Jan Wagner joins board; Sara Brokaw and Christina Wessel recognized with awards
TCOTC members elected Jan Wagner to the board of directors at the club’s January 14 annual meeting. Jan and her four year old pug, Dobby, have been members of TCOTC since 2021, having taken many classes from Competition Bedrock through AKC Canine Good Citizen, Flyball 1-3, Tracking 1 and 2, and, currently, Scentwork 3. Dobby competes on the club flyball team, TCOTC High Spirits, and hopes to compete in Scentwork soon.
Jan was an attorney practicing corporate and commercial law for 22 years before retiring in 2011. In 2012 she enrolled in The Atelier School of Fine Arts and spent 4 years studying drawing and oil painting. She enjoys still life, portrait and, when the weather is perfect (rarely), plein aire painting. She has donated custom pet portraits to the TCOTC High Spirits raffle to benefit the club for the past three years and hopes everyone will continue to support the raffle.
Jan and her husband, Joe (who is frequently drafted as flyball timer and equipment repair person for the team), Dobby, and their cat, Artie, live in Minneapolis. They have two sons – both dog owners – and two grandchildren. We are excited to add Jan’s expertise and creativity to the board!
Also at the annual meeting, Sara Brokaw was named the 2024 recipient of the Dale Weyhrich Spirit Award, and Christina Wessel was named 2024 Volunteer of the Year.
The Dale Weyhrich Spirit Award honors an instructor who embodies the best of Dale’s character: encouraging others to have fun with their dogs, and motivating people to be active members of our community. As a member for 10 years, Sara certainly exemplifies this. She began assisting with various obedience classes at TCOTC in 2021 and became an instructor in 2023, teaching Rally Obedience classes. Sara also developed the curriculum for TCOTC’s Canine Scent Work program, which she leads. Her nominator says, “Sara has been fantastic at supporting students and staff at TCOTC in learning about scentwork and rally. She encourages students to learn about their dog, and watch and “listen” to their dog to support and bring out the best of their dog.” In fact, a number of her students have quickly achieved titles in NACSW, CPE, and AKC scent work. In addition, Sara regularly volunteers for obedience, rally, and scent work events, and is always looking for opportunities to advance her students’ and their dogs’ success. Congratulations, Sara!
The Volunteer of the Year is nominated by the membership and selected by the board of directors. Christina’s nominator cited her strong dedication to helping her students achieve in the agility arena, and her skilled and innovative style of instruction. Christina has been a member of TCOTC since 2013 when she took her tentative first step into the sport of agility with her first Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Nikko. She was immediately hooked by the strong bond formed with the dog and the intellectual challenge of training skills and strategizing courses. Christina, now with two more Tollers (Sole and Presto), competes in AKC and UKI and has earned her way into Finals at multiple national competitions. She has been an agility instructor at TCOTC since 2016 and particularly enjoys working with young dogs and new handlers just discovering the joy of agility for themselves. Congratulations, Christina!
We also congratule to the following members who also received nominations: Susanne Jones, Shari Gross, Karen Radford, Elektra Wrenholt, and Sara Zislin. TCOTC is fortunate to have you as members and volunteers!
