Learn about the Harvest Moon Classic dog show, its history, events, and how Ryan Horvath & Sandra Pretari Hickson lead it.
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We created the Harvest Moon Classic (HMC) in 2010, a joint effort of Skyline Dog Fanciers of San Mateo County and Del Valle Dog Club of Livermore.
Our cluster is currently held on week 42, typically the third weekend in October, at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, California.
We have held both Show Chair and Assistant Show Chair titles in various iterations between the two clubs for nearly 20 years.
Del Valle was founded in the late 1960s as an obedience club. There were members who wanted more, specifically conformation. The first all-breed conformation shows with obedience were held in the late ‘70s, first at Chabot College in Livermore prior to moving to the Alameda County Fairgrounds where the shows remained until the pandemic when the cluster was priced out. In 1990, the Peninsula Humane Society proposed there’d be no purposeful breeding of dogs and cats until there was a zero pet overpopulation. Given the impossible nature of that goal, the dog people of San Mateo County where PHS was located banded together and founded Responsible Dog Breeders of San Mateo County.
After two years, the legislation was overturned and AKC rewarded the club for its work and it became Skyline Dog Fanciers of San Mateo County. The club held their all-breed shows at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds until AKC moved their annual show onto our weekend in Southern California. Skyline Dog Fanciers then joined with Contra Costa County KC to create Woofstock, and after two years, joined with Del Valle to become the Harvest Moon Classic which is now held at its permanent site in Santa Rosa at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.
We’ve developed quite a robust group of volunteers to head the various committees needed to put on the show. With that, we could always use more help in assisting our capable members in lightening their load. We, as Show Chairs, manage the various volunteers, and in some instances paid support, to take the lead on the various aspects needed to put on a multi-day cluster. We pride ourselves in trusting those assigned to a task, such as Vendor Chair, Hospitality, etc., to manage their aspect of the show, knowing that we’re always available to help out. We also hold several committee chair meetings throughout the year to allow everyone to get together and provide an update on where things stand in their respective departments and provide feedback and support as needed.
We do our best to offer as much as we can to our exhibitors to maximize the time and money spent in supporting our shows. We were fortunate to host the West Coast Regional NOHS event. As soon as NOHS was available to be offered by all-breed clubs, HMC has offered this to our exhibitors. We also added the 4-6 Month Beginner Puppy Competition as well. We realize the availability of matches has decreased over the years and felt this was a great addition to the show. Additionally, our Specialty Chair has worked hard to maintain and grow our supported entry and specialty club support during our cluster. We’ve been fortunate to host many local specialties as well as a consistent show of national specialties through the years. In addition, we’ve added classes for our FFS/MISC breeds for the first time in 2024.
We’ve prided ourselves on always offering Obedience and Rally with our shows and have received excellent feedback from exhibitors who appreciate our indoor, fully-matted rings. In addition, we’ve got Agility, Fast CAT, and Scentwork on the grounds. We’ve received support to manage some additional events including ATT, CGC, and Trick Dog, which in its first year was a great success. We’re always open to continuing adjunct events to our all-breed conformation shows and can always use support in assisting with the events.
The Show Chairs work with our Judge’s Selection Chair to manage our panel. Our Specialty Coordinator works with the specialty clubs to ensure their recommendations are taken into account and to provide currently hired judges who they can use for their specialty. It’s a bit of a shell game and puzzle to meet everyone’s needs, but we find that judges working in their areas of expertise make the exhibitors most happy.
We’re fortunate to have access to the Professional Stewards Association of Northern California. Our show’s former Chief Ring Steward, Kevin Ellingson, has graciously taken on the role of announcer, starting back in 2023, while Laura Lei Strain has stepped in to fill the role.
Our clubs have fairly active memberships, with the majority of members being a part of both clubs in our cluster. Over time, we’ve recruited new members who have been active in the sport and have expressed interest in helping to put on our shows.
We’ve recently bulked up our online presence, primarily using Facebook and all-breed dog publications to get the word out. We also realize that our website needs some TLC and is in the early stages of being revamped.
Putting on a large, multi-day event covering many aspects of the sport has many challenges. As with any volunteer-run event, we’re grateful for everyone who can offer what they’re able to do. We realize that many of our active members have full lives outside of our show and understandably have limits on what can be offered to the show throughout the year. With that said, we do have a core group of volunteers that go above and beyond to ensure our cluster is a success. However, it makes expanding and updating our current events challenging with the limitations based on the time available from our volunteers. We encourage members of the fancy to join a club and give back one weekend to ensure that we’ve got engaging and fun shows to attend throughout the year.
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