Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Three local coonhound owners advanced to the top 16 competitors in the 2006 AKC World Coonhound Championship.
The event, with a top prize of $25,000, is at the Kosciusko County Fairgrounds.
Joe Newlin's Treeing Walker, Stylish Thorn, finished first in his cast Thursday. Thorn, a 3-year-old male, was handled by Randy Gadd.
Slammer's Trimble Creek Ghost, a 6-year-old Treeing Walker male, is owned by Tim Shultz of Etna Green. He was handled by Rick Hendrickson.
Mervin Hostetler of Nappanee is owner and handler of Graber's Dan, a 4-year-old Treeing Walker.
Following tonight's hunt, the field will be pared down to four dogs. Saturday's hunt will be broadcast live on the Internet beginning at 8 p.m.
Awards will be presented at the Top 16 Awards Banquet, which begins at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Shrine Building at the fairgrounds. A steak dinner will be served. Clinton Collins and his band is the scheduled entertainment. The public is invited to the banquet. Cost is $15.
The "crowing" of the World Champion is at midnight Saturday.
Also Saturday is the AKC World Coonhound Bench Show at 12:30 p.m., followed by the youth bench show after the adult competition.
The National Youth Hunt is tonight.
Other contenders in the top 16 include: Hardwood Maniac Jr., No. 3, owned by Clarence Whitaker of Kansas City, Kan., handled by Jay Hyde, Rochester; Hoosier Racket, owned by Ronald Wiegman, Fort Wayne, and handled by Mark Ruble; Miller's Roxanne, owned by Ron Wiegman, Fort Wayne, handled by Terry Coulter; Bellar's Gabby, owned by Russ Bellar, Peru, handled by Scott Engle; Outlaw Josie Wells, owned and handled by Sherman Frost, Ravenel, S.C.; Holding's Northern Rocket, owned and handled by Alan Holding, Fishers; Little Girl, owned and handled by Jason Cooper, Demotte, Ind.; Hawk's Go Max Go, owned by Delbert Hawkins, Russellville, handled by Jeff Jackson; Dickerson's Tar Heel Ruby, owned by Jess Dickerson and Russ Meyer, Garden City, Mo., handled by Jess Dickerson; Nothing Fancy, owned by Vannie Griggs and Kevin Self, Morgantown, Ind., handled by Vannie Griggs; Gunsmoke, owned and handled Leon Childers, Fairborn; Downtown Brown, owned by Carlton Mitchell and Thomas Mitchell, Lynchburg, Va., handled by Rick Stretch; and Millcreek Molly, owned by Larry Weaver, Fredericksburg, Ohio, handled by Chris Allen.
On the Net:
www.akccoonhounds.org
