David and I held our 4th rally at Mollcroft and I must admit that I was a little dubious about holding it this year due to the fact that we are having extensive building works done to Mollcroft, I could imagine all sorts of things going wrong, but by the time the builders moved in to start, it was too late to cancel. So having decided to go ahead with it we then had to make sure that all the building areas were safe, which we managed to achieve.

I don't think people realise how much work goes in to getting ready for the rally as David and I spend weeks and weeks clearing our paddocks, mowing lawns, cutting hedges, shopping for all the refreshments, booking and transporting tables to hire, borrowing gazebos, cleaning barbecues... the list is endless.

Anyway onto the rally day !

The Rally weekend started with Liz Ballentine coming all the way down from Scotland in her caravan, what a laugh that turned out to be. The caravan got stuck half way across our village lane, stopping traffic from both sides. We had to unhook the caravan and push it into our paddock, it wasn't funny at the time, but we did laugh later. We spent most of Saturday putting up gazebos with the help of Avis & Preston Haffenden, Leroy & Carmen Jones and anyone else we could rope in.

Sunday, the day of the rally was a lovely day, not too hot and no rain. Our judge for the day was a terrier man called Bill Gray, who I had not met previously, but what a really nice man he was. I did say to him that he was in for a busy day, but I don't think that he believed me at first - I did see him later in the day looking very hot ! Its not easy judging a Rescue Rally and at times it can be heart breaking, but Bill said to me that he found it to be the most humbling experience he had ever fely and that he found all the Samoyeds to have something special. My thanks to Bill and I hope that he remembers the day for a long time to come.

We had about 70 to 80 Samoyeds on the day, with lots of barking and fun going on and I really do believe that people who have taken on a rescue Samoyed enjoy the day so much, as they can chat to people and learn more about our breed. My only problem on Rally Day is that there is never enough time to talk to everyone and for this I apologise if I didn't speak to any particular person or pat any particular Samoyed. There are times on Rally Day that I wish I could change my name, as all I seem to hear is "Linda !"

One of my favorite moments of this years rally was to see an old girl called Sasha, which I had rehomed earlier in the year. She was a special old girl who had been used all her life on a Puppy Farm, never knowing what grass was or that people could love her. She was 13 years old and looking at her I knew that she did not have long with us, but it was good to see her enjoying what was left of her life and being loved by the people who had taken her on. Unfortunately Sasha died a week after the Rally and I have put a Tribute to her on the rescue page of our website.

I hope that all that attended this year's rally were pleasantly surprised to see my mum again, after a really hard year with her health she managed to hold out all day and so enjoyed herself, infact at one time I saw her guzzling white wine !

I have many thanks to say to, a lot of people this year and I list them in no particular order : -

Avis & Preston Haffenden for without their help I couldn't do the rally,
our President , Angela Danvers-Smith, who came to the rally in a lot of pain, and still managed to do our grooming section,
her husband Terry who is always happy to help in any way he can,
Valerie Blewitt & Madeleine Weller for all their efforts on the Tombola,
Olvie Hampton & Lee Ross on The Samoyed Association stall,
Kerri Main for all her hard work in getting items for prizes,
Mark Coates for doing the barbecue,
my personal friends Carmen & Leroy Jones along with their daughter, my god-daughter, Jessica - Carmen doing the Tea Stand, Leroy, as always, doing the Sausage Race and much much more and Jessica looking after the Rescue Stall.
Betty East for her cakes,
Lee, Tim & Loren for their lovely & ingenious stall,
and of course my Husband David, for without his support and help I couldn't cope.
I would also like to thank Andy Fry and his friend Adrian Hartland for setting up the PA system, which makes the Rally a much better day, as people can actually hear what is going on over all the dogs barking !
A great BIG thanks to our judge, Bill Gray,
but most of all the biggest thanks goes to all the people who came with their Rescue Samoyeds and supported the rally.

I have put below a list of winners on the day :

Donations were gratefully received from :

My thanks to all the above for their very kind and generous donations.

The 2006 Rally for Rescue managed to raise £1346.18 that will go towards helping Samoyeds in need.

Linda Brasier,
Chief Rescue Officer,
The Samoyed Association.

P.S. One last bit of news : David and I became Grandparents on Rally Day, to a lovely little boy called Aaron, so if anybody saw me carrying my mobile about this was the reason, we were waiting for the news.