2025 GSCA National and Western Regional Specialties

The 2025 GSCA National, two Western Regional Specialties, and two supported entries will be held in conjunction with the Peak to Peak Working Group Association (P2P) and Evergreen Colorado Kennel Club (ECKC) shows at the beautiful Island Grove Regional Park in Greeley, CO, September 4^th through 8^th; the weekend after Labor Day 2025.  In addition to five days of conformation (working group and all-breed), P2P and ECKC will be offering three days of obedience and rally, two days each of 4-6 Month Beginner Puppy, Scent Work, and FastCAT. 

The grounds are beautiful and we will have a large outdoor ring that will be completely sheltered under a large circus tent with ample additional shade under mature trees.  Grooming will be indoors and very near our ring.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

*Note ECKC is offering two rally trials each day, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The GSCA will recognize the morning trials as Giant specialties with awards for HC and HT scoring Giants, and class placements.

ECKC is also offering 4-6 Month Beginner Puppy Competitions on Saturday and Sunday and GSCA members are encouraged to participate if you will be bringing a young pup or two with you to the Specialty.

Prizes and Awards

This will be the second year that the beautiful Fan Yu bronze of a Giant in motion and spincast medallions will be awarded at the National and Western Regional I; unique GS yard art will be awarded at Western Regional II. Kathi Seaman, Laurie Mason, and Cindy Wallace also have been gathering and making additional awards that will not only be cherished but useful too including, but not limited to, dog beds, crate mats, wind spinners, insulated mugs, tumblers and totes, and magnets, all with the 2025 National logo or other GS motifs.

Fund Raising and Donations

Putting on the National and Regional Specialties is a big financial expense for the GSCA. Presenting treasured awards and rosettes adds up, as do costs associated judges’ flights, ground transportation, accommodations, and meals. GSCA membership dues aren’t used for specialties, but thanks to the generous support of the GSCA members we have been able to deliver top-notch events over the years. We sincerely hope that our members come through again this year by participating in the online auction and donating whatever you are comfortable giving.

Fund raising through online auctions has started and is again being handled by Chris James and Holly Reed. These auctions are held regularly in the new GSCA Fundraising group on Facebook — be sure to join if you haven’t yet!

General Donations

General donations at the following levels will be used towards awards, rosettes, judge fees & expenses, and hospitality. 

Alexandra Nikitakis (alexnikitakis@gmail.com) has again volunteered to track donations and make sure your generosity is duly noted and that t-shirt and banquet ticket perks are provided.

Here are some links you can click and use PayPal or credit/debit cards to donate.

If you would rather donate with a check, make it payable to GSCA and mail to Howard Postovit, GSCA Treasurer, 58508 McIntyre Road, La Grande, OR 97850.

Trophy Sponsorships

If you would like to sponsor a specific award for BOB, BOS, BOW, Obedience HIT, Rally HC, etc. please contact Laurie Mason at: mikey@rkymtnhi.com. Specific award sponsorships will receive the perks commensurate with the general donation levels; for instance, $25-99 will be recognized as a donor in Giant STEPS, $100-$199 will receive bronze perks, etc.

Lodging and RV’ing:

Greeley is a college town with students returning the week before our events, making hotel accommodations tight. We have made arrangements with the Best Western Greeley for special rates for GSCA members starting September 3 and departing no later than September 9. A single King (Double Occupancy) room is $150/night + taxes; a room with two Queen beds (Double Occupancy) is $160/night + taxes; additional adults can be added to the Queen rooms for $10/adult/night. The pet fee is $10/dog/night with up to three dogs per room. Because the GSCA did not have to place a deposit to hold the rooms, there is a cap of 15 rooms available to our members at these rates. Reservations must be made by July 4^th for the rates to apply. If you reserve a room but are unable to attend, your reservation must be canceled by August 20^th to avoid charges. The direct number for reservations is: 970-330-7595.

