Much of the history of the Kerry Blue Terrier Club of Chicago is lost in the distant past, and there are no known members or persons who would have first hand knowledge of the club's early development. But, after much research and many hours of poring over old books and magazines, it is clear that our club is of the oldest amongst the chapter clubs. And this is certain: the AKC has confirmed that our club held its first Specialty Show on October 21-22, 1933.
Orrin Baker of Chicago is a name oft repeated in the materials researched in our quest to gain knowledge about our club. He was a force for the early Kerry in the United States. Not only did he import and breed many famous winners under the kennel name of Orr Murr, he was also active in our breed clubs.
Edith Izant and E.S. Montgomery both discuss Orrin Baker in their books to one degree or another. What is agreed upon is that he was the first president of the United States Kerry Blue Terrier Club when it merged with the Kerry Blue Terrier Club of America in 1936. These facts, while without any concrete proof, lead us to believe that he was the founding president of the Kerry Blue Terrier Club of Chicago. To support that theory, a catalog of the 1936 specialty held by the Western Specialty Clubs Association, Inc., listed him as the president of both the United States Kerry Blue Terrier Club and the Kerry Blue Terrier Club of Chicago. While this is not absolute proof of the accuracy of that theory, suffice it to say that at the very least, he was a very important person to our club and to the Kerry Blue Terrier, circa 1933. The other officers of our club listed in the 1936 Specialty Show catalog were: William J. Harty, vice-president and Mrs. Nina D. Sands, secretary and treasurer.
The Kerry Blue Terrier Club of Chicago was incorporated on September 28, 1965 and the incorporators and directors were: Audree Weiland, Charles Waindl, Edna Gleason and Raymond Brundage. This however did not change the club, only the legal structure. The club has been in existence continuously since before our first specialty to the present time.
At the inception of the Kerry Blue Terrier Club of Chicago, our Specialty Show was being held in conjunction with the Western Specialty Clubs Association, Inc. at the old Chicago Coliseum. We are not certain when this affiliation changed, but the Kerry Blue Terrier Club of Chicago Specialty Show became affiliated with the Associated Specialties of Chicago and were held at the Chicago International Amphitheater in Donavan Hall throughout the nineteen sixties and into the nineteen seventies. In 1976 our club became affiliated with the Great Lakes Terrier Association at the Lake County Fair Grounds in Grayslake, Illinois and remained so until that organization was disbanded in 2000. Presently, our Specialty Show is held with the Great Lakes All Terrier Association at the Lake County Fair Grounds in Grayslake, Illinois, with no plans to move it in the near future.
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