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TEAM STORMWATCH
NEWS
NOVEMBER 2003
MO WINS SLEDDOG CLASS AT NATIONAL SPECIALTY
Team Stormwatch's very own MO won the untitled sleddog class at the SHCA
National Specialty. Judge Vincent Buoniello thought he was a great looking
sleddog. Mo's sponsor, Susan Hunter-Joerns, M.D., was so excited that
she bought Mo his very own giant box of milkbones. Mo was in "hog-heaven".
CH Willo's Motown of Stormwatch (bred by Lois Leonard, Willo Siberians)
was capably handled by Tom Schonberger. Mo became a member of the team
in spite of being black and white with blue eyes. With his 'go for it'
attitude and 'look at me' demeanor, he is the perfect example of a Siberian
that can strut his stuff on the trail AND in the show ring!
Sled Dog-Dog, Non Degreed
1st Place
380 - Willo's Motown of Stormwatch
Owner: CP & DW Curtis
3rd Place
381 - Runaway's Imminent Danger
Owner: CP & DW Curtis
The Team Stormwatch booth at the National was a busy place. We picked
up some new sponsors and we would like to thank them for their support.
All the dogs of Team Stormwatch are sponsored.
Anna Mae Forsberg
George & Ann Cook
Don & Elizabeth Young
The Gardner Family
Gale Tench
Maryl Foster
Mary Downs, M.D.,
OMI CHUM TRAIL BAARK GRR
* * * * *
From Carol Preble, Chief Fund Raiser.
There is a very large group from the Chicago area, like maybe 35 people,
going up to Iditarod. The Alaska airlines flight between Chicago and Anchorage
will never be the same. Most plan to spend 10 days up there, but a few
have to go home after a week. Only Lois, Paulette and I are going on to
Nome. We are having an Iditarod party here on the 25th so everyone going
can get an idea of what to see and do. Will Anchorage ever be the same
after the Siberian Husky Club of Greater Chicago and Adopt A Husky get
done with it. I can see some overloaded credit cards and very empty stores.
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FAMOUS AGAIN
Team Stormwatch
Most Photographed Team
Abercrombie & Fitch, the clothing retailer, will be in Alaska in November to film special in-store and internet videos of employees playing in the snow with Team Stormwatch dogs.
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We still have short-sleeved T-shirts, long sleeved mock turtlenecks and
a limited supply of sweatshirts available. If you would like to order
a print or shirt, please indicate your choice (please indicate size if
necessary!), make your check or money order out to Wayne Curtis and send
it to the name and address below. (Sorry, no e-mail or web orders, only
USPS mail orders.) We appreciate your support.
Carol Preble
19005 Harmony Rd.
Marengo, IL 60152
815-923-2305
lodgepol@mc.net (inquiries only,
please)
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CH Lodgepole's Broken Arrow is co-owned with Carol Preble and sponsored by BMW, by way of Tom Bishop. Tom lives in Indiana, which is Wayne's home state. Arrow is a multi BISS winner, taking the Chicago specialty last October, handled by Carol Preble. Arrow left Chicago for his temporary home at Team Stormwatch in December. He trained all winter but could not quite make the Jr. Iditarod team, lack of time. Arrow then took BISS, handled by Tom Schonberger, at the Jun 03 SHC of Anchorage Specialty. Many of the Stormwatch sleddogs are also show dogs. Arrow's Dad, CH Lodgepole's Fire Walker, CGC, is the brother to CH Lodgepole's Moon Shadow. Arrow is gray and white with one brown eye and one mainly blue parti-eye.
BISS Siberian Husky Club of Anchorage Specialty, Jun 03
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NEWS FLASH - Wassila, AK
Boy it has been clear and sunny up here but that makes the nights very
cool like now it must be 35 F and of course the Northern lights are out
almost every night too! Never seems to be enough time to sit down and
write for us. Chris and I BOTH work about 50 hours a week. We have received
a few of the Stormwatch Green harness and the time and effort to have
them custom fit and made has paid off big time. Training is going well
and the weeknite runs are really showing the strength of the team. We
only have one dog left to sponsor, Snout, and of course the sled. And
the sled will make it to Nome! Thanks to all our sponsors as there is
no way we could do this without you.
WAYNE
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These Team Stormwatch notecards may be purchased from TRACKS of ALASKA
http://www.tracksofalaska.com
NEW ITEMS:
Jon & Jona Van Zyle have donated 50 of the 2004 Iditarod posters for
our Stormwatch fund raising. We are $35, including shipping. They will
be signed by Wayne and Jon. We don't know what they look like as Jon still
has it in his head.