Because all of our activities will be held at the Island Grove, a great alternative to a hotel is on-site RVing. The ECKC will be handling RV space reservations and we will send out specifics for making reservations as soon as they are available. In both 2015 and 2019, a number of GSCA members stayed on-site and either were next to or in close proximity of other GSCA members and great times were had. If you don’t have an RV, there a many in the area that can be rented. Here are links to sites where a pet friendly RV can be found for rent: RV Share ; Outdoorsy; NoCo Recreational Rentals

Other Shows and Attractions:

If you are thinking of making the trip to Greeley into an opportunity to hit other shows and vacation too, here are some ideas.

The weekend before our National, on August 30, 31, and September 1, the Cheyenne Kennel Club is hosting all-breed shows in Cheyenne, WY, which is just 50 miles up I-25 from Greeley. The weekend after the National, the Roaring Fork Kennel Club is hosting three days of shows at Island Grove from September 12-14. Those bringing an RV will be able to stay on the grounds between the National and Roaring Fork weekends.

Greeley is only about 90 minutes hours away from Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park, the gateway to the Rocky Mountains. Driving tours, hiking, biking, fishing, horseback riding, 4 wheeling, Gondola rides, alpine slide and mountain coasters are some of the many activities available during your stay.

Rocky Mountain National Park (https://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/index.htm) is the gem of the Rockies and can be traversed via Trail Ridge Road (US Highway 34), connecting the East and West entrances and crossing the Continental Divide. This is the highest continuous highway in North America reaching altitudes of 12,000’+, above timberline with more than a hundred 11,000-foot peaks, five glaciers, and some 150 alpine lakes. Sightings of elk, moose and mountain goats are common and in September the aspen trees will be beginning to display their fall colors with elk bugling in the crisp mountain air.

Estes Park (https://www.visitestespark.com/) is a classic western tourist town and is also home to the Stanley Hotel, which was the backdrop in The Shining and is said to have some haunted rooms for daring guests.

Other sites that are within a day adventure from Greeley include:

US Airforce Academy - Colorado Springs (https://www.usafa.edu/visitors/)

Pikes Peak - (https://coloradosprings.gov/drivepikespeak)

Garden of the Gods- Colorado Springs (https://gardenofgods.com/)

Planning and Committee Members

Some great folks have already stepped up to the plate to help with event planning and tasks.  A big shout out to Laurie Mason is needed for her work on organizing to do lists (in other words, keeping me on task) and drafting the Premium List. Laurie also worked with Kathi Seaman and Cindy Wallace to select a wonderful set of awards for the National and two Western Regionals including custom dog beds/crate pads, leash bags, wind spinners, yard art, solar lights, tumblers, mugs and more, all with National logo or Giant Schnauzer motifs of course. Kathi will use her creative ideas and talents to make some of the awards while others will come from vendors, but without a doubt all will be coveted by those who win them. The spectacular Fan Yu Giant in Motion bronzes will be awarded on the day of the National and Western Regional 1, along with spincast medallions of the GSCA logo.

Hospitality

Beverly Murray has been doing a bang-up job contacting pet supply and food vendors, groomers, and others to provide a cornucopia of goodies for welcome bags and some awards.  Meg McGee has been working with a rep from Artero to provide the welcome bags and donate high quality grooming tools for the live auction. Vicki Kallett made initial arrangements with Famous Dave’s to again cater a western style BBQ for our annual awards banquet to be held at Island Grove on September 6^th, and Laurie Mason contacted a vendor to provide the taco bar for the Welcome party.

Merchandise

Bonnie Postovit met with our vendor in Pendleton Oregon and came up with a plethora of fun clothing and gear that are must haves; Chris Reed once again performed his Google forms magic to create a funny and whimsical on-line merchandise store.  Click on this link 2025 GSCA National Specialty Store and you will enter your one-stop shopping location for everything GSCA National including short and long-sleeve t-shirts, vests, jackets, a hat, back pack, cooler, and coasters all sporting the very cool 2025 Logo. 

If you can’t make it to the Greeley, no worries. You can still order items which will be shipped to you shortly after the National wraps up in September.  Well in advance of Christmas gift giving for yourself and your favorite Giant Lovers.

The 2025 GSCA National Specialty Store is also where you can sign up for the specialty welcome party, purchase annual awards banquet tickets, and register for educational workshops. 

Thanks, and hope to see you in Greeley.

Giant Regards,

Howard Postovit & Laurie Mason