Begin with the end in mind.

The Hall of Fame trials have become a staple to our sport. But were it not for the vision and tenacity of Jim Lightfoot – I would submit; might never have happened.

There were 68 owners of 198 entries, 7 pro’s – Todd Agnew and Brent
LeMaster were in attendance prior to turning pro.

The event took place February 7-10 in
LaGrange, Tennessee. There was heavy snowfall the evening of the banquet. By mid morning the next day, it had melted. “Tennesseeians” were introduced to both the
ringneck pheasant and the English Springer Spaniel.

2025 will mark the 20th anniversary.

Over the years I have heard recounts of “how the Hall of Fame trial” came about – some of it folklore.

The following is an account of how it came to be. I have a great recall of the event because I was there and I lived it.

The story begins (at least my part in the story) in October of 2005 at a field trial in
Michigan. I was chatting with the late Jim Lightfoot in the parking lot. Jim shared his idea of a Hall of Fame field trial that would take place around the time and location of the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Although Jim’s enthusiasm was palpable, he had recently been let down by the news of Doug Miller taking ill. You see it was Doug whom
Jim was counting on for help. Hearing some of Jim’s thoughts and how “developed” the idea was – I told Jim I thought it was a great idea and perhaps one-day it might happen.

Jim’s key points behind the idea were 1) draw an audience to our Spaniel hall
of fame induction ceremony – which we were a new breed for the museum. 2) It could draw people from multiple interclubs, have great participation and become a mini-National. 3) it could introduce Spaniels to a region of the country that was unfamiliar
with the breed.

That Sunday night – upon arriving home from the Michigan trial; my wife told me that a ‘Jim Lightfoot’ was trying to reach me. Had I known what I was in for.. I might not have returned the call!

You see Jim had taken his idea – dream back off the shelf. Jim described a schedule leading up to February. I inserted, “you mean February 2007”?
“No this February” Jim said. I said “but Jim you are at square one and February is not that far off”.

Jim’s response, “that’s why I am calling you – If you will help we can do it”. I
was so intrigued and could not say “no”. Jim Lightfoot was an on point kind of guy; and a man who got involved – and I was sure there were “haters” out there; but that is the risk he was willing to take for this vision he had. From the moment I agreed to help Jim was on the phone with me constantly. Within a month we had built a framework for the
trial. There were some major loose ends like: the Parent Club – whose license Jim
intended on using; was not onboard. We did not have grounds, they didn’t know what a pheasant was in Tennessee, and – aside from Jim and I; we hade no committee…no help.

So we began plucking away at it. Jim contacted a hotel we could use for headquarters;
the Hampton Inn in Holly Springs, MS; and a family restaurant near Grand Junction that could host a banquet, along with other locals who could help.

As the Ames Plantation -the site of the Bird Dog National Championship; was right there near Grand Junction;
we had a list of names that we could call for help. One man in particular agreed to
locate a number of farms with good cover for us to look at – grounds that they routinely used for birddog trials. It had occurred to me that perhaps the Ames Plantation could be used – if properly coordinated with the Birddog Nationals.
There was the looming problem of acquiring licensing from the Parent Club. Without going into great detail.. there was the problem of putting on a “Parent Club” event outside of New York, relationship issues with Jim himself and so on. Steve Beyer was the Parent Club V.P. on the field side and was for the idea. Steve acted as a liaison – smoothing things over; and ultimately the licensing was granted by the Parent Club on a conditional basis. Conditions included that the Parent club license would not be guaranteed for future events, that efforts would be made to establish a “new” club or
involve another host club. In any event the hurdle had been cleared and we were full steam ahead.