Mary Hanner (mbhann@mc.net) keeps the
Team Stormwatch website up to date.
http://www.iditarodtrail.com
Here is an example of your sponsorship $ at work:
The Entry fee was $1850.
Harnesses both racing (old ones were from 1995/97) and training (some
as old as 1976) and collars were replaced at $1400.
New Cable Gang Lines for racing and training with reflective tug lines
were $950.
We just received an order 950Lbs. of fresh ground Chum ( Dog ) Salmon
in 5 gallon pails so we will be packaging and freezing that today after
training. Yum!!!!
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Purina Pro Plan has graciously agreed to sponsor Team Stormwatch. We are
excited to feed this excellent dog food to our team. We expect to see
great improvement in coat as well as performance. Our current food has
not performed as we had hoped.
Pro Plan Dog Food www.proplan.com
RAFFLE TICKETS
Don't forget to send for your raffle tickets. Wait a minute. I want to win that trip to Alaska. Don't buy any raffle tickets. That gives me more chance to win. I'm not going to tell you that
Donation Tickets are $6.00 each or 3 for $15.00
Donation Booklets of 6 tickets are $25.00
To obtain your tickets please send a SASE and a check made out to:
Wayne Curtis, Team Stormwatch, care of NASH, Box 877591, Wasilla, AK 99687
- 7591
Your tickets will be sent to you promptly. Any questions answered by email:
Marlytuk@yahoo.com
Drawing to be held January 1, 2004. Winners will be contacted and names published on the web site as soon as possible after the drawing.
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TEAM STORMWATCH
NEWS
JANUARY 2004
2004
THANKS - THANKS - THANKS
Team Stormwatch wishes all of our sponsors a most
joyous Christmas and New Year. At this time of year, we want to thank
all of the wonderful people who have supported Team Stormwatch through
the years. Without your support, the Iditarod would not be possible for
us. Your sponsorships have provided us with much needed new harnesses
(made by the lady who makes Rick Swenson's harnesses) and new ganglines
(we were using the same lines from Iditarod 95). With a little luck from
the US Post Office, the harnesses (teal and black to match Wayne's parka)
will arrive next before Christmas.
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Team Stormwatch in Nome
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YEEHAA --SNOW
Big puffy flakes of snow. Alaska has snow at last.
As of the first week of December, Wasilla (home of Team Stormwatch) had
TWO FEET of new snow. The trails are in beautiful shape and all of the
Knik mushers are out on sleds. Wayne spent much of Thanksgiving weekend
with the snowblower clearing off Chris and Wayne's deck. The dogs have
been training for two months, but went out for their first run on snow
on November 29. This is as early as Chris and Wayne can remember having
really good trails in Alaska. Also, Wasilla was sub-zero temperatures
for about a week which froze the rivers and lakes before the snow arrived.
Most people in the lower 48 are probably not aware the Iditarod trail
is mostly swamp, rivers, and lakes, which need the freeze and cannot be
traveled in the summer. Ask Wayne and Chris, who every summer get a 4-wheeler
stuck on the trail in MUD, buried above the wheels.
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As a special treat, Team Stormwatch will be GIVING each of our sponsors
a Jon Van Zyle Iditarod 2004 poster, signed by both Jon and Wayne and
personalized with the paw print of your sponsored dog (or dog of your
choice). This is made possible by a donation by Jon and Jona Van Zyle.
Non-sponsors wishing to purchase a poster may do so for $35.
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NEW SPONSORS
We welcome the following individuals to the Team Stormwatch family:
Jon & Jona Van Zyle
Katherine & Rick Booth
Sharon & Bill Peterson
Purina Pro Plan, Mike Allway
SHC of Metro Dallas
Ron Adler
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Chris and sled in Nome
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Anvik is sponsored by Katrina Rix, who used some Stormwatch dogs in two
Junior Iditarods. Katrina and her family are also sponsoring some new
harnesses for the team.
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We still have short-sleeved T-shirts, long sleeved
mock turtlenecks and a limited supply of sweatshirts available. If you
would like to sponsor a dog, or order a print or shirt, please indicate
your choice (please indicate size if necessary!), make your check or money
order out to Wayne Curtis and send it to the name and address below. (Sorry,
no e-mail or web orders, only USPS mail orders.) We appreciate your support.
Carol Preble
19005 Harmony Rd.
Marengo, IL 60152
815-923-2305
lodgepol@mc.net (inquiries only, please)
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Team Stormwatch Trivia
How many AKC Champions are in training with Team Stormwatch for this year's Iditarod?
