The East
Tennessee Retriever Club, Inc, ("ETRC") is a "not for profit
corporation" founded in 1985 by a group of dedicated Tennessee
sportsmen. ETRC is licensed and governed by the American Kennel
Club, and is a member of the Master National Retriever Club. The
club is based in the Knoxville, TN, area and draws most of its
membership from the East Tennessee region and the surrounding
states of Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. ETRC
conducts only Hunt Tests, which we hold in May and October.
Back in 1985, the club was in its infant stage, and things
were different. Our name in '85 was "East Tennessee Amateur
Retriever Club", and we ran both Field Trials and Hunt Tests in
our club events. ETRC had to run club trials and fun tests for 2
years before the AKC allowed us to run an official Hunt Test. Of
course with such a young club, the club events were, Puppy,
Junior, and Senior events. Most of the club events were held at
the Charlie Browder farm in Sweetwater, as well as the Chuck
Atchley farm, which is still being used today. All of the AKC
tests were held at the Browder farm. In '87 we held our first
AKC sanctioned "A" Hunt Test, and during that same year we held
a joint club trial with the Chattanooga Retriever Club. With
both of those back to back events, our club learned much more
about running official events. Our proud day came in November
when the ETRC held its first AKC sanctioned Hunt Test. We had a
small start with 61 Junior dog, 15 Senior dog, and 9 Master dog
entries, but it was a successful start.
In 1988, our membership dues went from $15 to the current $25
family
membership fee. In February of '89 the East Tennessee Amateur
Retriever Club, dropped the "Amateur", and became the East
Tennessee Retriever Club (ETRC). We also changed our logo to the
current logo, which was sported in our May 5, 1989, newsletter
for the first time. In 1992 the club joined the Master National
Retriever Club, which allowed dogs completing Master Tests in
ETRC official AKC tests, to qualify for the Master National
Stake.
1993 proved to be a tense year for the club because the
Charlie Browder dairy farm was being auctioned off and sold into
tracts. The farm was auctioned off in April, but with the help
of one of our founding members, Jim Holcomb, we were able to use
enough of the property to hold our last AKC Hunt Test at the
Browder farm in May. The committee assigned to search for new
grounds located our current farm for Hunt Tests and training,
the Calvin Holt Farm, and the club conducted its first Hunt Test
on the new grounds in November of that same year.
In 2007, we made the decision to look for new grounds on which to
hold our training days and hunt tests. We looked at several
locations and have acquired new grounds for our use. We will be
resuming our regular training schedule in the near future.
Information on the site as well as the training schedule and map to
the area can be found at Training
Information.
The year before the turn of the century, 1999, in our Spring
Hunt Test we had the most dogs entered in our history. A total
of 357 dogs were entered to run over the course of the weekend.
WE SURVIVED IT!! Then came May of 2002, where we had a total of
458 dogs entered in our Spring Hunt Test. March of 2000, we
finally became a Member Club of the American Kennel Club, which
gave us voting privileges at AKC meetings. The president each
year would assign a delegate to represent us at meetings or
other functions.
As you can see the East Tennessee Retriever Club has come a
long way since 1985, and we are still striving to give the
members of the club opportunities to advance themselves and
their dogs in our quest to achieve the Hunt Test standard. With
a little "southern hospitality", great weather, really tall
tales, and a beautiful farm to train and hold events on, the sky
is the limit. IT DOESN'T GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS!
