The Southern Minnesota NAVHDA Chapter was born in early spring of 1996
with a lunch meeting at John Hardy’s BBQ in Rochester, Minnesota.
Mike Zimmer, then a breeder of Spinone Italiano’s, met with Kevin
Watkins, then Store Manager of Burger Brothers outdoor supply store,
and Gunnar Kruger, to develop a plan to start a NAVHDA chapter in
Southern Minnesota. Kevin Watkins and Gunnar Kruger were brand new owners
of a German Shorthair and a German Wirehair, respectively, and Mike
Zimmer had a recent litter of Spinone pups, so all were devoted to starting
a chapter. The initial meeting determined who would be the first chapter
officers and who would submit the necessary paperwork to NAVHDA International
to request club charter.
It was determined that Mike Zimmer would be the chapter's first president,
since he was a breeder and had leased the land we that hold some
of the training on (now called Tammel Springs after a change in ownership
of the land). Kevin Watkins would be treasurer due to his business
acumen as an outdoors supply store manager. Gunnar Kruger would be
secretary since he was the only one with a computer at the time; and
therefore, he would draft a letter to NAVHDA.
On May 14, 1996, a letter was drafted and sent to NAVHDA requesting
formal chapter sanctioning and was to be called the Southern Minnesota
Chapter. Eleven days later on May 25, 1996, our chapter was officially
chartered as we received a congratulatory letter and chapter Charter
Certificate from Richard St. Amant, then secretary of NAVHDA international,
now NAVHDA President.
Our first year saw us holding an informational seminar at Burger
Brothers with Jeff Mochalski from the Tri-State chapter graciously
driving over from La Crosse to conduct the seminar. We signed up
22 charter members that first year. Among our current members, only
Clyde and Mary Thurnau, Paul Fischenich, and Gunnar Kruger remain
as active members. Although Kevin and Mike are no longer active, both
were instrumental in starting our chapter and both remain interested
in its success.
Chapter membership continues to grow year after year, thanks to the
early vision and efforts of Mike, Kevin, and Gunnar. Dog breeds
represented currently include the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, German
Shorthair Pointer, German Wirehair Pointer, Deutsch Drahthaar,
French Spaniel, Brittany Spaniel, Italian Spinone, Bracco Italiano,
English Setter, Vizsla, Pudelpointer, Cesky-Fousek, Small Munsterlander,
and Large Munsterlander.
