The Great Smoky Mountain Cluster

The Great Smoky Mountain Cluster

Since its founding in 1934, the Tennessee Valley Kennel Club has hosted annual dog shows inside the Jacobs Building at Chilhowee Park in Knoxville, Tennessee—with very few exceptions. Eventually, the Oak Ridge Kennel Club joined with the Tennessee Valley Kennel Club to form the current Great Smoky Mountain Cluster of shows.

The Jacob’s Building, the host site, has been listed as a National Historic Building. Chilhowee Park hosts numerous types of events throughout the year and has been the home of the Tennessee Valley Fair for 114 consecutive years. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the Knoxville City government had announced an ambitious expansion and improvement plan for Chilhowee Park. However, as we have learned from other cases, the post-COVID world has brought about significant changes. In Knoxville, one of those changes occurred at the Mayor’s Office and City Council.

As a result, and without the input of the citizens of Knoxville and the many organizations that have called the Jacob’s Building and Chilhowee Park home for decades, the City has leased the Jacobs Building to the “MUSE,” a Children’s museum with a location already within the park, leaving the many tenants as well as the Tennessee Valley Fair without its only viable exhibition building on site.

Just three weeks before our recent show, the cluster, as well as the Fair and all other users of the facility, was informed that it would no longer be available as of June 30, 2026, leaving not only the Fair but also all other tenants with the task of finding another location to host their shows.

The voting to allow the “MUSE” to take over the Jacob’s Building was performed by the Mayor and the City Council under the cover of darkness, without any notice to the Fair and the numerous groups that use the facility. The City is also attempting to sell a large parcel of the park to a Christian Youth Center, but the residents have become aware of the plan and are working diligently to defeat that proposal.

As I have mentioned in the past, locating and finding suitable locations for dog shows is an issue that the clubs which make up the cluster are now facing.

The 2025 Edition

Thankfully, we were able to host the 2025 shows as planned, and they were again a huge success.

In 2024, the cluster weekend just happened to coincide with Hurricane Helene that landed a mere 40-50 miles to the east of the showgrounds, but definitely had an effect as numerous exhibitors had to leave on Saturday to check on their homes in the affected areas, and many others were forced to use a lot of alternate routes to get to their homes east of Knoxville.

In 2025, entries were down by about 100 dogs, which some attributed to people remembering the 2024 storms or many exhibitors heading to the Morris and Essex site which started the following week.

For those who did participate, it was the fun-filled weekend most have come to expect from this cluster—their usual mix of oldies to current music playing all weekend. The exhibitors tell us that the music is one of their favorite parts of the show.

This year, we had three clubs that each held four Concurrent Specialties. Exhibitors of Collies, Newfoundlands, and Vizslas had eight separate opportunities to show their dogs, and the Vizslas also added their Futurity and Maturity to round out the Specialty weekend.

The cluster featured large rings, a wonderful mix of judges, including newer judges, breeder-judges, and seasoned all-rounders. The Groups were highly competitive, as were many of the individual breeds.

The cluster held a Chuck-A-Duck on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday to raise funds for Take the Lead.

Also held was the ever-popular “Pee Wee” class on Saturday, with participants receiving a wonderful packet that included a book and other items. One young gentleman stood out in his handsome tuxedo. Hopefully, all will continue on and eventually become our future stars.

Another special part of the cluster is its dedication to the Junior Handlers. Along with the daily competition, the winners from each day are invited back to compete on Sunday for the “Best of the Best” competition, offering even more fabulous prizes.

Club members David and Tami Bradford started a new tradition a couple of years ago, and the cluster offers a “FREE JUNIOR CLOSET” where the Juniors can shop for new outfits for their wardrobe. David and Tami work year-round to collect, gather, store, and display a unique boutique for the Juniors to shop at, with there being “No Charge” for their outfits. It is rewarding to see the Juniors get new clothes and proudly wear them the following days.

Both the Oak Ridge and Tennessee Valley Kennel Clubs have worked well, with many members of both clubs serving as volunteers to make life easier for our exhibitors and ensure they feel at home.

Both clubs offer “Hand Made” pottery from Fowler’s Clay Works in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Many exhibitors love the pottery, and the prizes for both the regular and Owner-Handled Groups are the same, which is very important to the owner-handlers who often express feelings like being stepchildren when it comes to recognition, trophies, and rosettes.

A special highlight on Saturday during the Groups was the presentation by the AKC to former club member Jim Noe, who received a plaque recognizing his 50 years of service to the sport as an AKC Judge.

There were plenty of vendors, as well as a Heart and Eye Clinic for exhibitors to take advantage of.

The cluster was also fortunate to have Tara Martin-Rowell as the AKC Field Representative on site, as her cheerful smile and welcoming disposition helped answer questions for the general public and anyone else who had concerns. I do not know how the Reps are compensated, but she was there every morning, bright and early, and stayed until after the completion of Best in Show each day. Those are long hours for everyone at the show, but I hope AKC and the fancy appreciate all that these individuals bring to the table.

One thing I still do not understand about the AKC is that when there is a hearing or an incident, the club is required to submit its written report within five days. The reports cannot be submitted by email, so if something happens on Thursday or Friday, it means the report must be at AKC by Tuesday. This way, when the volunteers are exhausted from the weekend, someone has the task of completing the reports and “overnighting” them to AKC. FedEx overnight is not cheap. We know from experience that many people at the AKC offices are not known for prompt attention or replies to the clubs. Why not make it a 10-day window, and why not allow it to be done by email? Just wondering.

The Great Smoky Mountain Cluster 2025 was another huge success. What will 2026 bring? We still do not know, but I assure exhibitors that the clubs are working hard to relocate and will continue to offer a great show in the shadow of the Great Smoky Mountains.