The 2024 Master National Retriever Club Board of Directors met for their annual Winter Board Meeting February 8-11 in Paducah, Kentucky.
MNRC President Keith Kiesow and 2024 Chief Marshal Annette Pacheco along with Tim Kreher of the West Kentucky Wildlife Management Area (WMA) led the group on an entire day tour of possible test sites on Friday. The West Kentucky WMA in Kevil, KY consists of some 6,500 acres. The site has played host to numerous hunt tests, National field trials, and HRC tests as well as the Grand. Local Hosts Adam Andrews, Leroy Mason, and Brad Cantrell, accompanied the group. Photos from some of the grounds are included below.
2024 event planning continued with WMA and Bourbon Hills representatives. It will be necessary to change our normal event schedule which includes the starting days and closing ceremonies. Please review carefully. A more detailed schedule with times will be posted at a later date.
Master National 2024
Saturday, September 21. Event Registration and Bitch Check
Sunday, September 22. Mandatory Handler’s Meeting, Annual Meeting, Opening Ceremonies and Selection of Starting Dog.
Monday, September 23. Dog to the Line
Wednesday, October 2.  Closing Ceremonies
Another issue that has presented itself is the lack of Training Property available in the event test area. The Host Club will not be able to provide a Pre-National Training draw. Handlers need to make arrangements accordingly. We will try to provide a list of possible training sites but be aware that they will be a significant distance from the event site. Some of the grounds recommended by Bourbon Hills were the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area in St. Charles, Missouri and properties in the Nashville, TN area.
Due to the ongoing issues with bird culling that has taken place throughout the country at various bird suppliers due to Avian Flu infections and the desire to maintain a high quality of testing at our National Event, the Board voted to again incorporate the use of Pheasants in our event this year.
Work continues compiling a list of Judges for the 2024 event. That list will be published in the near future.
On Saturday, the Annual Winter Board Meeting opened with remarksfrom AKC Representative Dave Christianson. Dave addressed the board and read a letter from the AKC to the MNRC Board of Directors. The AKC expressed their pleasure with the quality and execution of the 2023 event in Thomasville. They also stressed the importance that the Board continues to investigate solutions to reduce the size of the MNRC event to a more manageable level. A discussion followed about specific examples of the test marks, blinds and grounds.
At the meeting, Keith Kiesow announced the resignation of Region 3 Vice President Chuck Strange. Chuck had to make a difficult decision and informed us that new career opportunities and future commitments made it impossible for him to complete his term. Keith wished Chuck well and thanked him for his dedicated work and years of service to the MNRC.
The Board appointed Charles Pugh, Vice President for Region 3 to fill Chuck’s vacancy. Charles will serve as the VP in 2024 and become the 2025 MNRC President. The Board will be working on filling the Region 3 Director position vacancy that occurred due to this new appointment.
The meeting concluded after work on some administrative issues and other business.
