Our Sunnybank Weekend

This year we once again attended The Gathering at Sunnybank.  But this year we proudly came home with exciting news!

Phoebe (left) and Maizie (right)

By the graves of some of the Sunnybank collies

My daughter and Grandson

On Saturday, both Maizie and Phoebe passed the Therapy Dog test!  They can both help fill all the requests we get for visits!  The ladies doing the testing gave me so many compliments on their wonderful temperaments.

Photo courtesy of Roseann Cyngier

On Sunday the Collie Health Foundation held their puppy match.  A match is different from a show, as it’s held just for fun and to help puppies learn how to compost future shows.  We brought both Rory and Morgan, and they did amazing on the long drive to Sunnybank.

Rory 

At the match, the girls made us so proud!  Before the official puppy match began, they hold a “Virtues Match.”  You can choose from Best Front, Best Rear, Best Gait, Best Expression, and a few others.  As collies are judged mainly on their beautiful expressions, a win under the  Best Expression judging is coveted.  And this year our beautiful Rory was awarded Best Expression by the respected panel of judges!

Morgan

Then during the official puppy match that followed the virtues match, our Morgan won 1st place in her age group by Judge Gerry Oliver! (And Rory came in 2nd, showing how similar and consistent these puppies are!) We were so excited and honored by these wins, and can’t wait to see what the future holds for these two beautiful puppies!

It was an unforgettable weekend for us, and one we will never forget!

Our visit to Sunnybank

We made the trek to Sunnybank, and it was just as special as all the past visits to the “collie Mecca.”  There were friends, laughter, the beautiful grounds, the fire blue lake…and the collies.  The excitement we feel as we turn onto the long driveway of Sunnybank never lessens, no matter how many times we visit.

The town, who maintains Sunnybank, made some big changes to the property.  They cleared many trees and growth from the edge of the property, which opened up the beautiful view of the lake.  Looking back at pictures of Sunnybank during Terhune’s time, I think this was what the property looked like in the 1920s and 30s.  But the border along the lake was never cleared in any of my visits, so it was a bit of an adjustment.  It did look beautiful, just not what any of us were used to seeing.

With the lake now clearly visible, ducks are now visiting Sunnybank, which greatly amused my grandsons

I was originally planning to have Rosie take the therapy dog test and the canine good citizen test, but while I was running her through the different test exercises for practice, I realized she just isn’t quite ready.  Sits and downs aren’t something we focus on when training a dog for the show ring, as you don’t want the dog to do either while the judge is examining them.  But every time I asked Rosie do something, smart little Sorsha was right behind her, showing me that she knew how to do it!  Since she was so well trained by my daughter, and since Sorsha was so eager to show what she could do, my daughter took her in for the two tests.  Sorsha passed them both!  What a good girl!  Now my daughter has her own therapy collie, so she can go on visits with me.

Rosie will take the therapy test eventually, she has the perfect temperament for it.  But she needs some more practice on sits and downs.  For now, we will concentrate on her show career. (Once her coat comes back in, she’s naked right now.) And Rosie is still very young, she won’t even be 2 years old until New Year’s Eve, so there is plenty of time.

Sunnybank is such a treasure for collie lovers, as well as the fans of Albert Payson Terhune’s books.  I am so grateful it was saved, and that we can visit it whenever we choose.  The graves of all the past Sunnybank collies are still there, and we always visit them.

Sorsha by Lad’s grave

To get to experience The Gathering in person, while so many can’t, is something I never take for granted.  

As we lost our beautiful Kori this past May, we included her in the memorial.  It’s always so sad, hearing all the names of the collies lost over the last year while the bagpiper plays in the background.  And this year was especially heartbreaking, as our Kori was included in that list.

So another Gathering at Sunnybank has ended, but next August, we will return, and once again join in the celebration of the collie and Terhune.  If you love collies, and are able to make it to Sunnybank, I hope you seize the opportunity.

The Gathering of Collies…

It’s that time of year, the time when collie lovers gather from near and far, to celebrate their love of the collie.  Each year, on the third weekend in August, the Collie Health Foundation hosts The Gathering at Sunnybank.  What and where is Sunnybank?  Back in the 1920s and 1930s the famous author, Albert Payson Terhune, wrote many books about his beloved collies.  His home was called Sunnybank, and it was located in Wayne, New Jersey.  His collies, called the Sunnybank Collies, lived on the estate and their many adventures, both real and fictitious, were the subject of Terhune’s beloved stories.   

Terhune and three of his collies, Bruce, Wolf and Lad

The Sunnybank collies were real, and their graves can still be found at Sunnybank today.  The home and barn are gone now, but the property remains and has been turned into a park.  It’s there, at the Sunnybank park, that the Gathering is held.  During the weekend there are guest speakers, covering a wide range of topics, from collie history to collie health issues.  There is also an auction held with collie books, memorabilia, paintings, and so much more.  On Saturday they hold a memorial, with a bagpiper playing a lonesome tune, to remember the collies that have passed away.  They also offer a walking tour of the grounds, as well as therapy dog and CGC tests.  On Sunday they hold a puppy match, where breeders can show their new collie puppies, gently teaching them how to be show dogs one day.

Items from a past auction

For collie lovers, The Gathering brings everyone together to socialize, search for items to add to their collie collections, add a new title, and maybe learn something new from the guest speakers.  But it also gives us the chance to remember the collies of the past, both the Sunnybank collies and our own.  To walk the grounds of Sunnybank, surrounded by hundreds of beautiful collies, while hearing their joyous barks fill the air, can be a magical experience.  It is something every collie lover should get to experience at least once in their lifetime.

This Saturday we will be heading to The Gathering, and we can’t wait to walk the grounds that the Sunnybank collies and Terhune once called home.  We will be sitting by the “fire-blue lake,” as described by Terhune.  We will be petting all the collies, visiting with friends, and maybe trying to find something to add to our own collie collection.  I’ve written numerous posts about Sunnybank over the years, so I’m including links below.  And hopefully next week I will have a new post with new pictures from Sunnybank to share, so make sure you check back with us!

To learn more about Sunnybank, check out these posts:

Sunnybank Remembered

It All Started with a Book

The Gathering at Sunnybank

Sunnybank, then and now, always beloved

Sunnybank (2016)

Sunnybank Revisted

Sunnybank (2012)