CH Lodgepole's Broken Arrow
CH Willo's Motown of Stormwatch
CH Lodgepole's Moon Shadow
CH Marlytuk's Affirmative Action
CH Stormwatch's Montana is participating as a cheerleader from his couch.
All the dogs are training up nicely and it's hard to tell who the final
16 will be.
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Team Stormwatch, 4th Avenue
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HELPING HANDS AT TEAM STORMWATCH
Team Stormwatch would like to acknowledge the helping hands of Deb and
Katrina Rix (former Junior Iditaroder), Tom Schonberger, Ron Adler, Brian
and Amy Gundlach (future Junior Iditaroder) and, of course, our own Jill
Bisignani (Team Stormwatch kennel manager). There are not enough hours
in the day for Chris and Wayne to do it all and remain gainfully employed.
For all the poop you scoop, the water bowls you fill, for all the harnesses
you put on and take off, and for all the mud and freezing temperatures
you endure, a huge
THANKS!!!!!!
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Wayne fixes dinner on the Quest
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IS IT A MYTH, THAT RED DOGS CAN'T RUN?
Team Stormwatch disproves this MYTH. Witness, OJ (Lodgepole's Orangejello)
is a finisher of the 2001 Iditarod. Opie (Marlytuk's Arctic Opus) is a
finisher of the 2003 Junior Iditarod. Training for the 2004 Iditarod are
Yukon (Lodgepole's Yukon Scarpino), and Tony (Black Oak's Arctic Stormwatch),
and Chance (Lodgepole's Second Chance). So there will be SEVEN RED SIBERIANS
on the trail this year.
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Wayne thanks his lead dogs in Nome
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TEAM STORMWATCH
NEWS
MARCH 2004
2004
SAD NEWS FOR
TEAM STORMWATCH
Team Stormwatch mourns the passing of Stormwatch's Shelby, S.D. Shelby
was Wayne's two-time Iditarod (95 & 97) and Quest leader. She was
11 yrs old and passed away on Jan 30, 2004. Shelby was the grand-dame
of the kennel or, as Chris called her, "everybody's mother".
She was the mother of lead dogs Elliot, Newman, and Togo; and also Climber,
Tabby, Cinder, and Butterscotch. She is the grandmother of Doc, Samantha,
Sabrina and Chiller. Shelby was cremated and Wayne will carry her ashes
to Nome and sprinkle them under the burled arch as she was his first Iditarod
leader in 1995.
North of The Rainbow Bridge
by MakWa4me
The time comes. A Siberian Husky lifts up its head. There is an untested
adventure beyond. Time to go.
Across the Rainbow Bridge is a place for all dogs. A river runs wide and
shallow with tennis balls that fly with their own wings; that is the place
for a Labrador or Golden to await its master's arrival.
The Siberian is not content here. Northward is its trail....
There are soft pastures for Aussies and Border Collies, with sheep and geese to pen. Agility equipment grows like trees amid Frisbees and flyball.
But the North continues its sure wild call, and the Siberian's journey continues....
Now the air is colder. Now the moon is always full. Now the light is
silver and it breaks and shimmers on fields of bright snow. Now there
are no roads, no walls, no pens, just endless space to run. This is where
Siberians gather, North of the Rainbow Bridge.
They wait in this beautiful place, happy, but not complete. Suddenly,
a howl begins, as one dog senses someone coming, someone very special.
All the Siberians raise their heads and join in the ancient chorus. They
dance like moonbeams and sing like winter winds.
There are red ones like dawn streaks, black ones splattered with many
colors and silver ones like the first strange hour before light. They
line up as if in harness and run together, in a scintillating, many-colored
streak. The leader of the team guides the others past the fields and river,
with racing feet and racing heart. They rush to greet the new arrival
at the Rainbow Bridge, where the leader is rejoined with its beloved person,
never to be parted again.
The glory of the reunion is celebrated by all the Siberians dwelling beyond
the Bridge, a glimmering, multicolored team leaping and whirling with
joy. The light from that scene is what we see on magical evenings in the
northernmost parts of this Earth:
The Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights beyond the Rainbow Bridge.
This Poster may be purchased through the Iditarod Trail Sleddog Race website.
http://www.iditarod.com
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WE HAVE RAFFLE WINNERS!
