President Russ Hardy called the meeting to order at 3:01 pm in Sedalia, MO at the headquarters hotel on October 5, 2025. The Pledge of Allegiance was lead by Richard Ellertson.
Russ introduced the 2025 NRDC Officers:
President – Russ Hardy
1st VP – Dave Kress
2nd VP – Randy Spangler
PRTA Director – Rick Stawski
Treasurer – Steve Roegiers
Secretary – Stacy Ritchie
Russ shared that Stacy will be taking over full-time duties for Steve Roegiers.
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L to R: Derek Smith, Stacy Ritchie and Steve Roegiers
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He continued by reading a quote by Thomas Roosevelt – The Man in the Arena.
Russ also shared that over 63% of Qualified dogs are entered which is the largest turnout yet!
Late Entries and Scratches were noted:
#57 Travis Echelberry with “Callie” and #58 Louis West with “Indy” were late entries
#3 John Broucek “Dude” scratched
Steve Roegiers handled roll call.
Steve explained that notice goes out in April to approximately 150 clubs with an invoice for dues.
This year they received dues payments from 138 clubs.
Some clubs elect not to have Derbies, but the participation rate is high.
In order to have a quorum, we must have 25% proxies back – that has been met.
Then Steve went through the financial statement.
Derek Smith took the mic and announced the dedication of the 2025 Derby National to John Russell.
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| John Russell |
John took the mic and shared thoughts and feelings on how the intent of the Derby was for people to enjoy the sport and camaraderie, and it has become just that – couldn’t have done it without the support of the sponsors and Bob Hayden. He went on to say the thanks that we give to the sport is through our deeds, not just our conversation. He continued on to encourage volunteering and acknowledges a lot of people contributed to the creation of the event.
Derek went on to share details of the 2026 National Derby to be held at Wood Dale Farms, October 5th-9th, 2026.
The 2026 Judges will be:
West: Larry Morgan
South: Judy Rasmuson
North: Jeff Schuett
Rip Shively as Chief Marshal
Jeff Sanders as Chairman
Next the 2024 Derby Champion was introduced, Rick Wilke. He and his wife were presented with a beautiful portrait of "Otis," who was also in attendance!
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| Rick Wilke with "Otis" while Russ Hardy presents his portrait |
Rick spoke, saying he wasn’t sure he would ever attend a Derby, but agreed that this is the most fun of the Nationals! He also thanked Bob Hayden and area land owners for training site use.
Derek introduced the Retriever News Blog Team as Gwen Jones, Sara Sommerfeld, Melinda Gustavson, and Becky Eckett.
Official photographer Hannah Wren was also introduced, as were announcers Ed Nesselroad and Alex Washburn.
This year’s 2025 Judges were introduced and given gifts.
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| Judges L to R: Bill Goldstein, Sonya Harrigfeld-Jackson and Dave Robertson |
Derek then introduced and thanked our sponsors Nestle Purina, Avery Sporting, Starline Brass, Kent Cartridge, and Garmin (representatives were not present)
The evening’s festivities were announced, the Cocktail party was starting at 5:30 pm with drinks and appetizers, dinner would be at 6:30 pm. The Silent Auction and Raffle will be held at this time as well.
The Workers Party on Tuesday will be at Wood Dale Farm at 5:30 pm in the basement of the Hayden home.
Breakfast and lunch is provided each day on the grounds of the event by Mr. Hayden at Wood Dale Farm. Many Thanks to Bob Hayden for such generosity!
The Winner’s Party will be held near Swede’s Mountain following the 10th series. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend!
The female test dog will be Livin Tha Dream’s Truth “Tru” handled by Don Fregelettte and male test dog Hockley Creek’s Cyclone, “Cy”, handled by Robby Bickley. Both test dogs are great representatives of the dogs running the Derby as they are both just 2 years old as well.
Derek also thanked and asked each of the committees to stand at this time.
The mic was then turned over to Russ Hardy who presented a special gift to Derek Smith.
It was announced that Russ is leaving the board, and Stacy Richie is taking over for Steve Roegiers with 5 years experience.
A special gift was presented to Steve Roegiers and Russ Hardy.
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| Steve Roegiers accepting his gift |
A $2000 grant has been gifted to the NRDC the second year in a row. The manager of the Best Western who is also part of the Sedalia tourism board attended the mornings board meeting and presented the check.
Russ Reavis on behalf of the AKC congratulated the qualifiers and thanked the committees and volunteers of the event.
He talked about misinformation on social media regarding the Stewards of Children program. The deadline has passed. Effective 10/1 any event application will be pending if a Judge hasn’t taken the course. They can either take the course, or replace the Judge.
Any event that is approved prior to 10/1 will not be rescinded even if a Judge hasn’t taken the test.
The course is still avail until the end of the year. There are two versions, you can either pay $5 to take the test or contact the AKC for a code to take it at no cost. For the code, contact Connie or Lisa at Performance Events if you are needing to know if a Judge has taken the course. At his time 38% of Judges have completed the course. Also, you may call with questions or for a code: Chelsea Horton, Manager Judges Compliance 919-816-3457, judgecompliance@akc.org
Derek took the mic again to go over instructions for tomorrow...
7:30 am the National Anthem will be sung at test site 1.
7:45 am, there will be a presentation from Retrieving Freedom.
8:00 am the first test dog will run.
The remainder of the week, the first test dog will start at 7:30 am.
Training sites have been left with dead birds, please pick up and preferably double bag and bring to Wood Dale Farms and dispose in the dumpsters by the bird pens.
After thanking Marcy for a great set-up week, Chief Marshal Marcy Wright was introduced.
Marcy took the mic, she thanked the setup crew – she spoke of shadowing Randy Spangler last year and thanked the Judges.
She asked for a show of hands for those who were attending their first National Event.
Further instructions were given ...
- 1st No-bird, go back 6 run 7th, 2nd no-bird go back 6 run 7th, 3rd no-bird go back to the end.
- Controlled Break - if you get your dog under control it’s not an automatic elimination, penalized for unsteadiness.
- Dogs can come to line on leash, must immediately remove the leash, then show the dog the birds, put leash in pocket.
- Handler must be on the mat for all sends.
- After the test dog, the fist 10 handlers can view the line.
- Cannot come to view the test without a bib on.
- There will be 4 holding blinds, 3 must be full at all times.
- Nobody is allowed under the Judge’s tent
- Delivery of the final bird will be in a blind off line so that the next running dog can move to the mat.
- Ethical training dictates no training occurs after viewing the test
- Callbacks will be posted on the blog and announced at the test site before the next series
The 1st Series was announced.
It will be a Double, and it will have a Rooster Flyer and a Dead Rooster.
The entrance to the property tomorrow will be off of EE , by the blue gate – it will be well signed!
It was mentioned that Naomi is looking for marshals
Derek took the mic again and explained they did not receive the bumper order, so en lieu of bumpers, a deck of cards was used to select the starting dog. All contestant #’s were placed on a card and John Russell picked the starting – # 27 David Hailey and "Jim"
Rotation for the first 4 tests will be:
27, 42, 57, 14
Russ Hardy reminded everyone about the cocktail party and silent auction before adjourning the meeting.
