06/15/2026
From Legends to New Leashes is officially in the books!
This event just wasn’t another event. It meant so much to so many people. We honored those we’ve lost and celebrated the new kids on the block that keep this community and family together. 73 teams, 12 Veterans, 6 Legends, and 3 Hero Dogs and at least 10 new dogs with being their very first event. We had competitors from Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, and even Colorado and so many personal bests...it was so much fun to hear that PB bell ringing all weekend!
Our club members and all the volunteers really came together to make this happen and for causes dear to our hearts, The B.A.A.R.K. Foundation, Inc. and Chase Away K9 Cancer! Just from the raffles and item donations, we are estimating we raised close to $1000 to be split between them. It will be a while to determine the amount from the event itself. Thanks for all that donated in person and online!
We couldn’t have had this event without the help of Smoky Mountain K9 Sports. This has been a special place for a lot of our members in the past and to have the event here was the only place it could’ve been. Thank you, Katie and Kim. We love you!
Big thanks to Blackford Veterinary Surgery Referral, Brewster's Bark & Bed, and Alptraum K9 for the generous support in being our sponsors. We definitely couldn’t have done this without our sponsors! Thanks to Integrity Canine llc for allowing us to use your space for our End of Year awards ceremony.
Thank you to our committee for the countless hours that went into making this event go off with without too many hitches. Jane Griess Michael Anthony, Cindy Brown, Susan Strahan, Brooke Jillson Shannon, Kim Vaillancourt, Heather Marie, Katie Dunn, Kristin Belle-Kay…y’all rock and !
And of course, we want give a big shoutout to Linda Torson for being our trusted admin for this event as well as an admin in training, Sulee (sp?). It seemed fitting to have Linda here and this be Lina's first event! Our crew member, Don McCrackin was an absolute beast and champ with the heat and humidity and he didn't miss a beat. There wasn't a pool to put up or take down, but he jumped in everywhere!