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Introduction

Greetings!! Welcome to the Informational Site for the 2008 PHCA National Specialty!

We are pleased to announce that our 2008 PHCA National Specialty will be held in Memphis, Tennessee, known for its southern hospitality, rock n’ roll and all things Elvis, and mind-boggling barbeque!

Our 2008 National Specialty will be a designated specialty held in conjunction with the Tupelo Kennel Club on Saturday, October 11, 2008 at the Agricenter International in Memphis. On Sunday, October 12, at the same site, the PHCA will support the entry with Tupelo KC as well. This is a lovely site with outdoor rings.

We had hoped that all four shows would be held at the Agricenter site as in the past, but we have just been advised that this year the Greater Shelby Kennel Club’s all-breed shows, rally and obedience will be held at the MultiPurpose Arena in Southaven, MS on Thursday, October 9th and Friday, October 10th. This site is located approximately 30 minutes from our Memphis show site and host hotel. Due to this site change we sincerely regret that no agility events are being offered. Greater Shelby KC coordinates the agility events and there are not facilities for this at the Mississippi site. Early ring times have been requested so that our participants may return to the Memphis Agricenter site for specialty activities.

Please check out the EVENTS schedule posted on this site.

Our host hotel will be the lovely and very conveniently located all-suite Homewood Suites Hotel, located only a mile down the street from the Agricenter in Germantown. You will be able to make reservations online at the Homewood Suites by going to the special PHCA website listed in the HOST HOTEL information posted on this site. Please make your reservations as soon as possible so that you can secure your accommodations at our special group rate and reserve the type of room that you prefer.

RV parking will be available at the Memphis Agricenter showgrounds, and is quite conveniently located to the show rings. Even though the Agricenter shows are Saturday and Sunday, we have been assured that parking may be requested there on Thursday and Friday as well. In the past, those without RV’s have still been able to reserve spaces in this area.

Our PHCA Annual Awards Banquet promises to be one highlight of the weekend, and will be held on the evening of Saturday, October 11. It will be held at a well-known local favorite restaurant called The Butcher Shop, which is located adjacent to the Agricenter. We have reserved a large ballroom which will comfortably accommodate our group, and guests will be able to order from the special banquet menu. We will also feature our club’s now famous raffle and silent auction as well as a few fun surprises.

We are very excited to announce that this year’s events will include a couple of new and what we anticipate to be very popular offerings---a legal seminar conducted by Robert Newman, attorney (the “animal lawyer”); and, throughout the weekend, we will be featuring events supporting the PHCA’s involvement with the Canine Health Information Center (CHIC), including blood collection clinics for the DNA repository, as well as an information and educational presentation explaining the CHIC initiative and resources. We will also be hosting a breeder’s seminar, ringside tutoring, and of course, the annual PHCA General Membership meeting.

The full specialty packets will be mailed out in the near future. It will include even more information about the various events that are going to be offered, as well as reservation forms for the banquet, silent auction and raffle information, and more. If you are not a current member of the PHCA, and would like to receive a packet, please email Jane Hodnett (Jane2520@aol.com) with your name and current mailing address so that a packet can be mailed to you.

On this PHCA website, in addition to this introductory overview, you will find pages that provide specific information about our host hotel, the current events schedule and our trophy list. Please recheck this site for future additions, deadlines and any changes that might arise in the course of planning. We are very honored to have had the tremendous, creative participation of PHCA member Bill Martin of Eugene, OR, who has designed an absolutely entertaining and masterful piece of artwork for our 2008 specialty logo and it will of course adorn specialty merchandise that will be available for purchase.

We very much look forward to seeing “y’all” in Memphis in October! If we can provide any information, please don’t hesitate to contact any one of us on the show committee.

Jane Hodnett Jane2520@aol.com

Rebecca Stephens RStephens4@aol.com

Pam Haig Miapharaoh@earthlink.net

Sheila Hoffman Galadrial_Hounds@msn.com