Every year, during the 3rd weekend in August, collie lovers from near and far make the journey to Sunnybank. They come to attend “The Gathering of Collies.” Sunnybank was the home of famous author, Albert Payson Terhune, his wife, and their beloved collies. Many collie lovers have spent countless hours enjoying the books written by Terhune about the adventures of his collies. Of course some of the stories are fictional and some are true, but they were all based on the real collies of Sunnybank. Lad, Bruce, Wolf, Grey Dawn, Jean and Treve, and many others, all romped and played on the banks of Sunnybank. They swam in the waters of the “fire blue lake,” walked the grounds and snoozed on the veranda while the sun warmed their beautiful collie fur.
 |
| Photo courtesy of TSM |
The Master and the Mistress are long gone, as are those legendary collies, but the grounds of Sunnybank remain. The property has been turned into a park, and collie lovers can walk the pathways, visit the graves of the famous Sunnybank collies, and get lost in the beauty of the past. And during “The Gathering,” Sunnybank is once again filled with a multitude of beautiful collies, and a chorus of their joyful voices fills the air. While the original Sunnybank collies are no longer with us, they are not completely lost to us.
The Sunnybank collies not only graced the pages of Terhune’s books, they became an important part of the history of the American collie. All American bred collies are related to the Sunnybank collies if you look back far enough in their pedigrees. I have traced my own collies pedigrees back to the Sunnybank Collies, but this year Krissy Marshall, of the Terhune Sunnybank Memorial, was offering to create a keepsake. She traced our collies’ pedigrees back to the Sunnybank collies as a fundraiser for TSM. I decided it would be a wonderful way to not only support TSM, but a great way to honor the collies I loved so much.
 |
| Peyton (and her puppies) & Addison |
 |
| Rosie |
 |
| Nolan |
 |
| ZuZu |
Fortunately we live close to Sunnybank, and this weekend we will be making the trek to Sunnybank. On Saturday we will have two of our older collies with us, and on Sunday we will be bringing our puppies. We will take lots of pictures, and write a post about our time there. For those who want to learn more about Terhune, Sunnybank and the collies, I’ll link my previous posts below. I also wanted to share our newest picture of the puppies, as they will be turning 7 weeks old tomorrow!
 |
| Morgan on the left, Rory is on the right |
