Welcome!

Woofs and barks to all!

Welcome to the North Star Paw Print, the monthly newsletter for the North Star Kennel Club.  We hope you are all warming up after our last burst of winter weather.

The Club’s last month has been a busy one. In addition to the developments we report on below, we hosted a well-attended mosh this month, as part of the Minnesota Leather Pride Weekend!

Membership Changes Proposed

At the April Business Meeting, Pup Bruizer put forward a proposal to change the current membership program. This included going to a single membership level, removing the geographic requirement for membership, and changing annual dues.

This proposal was intended, in part, to spark discussion on the topic. There has not been a major change to the membership program or its benefits since the club incorporated in 2014. The proposal aims to correct some of the shortcomings of the current program and its associated benefits. There has also been a growing consensus among the Lead Pack that change is necessary to meet the needs of our members and promote the future growth of the club.

Pup Bruizer, Membership Committee Chair said, “If what we end up with after talking about it doesn’t look much like what I handed out last night that’s perfectly okay with me.  By no means do I think that I am the only one who can have a good idea about our these things and I enthusiastically welcome everyone’s feedback and ideas on membership…  Our membership is the lifeblood of our organization and serving our members the best way that we can is what should be most important.”

Pup Minutes, Chair of the Lead Pack, sent a message to the membership, making the proposal summary available for their review. The proposal summary itself is available on our website on this page. It is on the agenda for the Lead Pack’s May Business Meeting (The Saloon, May 9 @ 7:00 p.m.).

We want your input on this proposal. You can reach out to us via our Facebook page and groups; email the Lead Pack at leadpack@northstarkennelclub.org, and provide feedback via the proposal summary page and our feedback form on the website.

North Star Puppy & Handler Weekend Rescheduled

In consideration of unexpected conflicts, on March 15, the North Star Kennel Club announced that the inaugural North Star Puppy & North Star Handler contests will be rescheduled to March 8-10, 2019.

Weekend planning committee Chair Randy Ingram-Lile said, “We have decided to position ourselves in the middle of March between the traditional dates for Twin Cities Leather Weekend and Minnesota Leather Pride Weekend. We feel the addition of North Star Puppy & Handler Weekend will help promote the bookend contests as well as Minneapolis and our region.”

We are excited to partner with the eagle/BOLT bar to host a weekend centered on the Puppy and Handler community. The North Star Puppy and North Star Handler contests will showcase the breadth of talent that exists within our Puppy and Handler community and will be positioned to be the premier Puppy and Handler contests within the North Star Kennel Club’s home region of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Manitoba, and Ontario.

For the latest information and updates, follow us on the web at northstarkennelclub.org, on Facebook at @northstarkennelclub, or on Twitter at @nstarkennelclub.

Lead Pack Reduces In Size

The Lead Pack is the Board of Directors of the North Star Kennel Club.  We manage official club events and events calendar; manage the club’s money and policies; maintain our online presence (website, Facebook, and Twitter), and produce this newsletter, among other duties.

As a volunteer organization, we depend on you to be involved and power our events.

Over the last year, a number of members have stepped up to replace Lead Pack members that have stepped down or left the community. The majority of the Lead Pack is now “new blood”, having been elected at or since the 2017 Annual Meeting.

Our last call for new Lead Pack members generated no interest, leaving two seats vacant. The Lead Pack took that opportunity to reduce the maximum number of seats available to 12. This action had the effect of eliminating those two vacancies.

The Lead Pack, among other reasons, felt that 14 board seats in a 50+ member organization was unsustainable. That is roughly one Lead Pack member for every four Club members. With a number of members having already served on the Lead Pack, that reduces the number of possible replacements to an even smaller pool.

Serving on the Lead Pack is only one way to be involved in the Kennel Club. As you can see from the “Volunteer Opportunities” reminder below, we have plenty of needs that do not require the level of commitment that the Lead Pack does.

We are looking for your ideas, your talents, and your time.

If you are willing to volunteer and don’t know how to become involved, please reach out to us.  If you know someone is seeking to become more involved and is not being reached by this message, please reach out to us. You can contact us via our Facebook page and groups; email the Lead Pack at leadpack@northstarkennelclub.org, and give us your ideas and feedback via the feedback form on our website.

Announcements

Events Calendar

To stay up-do-date with upcoming events, visit our Events Calendar page. You can also stay informed by following us on Facebook and Twitter!

Reminders

StrictlyGeneric Discount

As members of the North Star Kennel Club you can get 10% off custom chain maille collars, harnesses and accessories, made by our own Pup Nyx, at StrictlyGeneric.com. Order from him in person and mention the discount, or order online and use code “NSKCMEMBERS” for the discount. Your club membership will be verified.