Next up was a trip to Grand Junction to look at grounds. Jim had made contact with anactive trialer in the area who had lined a number of areas for us to look at – areas that their groups conducted trials on – areas that had good cover. Attempting to coordinate a convenient date for a group of people on short notice is not easy to do. On my end, my wife and I had already made a commitment months in advance to raise funds for the
Leukemia/Lymphoma Society at a 1/2 marathon in Phoenix, Arizona – while visiting an old high school friend. So the day after the event I caught a flight to Memphis and Jim picked me up at the airport. Steve Beyer flew in as well and we all rendezvoused in Grand Junction where we were joined by the gentleman who was to show us the grounds – I’ll refer to him as John Doe as I can’t recall his name. John Doe was gracious enough to chaperone and show us around. So we piled into his ancient Chevy
Suburban.. and I do mean ancient. To this day I recall the condition of the vehicle. Duct tape holding the seats together, rusted out tire wells, thick dust and grime everywhere; and as we pulled out, the rocking sensation of a small boat entering rough water. In other words.. a typical dog trialers vehicle. John was clearly excited to have us in Grand Junction, and excited to be showing us nice fields – and oddly enough; excited that he would “putting on the event”. You see another hurdle was that -somewhere
along the line of communications with Jim; John Doe had gotten the impression that he would be the event coordinator, the Grand Poobah.
.
The first field we came to look good from afar. But as we parked and walked closer
something wasn’t right. The cover was a good mix of grasses but there were lanes cut every which way. In trying imagine how I might stake a course, there was no way to get a single flag length without multiple paths to negotiate. John Doe explained that those cuts were typical for Birddog trials. It allows the Pointers to lockdown a Quail in a patch
of cover, while everyone else could walk on the paths. I could only envision these paths as “pheasant express lanes”! By the time John Doe took us to 3 farms – all diced up like checker boards; we began to think we had a problem.

Clearly birddog people were not aware of the nature of our trials and the undisrupted cover that we required. Another hurdle! In explaining this to John Doe, we were faced with the possibility of a wasted trip because every piece of property lined up for us to look at was the same set up.

We must have had a Guardian Angel along because as we were driving along the backroads of LaGrange, TN we happened to come across a 100 acres of – what looked like: beautiful undisturbed fields. “Stop the car”, “this is what we are looking for”. We exited the car and strategically walked the field. Steve Beyer started at one end, me at the other and we’d meet in the middle. We agreed it was nice cover but were a little concerned about getting far enough off the road for safe shooting. By the time we returned to the car. Jim and John had the land owners contact information and we phoned him on the spot. A pleasant Tennessee gentleman answered the phone and gave us permission sight unseen over the phone. He said in passing that he knew a fellow land owner who had similar fields, and more of them – “Jim Cowan’s his name” the man said.

We were given the address and off we went. When we arrived it was like standing at the Gaits to Field Trial Heaven. Gorgeous mid-shin to mid-thigh cover for as far as the eye could see. The area consisted of 600 acres in total and a chunk of it actually crossed over into Mississippi.

On the spot.., we located a phone number for Jim. I volunteered to make the call to his home. I believe it was his son who answered, “Jim is out of town”, “but here’s his number, you might reach him”.

Next was perhaps one of the funniest/interesting phone calls I have ever made. Making the phone call in the field from LaGrange, TN.. Jim answers the call in SanDiego, CA where he is at the airport to pick up his “mail order bride” – his words Lol, Lol. True story. Jim had a big sense of humor, and a strong southern accent. Trying to describe the nature of what we wanted to do and ask permission to use his property by phone was a little tricky. But turns out Jim was quite interested and generous. He granted us permission to run the trials on his property, without many questions or convincing…must have been the Southern Hospitality we often hear about.
I have heard versions of the story where there was another piece of property we had permission to use and it was burned off or mowed, and that was what led us to Jim Cowan.

What we experienced was that in Grand Junction, TN you were in birddog country. They were not at all familiar with Flushing dogs. Nor were they familiar with pheasants. But as we now had grounds we began the process of soliciting some local help. We found that people in the area were excited about this new thing involving “flushing dogs and pheasants”.
I had the wild idea of importing pheasants from Elk Ridge in Bucyrus, OH all the way to Grand Junction, TN. We lined up Bruce Kephart from PA to plant the trials. Lea Ames came on board as gun captain. Connie Kieckhefer stepped in as head marshal, with help from Danelle Oliver, Billie Jo Hopkins and Sharon Mueller. Larry Oliver took on
game steward duties.. a big job because of the need to keep the birds fed and well
hydrated for the duration. Social events were coordinated by Dave Hopkins, and Tim Edwards did photography. John Leininger and Bob Mueller judged the first event and Tom Bratrad and I judged the second. It seemed it was coming together.

As the inaugural HOF trial proceeded the days of the Atv’s we arranged a tractor drawn hay wagon as a means to transport handlers and spectators back and forth. The trials began on time and ran like clockwork. The cover was excellent, the birds really performed. Gunning was exceptional. There was a genuine sense that everything was in sync. By the events end there was a tremendous feeling of accomplishment.

From time to time I reflect on that under taking in the category of “fond memories”. For those involved – it was a grandiose idea, a labor of love, and in the end…a highly successful event that would live on for many, many years.