Western Regional Taxidermy Competition 2010

[Ken Edwards]

June 23rd through 26th, 2010
The Western Regional Taxidermy Convention & Competition 2010
Sponsored by the Oregon Association of Taxidermists
Klamath County Fairgrounds, Klamath Falls, OR
Contact Skip Miller evenings @ 707-987-3472.

[Versa Max]

2010 Western Regionals

Come join us for the 2010 Western Regionals hosted by the Oregon Association of Taxidermist in the lovely community of Klamath Falls, Oregon.

The show and competition will be held at the Klamath County Fairgrounds located in the center of all the action with easy access and plenty of safe and secure parking for your trailers and RV's.

We hosted our 2009 annual show and competition in the same facility with great success and ended up having one of the largest shows the OAT association has had in a long time.

We will be located in building #2 which affords us plenty of room for whatever you bring.  We have a main display area that is 104' x 110' with a very high ceiling.  In the back is a large 12' x 16' roll up door that you can back right up to.  Under the same roof we have two smaller rooms that are 40' x 40' that are very nice for the seminars and yes folks,  the A/C works very well in these two rooms.  I invite you to visit the web site at www.kcfairgrounds.org.

There are a number of things to do in and around the area.  Located a short walking distance from the fairgrounds is a park for the kids and a bowling alley if you feel so inclined.  There are a large number of shopping areas and places to eat all within a short driving distance from the fairgrounds.

If you feel like a family outing for a whole or half day there is Crater Lake which is just 60 miles north of Klamath Falls.  It's an easy drive north up highway 97.  There are many beautiful trails for hiking or you could take a boat tour of the famous blue waters.
We also have the Klamath Children's Museum for a lot of family fun for the kid in all of us.
If you would like something a little closer there is Klamath Lake located just 15 minutes north of Klamath Falls.  It is the largest natural lake in Oregon with all kinds of fun summer activities such as biking, hiking, canoeing or just relax while enjoying the many acres of lakeside parks.

Then for you folks that like to chase a little white ball around the lawn we have 3 beautiful golf courses to choose from.  The Running Y Ranch Resort has the Oregon's only Arnold Palmer designed golf course.  Shield Crest has the longest golf course in the Klamath basin and Harbor Links is noted for their picturesque views.

Now, let's get down to the good stuff.

Show Dates: June 23-26, 2010

Western Regionals Challenge Categories:

Gameheads: Any African Plains Antelope
Fish: Small Mouth Bass
Birds: Gadwall
Reptiles: Any Rattlesnake

The show will have many great seminars presented by the judges and many other talented folks in the industry.

This year we will have a celebrity in the house presenting a seminar.  He is a student of RJ's and a very talented and successful actor by the name of Richard Lineback.  He is prolific in the theater, television and film, and has been in such blockbuster movies as Speed, Twister and Varsity Blues.  His career dates as far back as 1978 where he was in the TV series The Love Boat and he will be joining our wonderful association.

Richard will be joined by RJ and others in presenting a 2 to 3 day seminar on mounting a hippo.  People will be able to pop in and out during the entire process to watch and ask questions.  This should prove to be a very fun and informative seminar.

Tentative Schedule:

Wednesday June 23rd:
Noon:  Show room Set-up
3 pm - 9 pm:  Registration Opens & Entries Accepted
5 pm -7 pm:  Seminar #1

Thursday June 24th:
8 am - Noon:  Seminar #2
8 am - ?:  Celebrity Hippo seminar
10 am:  Registration Closed / Judging Starts
Noon - 1 pm:  Lunch Break
1 pm - 5 pm:  Seminar #3
5 pm - OAT general membership meeting

Friday June 25th:
8 am - Noon:  Seminar #4
8 am - ?  Celebrity Hippo seminar
8 am - 5 pm Judging Continues
Noon - 1 pm:  Lunch Break
1 pm - 5 pm:  Seminar #5
5 pm - ?:  OAT Hosted BBQ & Silent Auction

Saturday June 26th:
8 am - Noon:  Seminar #6
8 am - ?:  Celebrity Hippo seminar
8 am - 3 pm Individual Critiques with Judges
Noon - 1 pm:  Lunch Break
1 pm - 3 pm:  Seminar #7
4 pm - 5 pm:  Break down and setup for banquet
6 pm -  Banquet, Awards, Live Auction and Raffle

Please note: The schedule is just a rough outline to give everybody a general idea on what will be taking place over the 4 days.  As time goes on and we draw closer to the show the schedule will become more precise and then posted for all to see.  Plus it will be posted in various locations around the show for your viewing pleasure.

