We arrived at the New Era building for the Workers' Part at 6:30 pm after a long day in the field under the hot sun. Everyone was ready to relax, enjoy the food and beverages and catch up with their buddies about what was transpiring at the other Flights. The majority of the raffle items were provided by Avery Sporting Dog, along with Cabelas, Purina, Eukanuba, Trti-Tronics, Dogtra, Black Lab Vodka, the Master National Merchandise Committee and the Retriever News. After a meal of grilled chicken, ribs and pulled pork with all of the sides, President John Blackbird thanked all of the sponsors and expressed how grateful the Master National Club was to them for all their generous support.
Everyone attending was given a raffle ticket. The items were displayed along many tables. Each item had a brown paper bag in front of it with the description of the product. You had your opportunity to choose which item appealed to you at which point you dropped your ticket in the corresponding bag. Alice Rodriguez was the MC for the raffle and along with the assistance of Marissa Melo, they would draw from each bag and then call out the winning number.
As dinner came to an end and the raffle was completed, a local DJ'S named Phil and Kim McNeill from Demopolis, AL, started playing the tunes... From line dances to
Sweet Home Alabama, (A personal favorite) they tried to accommodate the entire crowd. One of the boys broke into song over the microphone with
Mustang Sally (and he was pretty good, too!)
As with all good parties ... they must come to an end!