Articles Index/Jessica Jurich James
Posted 07/22/07
Last year's judge at our Fall Festival was Greg Siner. In 2007 Jessica Jurich James will adjudicate. The following is a great look into the past ... and is a reflection on a long-term friendship forged in the world of Norfolk Terriers.
The introduction was written by Joan Read:
"This year's (1982 sic) Meadow Brook Hounds Pony Club Terrier Trial, held on the John Schiff Estate in Oyster Bay Cove, attracted over 100 entries. Surely the competitor who had come the longest distance was Jessica Jurich James from Atherton, California.
Jessica became involved in Norfolks four years ago when she and her family were living in England. She bought a puppy, Leddington Folly (Leddington Diplomat x Bluemarking Bracken) who became her foundation bitch and who produced not only Wensday (Ch. Wonderwood Wensday Addams) but Pugsley, who resides with Jessica's grandmother in New Jersey.
Jessica came back to the US and moved to California when Folly was in whelp with her second litter. She kept one bitch from that litter, Jessie, who is co-owned by Greg Siner in New Jersey.
A mating of Jessie and Ch. Maxwell the Buckeye Sting has resulted in Jessica's latest addition a four month old bitch puppy that lives with her in California.
As she says, "And so it goes. Who knows where I'll be in another four years!" How true. Following is Jessica's account of her trip east."
I had absolutely no idea how much fun terrier trials could be until the Meadowbrook trial on June 26. Greg Siner, of Upper Montclair, NJ, and I piled ourselves and a bunch of Norfolks into the car and headed off down the Long Island Expressway. Due to a late start and the weekend beach traffic, we missed the morning's go-to-ground activities. Still, we had plenty of time to have lunch and look around before the afternoon races. The trial was held in a large, sunny field surrounded by shade trees. There was a delicious buffet offered and a full bar. For maximum comfort, a large marquis was set up with tables and chairs.
Terrier racing was new to Greg and me. The course was a long fenced enclosure. At one end were eight starting boxes, and at the other a wall of straw bales. There was a narrow gap between two of the bottom bales, just one-dog wide, through which a fox brush lure was threaded.
There were two classes, flat and hurdles, with dogs, bitches, and puppies running separately and most classes were big enough to require two or more heats. I was surprised to note that the vast majority of participants were Jack Russell terriers, and many were clearly well prepared. If I harbored any dim hopes of success, they were shattered completely as I listened to the Jack people exchange training tips. One woman, for instance, told another how so-and-so keeps her dogs in condition by running them at Belmont racetrack!
As the races began, the excitement was heightened by the fast and furious betting going on at the very OTB window, and the Calcuttas, which preceded each final.
One by one, each of our Norfolks took his/her turn in the heats, and all ran with a decided lack of conviction. They were not the slightest bit interested in the lure, which went speeding away through the crack in the straw bales, but ran with the pack simply because it seemed the thing to do. Nevertheless, one of our bitches, Wensday, gained the distinction of being the only Norfolk to place in the ribbons. She took fourth in the flat races out of a field of about 21 bitches.
The high point of the day for us was the final race the all-Norfolk hurdle race, mixed sexes. The results follow:
The Meadowbrook trial was the last doggie function that Wensday and I attended during our two-month stay on the East Coast. We brought back to California lots of great memories, but that's not all. The purpose of our trip was accomplished, namely, putting the two majors on Wensday which she needed to gain her Championship. The first was four points and BOB at Philadelphia on June 4 under Mrs. Wear, and the second was five points and BOB at Delaware Co. on June 6 under Mr. Guevara. This was a special thrill for me since Wensday is the first Norfolk I ever bred, and that was two-and-a-half years ago while living on a boat in England but that's another story.
Jessica Jurich James
And speaking of memories I still have the blue rosette won in the
earthdog competition that day by then 11 year old Ch. Bethway's Joshua.
He was my first Norfolk and this event was our introduction to earthdog
competition. Josh, as he did in every facet of his life, simply excelled.
SF
ANTIC, March, 2007
Our thanks to Cherry Howard, Hatchwood Norfolks, for her sharp eye and knowledge of Norfolk pedigrees. Following the publication of our March issue, we received the following from Cherry.
"I was very interested in reading abut Jessica James on the front page and Joan Read's reproduced article about her original Norfolk, Leddington Folly -- her breeding being quoted as by Leddington Diplomat x Blumarking Bracken, as I know this family rather well. In fact Folly was by black & tan Ch. Ragus Whipcord, Diplomat being another son of Bracken, and Di Blandford swore to me that the son never mated his mother! Marjorie Bunting's Ch. Ragus Whipcord is still the leading sire of champions in the UK.
Bracken worked very hard as a brood bitch, with some 20 puppies registered from seven litters, the last litter of two she reared when she was 10 years old.
Biscuit (born 10 October 1971 by Ch. Nanfan Thistle) was my foundation bitch, and through her daughter Hatchwoods Peppermint (by Ch. Nanfan Nobleman) has passed down her genes to Am. Ch. Cause for Celebration, son of Ch. Cracknor Cause Celebre (ex Hatchwoods Madrigal). His litter brother, American Champion Cause a Comotion, now with Elisabeth Matell in England, is the sire of my latest litter of puppies (ex Hatchwoods Flame).
Hatchwoods Peppermint's son, Hatchwoods Crème de Menthe and Leddington Folly's daughter, Wonderwood Wensday Adams, `nicked' producing several champions together."
Cherry has not only given us the opportunity to set the record straight,
she has also reminded us of some of the great names in Norfolk history.
ANTIC, June, 2007
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