Lodging is not at a shortage in and around town.  Right across the street from the fairgrounds is the Days Inn motel that is very nice.  There are many other hotels that are close with great room rates.

As you can tell this is going to be an action packed 4 days with a lot of information and fun to have by all.  So please mark us down on your calendar, put a piece together and join us in making the 2010 Western Regionals a great success.

Skip Miller
President
Email: oregonat@hotmail.com
Phone:  Evenings after 6 pm - 707-987-3472

[bulldawg]

Thanks Skip!  Looking forward to seeing you there. It was a great time last year!

[Big Cat]

Judges?

[RDA]

seminars??

[Versa Max]

Hello and thank you for the questions.

We are working on seminars and judges as we speak.

We have 2 out of 3 judges lined up.  I don't want to provide any names until everything is final.

The seminars they want to present should prove to be very informative.

I just don't want to provide any specifics right now until we have things finalized and at the same time I want to show you the respect of answering your questions the best I can.

Please check back frequently for updates.

Thank you!

[Versa Max]

Hello All,

I am sure you are dying for some new show information.  It has been a while so here goes.

This town is pretty good size but well laid out and very easy to get around in.  There are several core areas that have food and lodging very close to each other.  Some are within walking distance and all of them are within 15 minutes of the fairgrounds.

There are two main arteries to this town and they are 6th Street running east & west and Washburn running north & south.  The main artery into and leaving town is highway 97.  All of these roads are very easy to travel and are very conducive to any RV that you are driving or pulling.

There is a very nice historic part to this town that has a lot of little shops and could offer some enjoyment for those folks that like to walk the town and see all the shops.  This section of town is a little trickier to navigate because of all the one way streets, but it’s not that bad.

Our Host Hotel:
Days Inn – ( 541 ) 882-8864
We have 30 rooms blocked under Oregon Association of Taxidermists
Premium Rooms @ $84 a night
Standard Rooms @ $72 a night
Most of the rooms have a frig and microwave

This is a very nice hotel right across the street from the fairgrounds.  The Rooster Grill & pub is right in front of the motel and they are giving 10% off of all meals when you tell them you are with the Oregon Association of Taxidermist.  Within walking distance from the motel you have Mr. B’s Steak house and Wubba’s BBQ Shack.

Highway 97 North:
A-1 Budget Motel – ( 541 ) 884-8104
Super 8 Motel – ( 541 ) 884-8880

These two motels are right across 97 from each other and you have Mollie’s Restaurant & mini Mart, which is open 24 hours, located in the same parking lot as the Super 8 Motel.

This is located about 15 minutes north of the fairgrounds and is the furthest point from town for food and lodging that you would have to travel if you are staying in either one of these motels.

Highway 97 North:
Shilo Inn – ( 541 ) 885-7980

This is located a short distance south of the Super 8 Motel and is just below Oregon Institute of Technology ( O.I.T. ).  In this same small community there are several places to eat such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Blimpie’s Subs & Salads, Applebee’s and Taco Time.

South Washburn:
Microtel Inn & Suites – ( 541 ) 273-0206  Brand New
www.microtelinn.com

This is a good size community around a Super Wal-Mart.  There are a lot of places to dine in this area with a lot of variety such as Mazatlan Grill which serves very good Mexican food and other places such as Jack In the Box, Subway, Taco Bell, Winger’s Grill & Bar, Red’s Roadhouse serving steak-BBQ and seafood, Long John Silver’s and Jalapenos Taco shop.

Intersection of 6th street and Washburn:
Comfort Inn – ( 541 ) 882-1111
Olympic Inn – Best Western – ( 541 ) 882-9665

There is a Sizzler no more than a minutes walk from the Comfort Inn.  On the same side of the street as the Olympic Inn a few blocks down there is a Subway and Denny’s.

