasis to persuade our membership to get young people to apply, we received 8 applications for this award. Six anonymous readers, from various regions, were selected to read and score each application according to criteria developed to reward the student on their written essay, academic performance, extra-curricular activities, and completion of the application. All identifiers were removed from the application so that the readers could not recognize the applicants.
The scholarship auction during the Dog of the Year trial raised $5,152.00. This was due to the generous donations of various regions and individuals and the expertise of auctioneer Mikeal Mulberry of the Kentucky region and his assistant Bob Cunningham of the Florida region.
The decision was made to present a scholarship award to each of the top 4 scoring applicants for a total of $4750 in awards. The recipients were Paul Schneider – North West Region; Derek Resa – Missouri Show-Me Region; Autumn Howard – Ohio Region; and Savannah Morrow – Ohio Region.
Our congratulations go out to these outstanding NSTRA students!
The Board of Directors voted at their annual meeting at the Dog of the Year trial to expand the Grand National to the 128 dog qualification and reduce the entry fee to $150. The additional entries will consist of dogs that participated in the National Trials listed on the entry form and then dogs that participated in the regional elimination in order of finish.
Voting Rights for Associate Members: A question has come up as to whether associate members can vote in regional elections. To clarify any confusion, the answer to said question is no. When the associate membership was established, it was done in order to allow families to be able to participate at a lesser rate. To that means, to have voting priveleges at the National or Regional level, one must be a full member.
Note: A dog is not required to be registered in the NSTRA registry to compete in a NSTRA sanctioned trial. The requirement remains that a dog must be registered or eligible to be registered in the NSTRA, AKC, FDSB, and CKC registries.
Scoresheets: The large scoresheets used at trials ARE NOT included in your trial packet. New trial chairman who have never put on a trial before are not aware of this. Then it is realized a day or two before the trial starts and expenses are incurred to get them to the chairman. Please be aware of this – they are available through the office for $1.50 each plus UPS charges.
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