YEEHAA
Ron Swiatkowski, IL
L. Atkinson, CA
Don Young, TN
Granek, AZ
Anna Mae Forsberg, MA
Lori Emler, CA
Mary Seul, IL
Donna Johnson, NH
T. Przybylski, IL
Jolie Runyon, FL
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Training is going well. Our training runs are on great trails with lots
of snow. The days are growing longer and the dogs are loving their wall
to wall wood chip lined runs. This is something we have tried with a few
dogs and decided to do to all of the runs. The dogs are dining on beaver
and Pro Plan dog food tonite with a dab of National fat blend on top.
Please visit the web site for the winners of the raffle (http://www.iditarodtrail.com).
Wow thanks to every one who bought a ticket. It was a huge success and
the dogs are going to Nome in style thanks to the proceeds. Speaking of
style we continue to get the dogs outfitted with the new harnesses and
collars. We had to refit the dogs as their muscles are larger and the
size that they fit when we ordered are a bit small. They have enough miles
on them and they are as strong as can be. Saturday we didn't train as
it was 40-42 degrees. More as I get time.
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Donna Beckman generously donated an awesome statue to Team Stormwatch and it was auctioned off on eBay as a fundraiser. It is an original bronze by Rick Lingenifelter, measuring 6 inches in length and 4 inches in height.
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http://www.iditarod.com
Running in the Iditarod requires more than just signing up and paying
the entry fee, a musher must also become qualified. The ITC has tried
to put together qualifying requirements, which may prove that a musher
is competent to complete the Iditarod.
This is a summary of what ITC requires in rule 41: Musher Qualifications.
To qualify as an entrant to the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, mushers
must be 18 years old. A rookie (someone who has never completed Iditarod)
must complete two approved qualifying races with an accumulated total
of 500 miles or one race of at least 800 miles within the last five racing
seasons and a 300 mile race in either the current or previous racing season.
A musher must complete any qualifying race in the top 75% of the field
or in no more than twice the elapsed time of the race winner. After written
documentation from qualifier race organizations of completing the requirements,
rookies are still subject to evaluation by the qualifying board and executive
committee. Rookies are notified within 30 days of their acceptance/rejection.
Attendance at the rookie meeting held in December each year is a mandatory
requirement.
Qualifying races are run all over North America and in Scandinavia. Although
qualifiers can be completed in the same season/year that the Iditarod
is run, we encourage rookies to qualify over a two-year period. These
requirements are the minimum level of experience in racing. Many rookies
have already competed for years in distance mushing with Iditarod as a
final goal.
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TEAM STORMWATCH's Leader
Sustains Career Ending Injury
On Jan 6, 2004, Stormwatch's Sputnik No Kita suffered a torn cruciate
ligament. Sputnik underwent surgery on Jan 12 and after recuperation,
she will be playing the new role of brood bitch at Team Stormwatch. Sputnik
finished the Yukon Quest in 1999 and the 2001 Iditarod.
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TEAM STORMWATCH Prepares for Iditarod in the Goosebay 120
Jan 7 and 8, Team Stormwatch ran two teams in the Goosebay 120 Sleddog Race. Wayne ran one team and Brian Gundlach ran the second team. Because of the warm weather, both teams were babied along but Wayne's team managed to make an S.D. qualifying time. Not bad for having to compete with the likes of Dean Osmar and Ryan Redington.
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VET CORNER
The Iditarod official blood draw and EKG's were done on Feb 6 and all 22 dogs checked were pronounced A-OK by the vets.
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2004 Idita-Party
The 2004 Idita-Party will happen on Sunday, March 7. Chris and Wayne
invite all our sponsors to join us for a major party on the trail as we
wave goodbye to the 2004 Iditarod field as they run down Knik Road past
Chris and Wayne's house.
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ABERCROMBIE & FITCH
Team Stormwatch is shooting an internet commercial for Abercrombie and
Fitch on Feb 28-29. Little Kat, Pam, Snout, and Growls have starring roles
in the filming.
The beautiful Jon Van Zyle posters are being mailed or delivered to sponsors beginning Monday, Feb 16.
http://www.takugraphics.com/apvanzyle.html
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2004 IDITA-RIDER
Stanley Segal, who does a travel documentary on direct TV and several cable channels in the LA area, purchased the ride on start day in Wayne's sled for $1650. Stanley will be videoed for his travel show during the start of the race riding in Wayne's sled.
Bob Thomas of Elkhorn, WI (an old mushing friend of Wayne's) will be
riding the drag sled. Bob was responsible for getting Wayne started in
mid-distance mushing in the 1980's.
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Stormwatch's Buckwheat