Just East of the fairgrounds on 6th Street:
Cimarron Motor Inn – ( 541 ) 882-4601

Right in front of the Inn is Elmer’s Restaurant.  This is a very large hotel no more than 2 minutes from the fairgrounds.

A little further East on 6th Street:
Klamath Inn – Best Western – ( 541 ) 882-1200

In this area you will find Mario’s Sandwich Shop, Purple Parrot Deli, KFC, Empire Mongolian Grill and Dairy Queen.

East 6th Street:
Motel 6 – ( 541 ) 884-2110
The Townhouse Motel – ( 541 ) 882-0924
Majestic Inn & Suites – ( 541 ) 883-7771

Right next to the Motel 6 in a Black Bear Diner and in the same are there is Walgreen’s, Taco Bell and Burger King.

All of these areas are no further than 15 minutes away from the fairgrounds.  They are all a very easy drive and easy to find.

Then for all the folks that are doing a little midnight work in their rooms to get things finished or repaired there is 3 major hardware stores in town.  There is a Home Depot and Big-R on east 6th Street and then there is Diamond Lumber and Hardware down the road west of Motel 6.

Thank you very much and we look forward to seeing you there.

[Big Cat]

Come on the show is 4 months away.  Who are the judges and seminars?  I want to learn that's why I am so anxious.

[Versa Max]

We now have two judges confirmed!

The judge for all birds will be Nancy Crocker.  Her seminar will be titled, " How a judge works "  There will be some folks bringing birds from past shows and possibly customer work and Nancy will go through the whole judging process.  What she is looking for and other great information she has to share about the judging.

Our judge for fish and Reptiles will be Garry Senk.

[Versa Max]

I am happy to announce that we have the third and final judge confirmed.

Our Mammal and Game head judge will be Paul Gallegos.  He has many national titles under his belt so we are looking forward to learning all we can.

[Versa Max]

New Seminar:

While at the California show I spoke with Robert Bennett asking if would be willing to present a seminar at our Oregon show.  He was in agreement with that so I am happy to say that we will have a two time world champion sharing with us all he knows......It should turn out to be a great 30 minute seminar jam packed with good stuff......LOL

All kidding aside.......we thank you very much, Robert, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to help us all improve our taxidermy work.

[Versa Max]

Hello All,

I hope everybody is diligently getting their show pieces done........I have not even started mine yet.  It's no fun if you don't wait till the last minute.......LOL

Anyway, I am happy to announce that we have added a new challenge piece to the show.

I found out that at the last Western Regionals in Idaho it was voted that a Cougar would be the challenge.  So, for those folks who attended that show with the intent on doing a cougar or for the folks that would like to give one a try we are adding it to our lineup and it will be The Best of the West Challenge piece.  So get your thinking caps on and give it a try.

This challenge does not replace any of the other challenges already planned.  This is in addition to everything else with it's own award.  The winner can choose the next special challenge piece for the Western Regionals.  I am sure whoever wins the bid for the 2012 show will be happy to honor the choice.

Thanks again for checking in and we look forward to seeing you there.

Skip

[TaxidermyJunky]

Hey Skip i can only make it one day so i was just wondering what the best day will be to come see the siminars?

[RICK P]

Hey Skip, what are we looking at cost wise for entries and RV's?

[Versa Max]

Hello and thanks for the questions.

Rick,

I don't know the cost or availability of the spaces.  You can go to www.kcfairgrounds.org to get more information.  They suggest you call the main office at 541-883-3796 to reserve your space.

If there is no spaces left with full hookups there is a very large paved parking lot that you could stay in.  There is no hookups though.

RV PARKING

    * RV spaces are available on a year round basis.
    * Hook-ups on most, but not all, include - Power, Water, Sewer Systems and a Dump Station.
    * Water is not available during the winter months.
    * Showers are within walking distance from spaces.

Entry Fees:

If you are new member your registration fee is $75 and that includes your family
The registration includes 2 entries, 1 banquet ticket, all seminar and your OAT Membership required to compete

If you are already part of the association the competition package is $125 with all the same things included.


   

Taxidermyjunky:

What are you mainly interested in?

Birds, Fish, reptiles or big game

Thanks again and we look forward to seeing you there.  Don't forget to bring your wildest Hawaiian shirt for the BBQ night.  The wildest shirt wins a $25 cash prize.