Club History

HISTORY OF THE BHCSC

Through the efforts of Bill Morris during 1947-1948, an attempt to form a club was made by a few avid enthusiastic Basset Hound fanciers.  It wasn’t until the fall of 1951, however, that the Basset Hound Club of California was organized with Bill Morris as President.

Those in attendance at that first meeting were:  Mr. And Mrs. Mac Carlisle, Mr. And Mrs. Gill, Mr. And Mrs. Robert Hicks, Mr. And Mrs. Dow Loewe, Paul Nelson, Mr. And Mrs. Walter Rowley, Mr. And Mrs. Bill Morris and Mrs. Cordelia Skapinsky.

In 1953-1954, the Club was recognized by the American Kennel Club and the Basset Hound Club of America, and was officially known as the “Basset Hound Club of Southern California.”

In 1958-1959, the Club was incorporated in the State of California as a non-profit social organization, and membership reached 100.  In 1960, our specialty broke all records with 105 entries (List of all BOB & BOS Winners beginning with 1966). In the early 1960’s, membership climbed to 200.  1996 membership exceeded 160, and today membership is approaching 200.  BHCSC is the largest regional basset hound club in the U.S.

CLUB PRESIDENTS

1951-53     Bill Morris               

1953-55     Mac Carlisle     

1955-56     Jane Mattin     

1956-57     Alan Lister     

1957-59     Benjamin Harris     

1959-60     Marion Mayo Murphy     

1960-62     Hyrum White     

1962-64     Nick Bakaysa     

1964-66     Sam Dickerson     

1966-68     Jim Slayman     

1968-69     Bert Hughlett     

1969-70     John Roehm     

1970-71     Elspeth Blackwood     

1971-72     Bill Wright     

1972-75     Ralph Scarrow     

1975-77     Greg Maher     

1977-79     Kati Netzley

1979-83     Ralph Scarrow

1983-85     Dennis Krondak

1985-87     Jo NewMyer

1987-88     Carolyn Young

1988-90     Gina Garcia

1990-92     Mark Allison

1992-93     Barbara Humphrey

1993-96     Pam Heine

1996-98     Don Bullock

1998-01     Kay Haggard

2001-04     Maria Bivens

2004-07     Candis Holman

2007-09     Kay Haggard

2009-10     Marianne Lovejoy

2010-12     Candis Holman

2012-14     Jan Kano

2014-16                Don Bullock

2016-                    Michael Ott

CLUB FIRSTS:

1954       First Sanctioned Match. Began donating trophies to all-breed clubs to promote Basset entries.

1955         First Basset Picnic

1957     First Specialty Show in conjunction with Harbor City KC.

1965     First independent Specialty Show.  Adopted Code of Ethics.

1969     Club members Ginny Jones and Joan Thurlow prepared study relative to jump-difficulties experienced by Bassets in Obedience Trials, submitted to American Kennel Club on 2/4/69; helped to lower height requirements.  First Puppy Sweepstakes held at Specialty.

1973     First Obedience Trial held at Specialty.

1974     First Junior Showmanship classes held at Specialty.

1976     Barbara Dunning and Kati Netzley were first Co-Rescue Chairmen.

1998      Kay Daly created the club's website after learning basic HTML

2000     Had back-to-back two-day BHCSC Specialty.

2006       Obedience Trials at Specialty opened up to all-breeds; Bassets have first priority in entry.

2009       First Field Trial Match

2013       First three day dog show weekend with a BHCA Regional on Friday and BHCSC Specialties on Saturday and Sunday

2015      Competition in AKC Rally was provided at both BHCSC Specialty Shows for the first time.

2016      The club celebrated the sesquicentennial of the contributions to the breed by Loard Galway in 1866. We introduced a modified pack competition to the Saturday BHCSC Specialty show and on Sunday worked with basset hound rescue groups all over the United States to have an Easter Basset Bonnet Contest to raise money for our club's Basset Hound Relief fund.