AKC Meet the Breeds New York 2020

Saturday & Sunday January 25th and 26th, 2020

One of the best Meet the Breeds to date! The AKC held the event at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan, separate from the Westminster KC show due to pier repairs. The Javits has been renovated since our last experience there, and its wide aisles and overhead lighting made it more spacious and easier to maneuver. It also returned to a two-day format,which was a bit of a challenge, but our canine and human volunteers prevailed. I think all of our dogs thought the huge crowds came just to see them!!
We unveiled our new booth décor, created by our design guru NTCA member Paula Smith, which received numerous compliments. Months of planning goes into this production, and many thanks go to NTCA members Judy Laffey (Meadow), Nicky Conroy (Mr. Finn), Mary Mang (Lilly), Lark Shlimbaum (Wylie and Rascal), Amelia Smith (Diesel), Betty McDonnell (Hazel), and two new volunteers David Michaud and Michael Heaner, with Harry and Louis.

-Alyson Cleary, MTB Chair (with Stella)

AKC Meet the Breeds Orlando 2019

The NTCA participated in AKC’s Meet the Breeds in Orlando, FL on December 14 & 15, 2019. It is part of the annual AKC National competition which includes conformation, the top agility and obedience invitees, dock diving, NOH finals and much more. About 11,000 dogs participated in the multiday events. A big thank you to Judy Laffey for joining me to man the booth for two days, with her sweetie Meadow, who got along with my veteran Beatrice. Thanks also to Club members Blair Kelly, with Siri and Mandy (between her agility runs), Lee Little with Billie and Pizza, Deb Lang with Chaucer and Trea, Joan Krantz and Jack, Cathy Rogers and Ceily, Jim & Jennifer DeMason with Bentley, and volunteer Norma Braun with Keeper. The dogs enjoyed the admiration, gave lots of kisses, but did NOT like that spiky Florida grass!!

-Alyson Cleary
NTCA Meet the Breeds Chair

AKC Meet the Breeds New York 2019

February 9, 2019
New York, NY

The weather was cold, the wind was brisk, parking was a problem, but we persevered. The public came en masse, to the point the AKC had to
halt entries temporarily as the buildings’ reached their maximum capacity! Many, many thanks go to Nicky Conroy and Judy Laffey for their work
hauling equipment, setting up and taking down the booth, and for manning the booth all day with their wonderful Norwich ambassadors Breeze, Mr.
Finn and new baby Meadow. Thanks also to Denis Johnson who helped at the booth for many hours with Fergus, a new participant, and to Richard Giotta with Hugo. Betty McDonnell joined the fray and helped me with presenting my dogs Beatrice, Ernie and new baby Stella to the public. It definitely takes a village.

-Alyson Cleary
NTCA Meet the Breeds Chair

AKC Meet the Breeds Orlando 2018

December 15 & 16, 2018
Orlando, Florida

Many thanks to all the NTCA members who helped make our Meet the Breeds weekend in Orlando a success. Melanie Bryson was able to set up the booth and we gathered enough dogs to keep it open all weekend. There was lots of enthusiasm among the public for our dogs, as expected, with kisses given out and belly rubs accepted. It could not have been accomplished without the help of Judy Laffey with Riley, Melanie Bryson with Tansy, Melissa Smith with Lucy, Don & Joan Krantz with Jack, Lee Little with Talli and Billie, Chris Anderson with Henchy, and Lisa Sons with Oscar 

Members who came to help without dogs and were able to give many of the members a needed break were Jean Kessler, Elaine Jong, Joan Eckert and Lynn Marshall.

-Alyson Cleary
NTCA Meet the Breeds Chair

AKC Meet the Breeds New York 2018

Saturday, February 10, 2018
New York, NY

Once again, we had a wonderful turn out of Club members and the public for our Meet the Breeds booth in New York City, one of the events which is part of the Westminster Kennel Club show weekend. The weather was surprisingly warm, and the AKC allotted a larger booth near the front of Pier 92, which gave us more room for man and beast. Thanks go to Nicky Conroy and Judy Laffey for their hard work to set-up and take down the booth décor, and for manning the booth all day with their Norwich ambassadors Breeze, Mr. Finn and Riley. Thanks also to Richard Giotta who joined us with Hugo, and to Dina Moore-Tzouris who provided some background props to make our “barn” more authentic. My dogs Ernie and Steffi joined in the fun

-Alyson Cleary
NTCA Meet the Breeds Chair

AKC Meet the Breeds Orlando 2017

We had a terrific turnout for the Meet The Breeds event in Orlando, FL, held in conjunction with the AKC National Championship Show, December 16-17th. Members Melanie Bryson and Cathy Rogers set up our booth on Thursday, and stayed late to take it all down on Sunday. Cathy, myself, member Kelly Wood and Norwich owner Carol Jeffrey brought our youngsters and oldsters to meet and greet the public, and member Ellen Lucas was there to help when the humans needed a break. Our fabulous Noragility team members Melanie Bryson, Ursula Walsh and Rainee Johnson stopped by with their dogs to join the fun, as did members Marie Cato and Suzanne Bennett. Kelly and Melanie took many wonderful photos, which illustrate how well our breed can do in this stressful yet fun event.

Thank you to all who came by and helped. It takes a village!

-Alyson Cleary
NTCA Meet the Breeds Chair

AKC Meet the Breeds New York 2017

Many thanks to the members and their dogs who volunteered at the Norwich terrier booth at Meet the Breeds,  Saturday, February 11, 2017. Meet the Breeds is part of AKC’s “Meet and Compete” weekend in conjunction with Westminster Kennel Club. Meet the Breeds gives the public a chance to meet purebred dogs and talk to their owners and breeders in person. The Norwich booth was awarded a Group 2 by the AKC . Thank you to Chair Alyson Cleary and members Nicky Conroy, Judy Laffey, Denis Johnson, Dina Moore-Tzouris, Betty McDonnell, Richard Giotta, Lori Pelletier, Paula Smith, and Joan Krantz (plus their dogs!) for all their help with this event.

AKC Meet the Breeds Orlando 2016

Many thanks to all who volunteered themselves and their dogs at the Norwich terrier booth at Meet the Breeds in Orlando, FL, December 17-18, 2016. Meet the Breeds is a terrific opportunity for the general public to get to know our wonderful breed and to ask questions of breeders and owners. We could not do it without NTCA member-volunteers. Thank you to:

Melanie Bryson with Tansey, Dinah Molly, and Ruby
Nicky Conroy with Mister Finn
Cathy Rogers with Rosie and Lolo
Joan and Don Krantz with Henry and Cricket
Nancy Lentz with Ted
Alyson Cleary (MTB Chair) with Beatrice

Special thanks to Michael Potterfield from the Clumber Spaniel Club of America for choosing the lucky winner of our Hutto Bronze raffle-Estelle Crawford!

The next Meet the Breeds event will be held in conjunction with the Westminster Kennel Club in New York, NY (Piers 92 & 94)
on February 11, 2017.