July 2006 Funday

by Belinda Gray

What a fantastic day - really good fun! First and foremost - many thanks go to Anita Brown who so brilliantly organised the day. She chose a great venue - a farm near Gatwick - we were in a paddock which was marvellous as the dogs could be safely off their leads and could romp around quite happily. About 20 people and 10 Maremmas (or, as Jacqui said - 80 legs!), attended, most of us vying for a patch of shade under the large umbrellas which had been provided. We also welcomed some new members - Stelios - who had attended the Windsor show the day before and the Leyton Family, (Alan, Gill, Niall and Tierney - hope all spelling is correct!), who also brought along their very adorable and full of beans 13 week old Maremma girl called Kyla. She had a marvellous time chasing around with the other dogs and having a big, big fuss made of her; the Leyton Family are planning to show her . Welcome to you all - It was lovely meeting and talking with you.

Anita had organised lots of events for throughout the day, but we unfortunately couldn't do the agility events because of the heat - it wouldn't have been fair on the furry ones. However, we competed in an egg and spoon race - which was won by Stelios - well done! We also had a great barbeque and food - thanks go to Peter too; a tombola - thanks to Rosemary; doggie bingo - thanks to Nicola and boyfriend - won by Jacqui and also an auction of Maremma themed glassware - Rob being auctioneer for the afternoon! Thanks also go to Jacqui for her hand in organising the day plus everyone else who helped out. In summation, we had a successful and fabulous day with lovely, friendly people and Maremmas - what more could anyone want?!