‘Thriving’ club ready for centennial trials

The two-day Tarras Collie Dog Club centennial trials begins in Central Otago tomorrow. Shawn McAvinue talks to members about the preparations for the centennial including a facelift of their clubrooms.

The community is set to get in behind the two-day Tarras Collie Dog Club centennial trials beginning in Central Otago tomorrow.

Lindis Downs owner and club member Gus Chapman-Cohen runs deer and about 2000 fine wool merino ewes and hoggets on his 1200ha farm.

The clubrooms and four courses lie on the farm in Lindis Valley, about 6km north of Tarras.

"We enjoy supplying the land and the sheep — it’s a good community event everyone gets behind."

The club was "thriving" and its members included many young triallists, Mr Chapman-Cohen said.

An about $17,000 renovation of the clubrooms was finished about a month ago, including a concrete floor, new windows, a roller door and bi-fold door.

"We are trying to get it bird proof."

About 20mm of rain had fallen the night before Southern Rural Life visited the clubroom and the facility appeared to also be watertight.

Club life member Peter "PL" Anderson (83), of Wanaka, said he would be the oldest member competing at the centennial trials.

He had lived most of his life farming in Tarras.

When he joined the club at age 15, he was working as a cowboy with a couple of dogs at merino stud Malvern Downs.

The clubrooms were on Malvern Downs between 1949 and 2015 and moved to Lindis Downs, due to the installation of pivot irrigators.

"Both landowners the club’s had in my time have been absolutely brilliant to work with."

A big difference in the sport since he started was the rise in the number of women competing "with very good dogs".

Hopefully the centennial trials would attract up to 100 competitors in each class.

He enjoyed competing at the Tarras trials because the sheep in the hunt courses "give you a fair go".

"They take to the hill and they are good to hunt on."

Club president Justin Willson, of Lindis Pass, agreed.

"The sheep are always in good nick and nice and strong."

The prize money for winners of each class section had been increased to $100 this year to celebrate the centennial.

The cookhouse, which operates inside a modified shipping container, would feature some new technology this year.

"The girls are getting a big gas oven. Everyone gets rung up for a leg of meat and a salad and they put it together and serve it up."

Money raised from the food served from the cookhouse would be given to Friends of Tarras School.

Former Allied Press journalist Dave Cannan, who was born and raised in the Tarras area, had compiled and edited a centennial book Wayleggo! 100 Years of the Tarras Collie Dog Club 1923-2023, Mr Willson said.

"Dave’s been the driving force behind the book — he’s been great."

The book showcases club stalwarts including past club presidents R. K. Smith and Kenny Munro, club patron Gordon Lucas and long-serving secretaries Bill Gibson and his then daughter-in-law Jan Gibson.

At the centennial trial, plates made by late club member Colin "Potter" Pledger would be given to winning competitors.

Before losing his battle with cancer in 2017, Mr Pledger made plates to be given to the top open heading and huntaway dog and the top local heading and huntaway dog up to the 2026 trials.

Club life member Noel ‘‘Beau’’ Trevathan, of Ardgour Valley, said former president Lyn Haynes would travel from North Canterbury to be at the centennial trial.

‘‘We were the first club in New Zealand to have a female president."

A highlight of the club’s history was four helicopter pilots competing to herd three sheep through two courses — the short head and yard and the long head — in 2008.

"Those helicopters were put well beyond the limits of what Frank Robinson intended them to do."

Mr Trevathan attended his first trial at the club about 70 years ago.

He was the club’s bar manager for about 30 years and fondly recalls serving triallists wearing sports coats and ties.

"The stories I heard were delightful."

Tarras Collie Dog Club timeline

1922: First dog trials held at Cluden Station woolshed on May 5.

1923: Tarras club formed in March. R K Smith elected first president.

1937: Last trials held before club goes into recess for World War 2.

1944: Trials resume at Deep Creek in April.

1945: Huntaway section attracts 67 entries, believed to be a club record for the South Island, possibly New Zealand, according to an Otago Daily Times report. Trophies contested for the first time include the R.K. Smith Memorial Cup and the H. Gibson Memorial Cup.

1949: New course used at Malvern Downs.

1954: Club builds new kitchen.

1963: Otago Championships held in conjunction with Tarras trials at Malvern Downs.

1972: 50th jubilee trials held on four courses at Malvern Downs.

1974: Otago Sheep Dog Trial Association championships at Malvern Downs and Lindis Downs.

1974: Club cookhouse burns down.

1983: Annual trials attract a record 110 entries in Class 1.

1997: 75th Jubilee trials held at Malvern Downs.

2006: Otago Centre runs Tux Otago Championships at Malvern Downs and Lindis Downs.

2015: Last trials held at Malvern Downs. All events held since at Gus Chapman-Cohen’s Lindis Downs property.

2017: Gordon Lucas elected patron of club.

2018: Otago Centre championships held at Tarras.

2020: Trials cancelled because of Covid-19.

2023: Centennial trials held.

SOURCE: Wayleggo! 100 Years of the Tarras Collie Dog Club 1923-2023.

shawn.mcavinue@alliedpress.co.nz