Lone Star Bulldog Club History
The Club was organized September 12,1948 and the Constitution and By-Laws were approved and adopted at the meeting of members on May 2, 1950. Mr. F. K. Welch was elected as the first president and there were eleven charter members. They were: Mr. & Mrs. Max Chenault, Mr. A. H. Falace, Mrs. Sadie Groves, Mr. J. L. Harvey, Mr. & Mrs. D. L. Mitchell, Mr. F. K. Welch and Mr. E. S. Winfield. Ed Winfield was active in the club until his latter years. He passed away in 1997.
The Club held its first sanctioned match December 31, 1949 and had 55 entries. Our first pointed show was February 5, 1950. From an entry of 36 dogs Judge Paul Maddox picked as Best of Breed Ch. Wixey owned by Dr. Malcom Phelps (Maxmal Kennels, Reg.) of El Reno, Oklahoma.
The Bulldog Club of America was reorganized and a new constitution and by-laws was signed into effect on February 13, 1950. Following the rebirth of BCA and in accordance with it constitution and by-laws, it was necessary that the club be organized on a seven divisional basis. Since Lone Star Bulldog Club was in Texas we became part of Division 4 and was one of the three clubs in the Division. Bulldog Club of Denver and Bulldog Club of Texas were the other two clubs.
In 1952 the club put on a very successful BCA national show. Dr. John Elvin of California judged it and there was an entry of 130 including 28 champions. It must have been a huge responsibility for a club this young to put on a National Show. One of Lone Star’s members, Hertha Alexander took Winners Dog with her Alexander’s Angel Face. Mrs. Alexander was the breeder and handler of Angel Face.
As other clubs were formed in Texas, our out-of-town members dropped their membership in Lone Star and joined a club nearer to where they lived. Even with this loss our membership continued to grow and by 1955 it was up to 88 members. The Fort Worth Bulldog was organized in 1955 and most of their members came from Lone Star’s membership. Some kept their membership in LSBC and were members of both clubs. Others chose to only be members of their local club.
Lone Star put on another BCA National show in the Fall of 1958. The club had less than $200 in their bank account and it was amazing that the members were able to do it. One of our members, George Maultsby, owned a tool and die shop and made the trophies. They were walnut plaques with a copper bulldog head that he stamped out in his shop. There were two trophies for each placement—one with the outline of Texas and the second with a star outline. The show was held at Fair Park and was judged by Ernest Chang from Hawaii. This was the first National won with Ch. Vardona’s Frosty’s Snowman. We put on a banquet and the entertainment consisted of the Maultsby’s little girl’s dance class doing the hula.
Since our first match, we have continued to put on matches and specialty shows each year. In the 1950’s the city of Dallas would let us use their park facilities for dog shows. They charged the club $5 to use Kidd Springs for our matches and specialties, but there was no heat or air conditioning. When it was hot we opened up the sides of the building so the air could circulate and we closed them when it was cold and kept warm the best way we could. Since there we no restaurants near by, the club members donated food that was sold to help make money and also for the convenience of the exhibitors.
The monthly meetings have been traditionally on Sunday afternoon with a potluck lunch prior to the meeting. We had several members who drove long distances to attend the club’s meetings, especially Ed and Myrtle Winfield, who came from Gatesville. Over the years we have tried to have our meetings at other times, but it never seemed to work out and we always went back to Sunday afternoon.
The club has had a monthly newsletter for many year, which sometimes was full of news and sometimes was nothing more than a postcard that notified us of the meeting. However, it has developed into a prize-winning publication and has received National Recognition in 1995 and again in 1998 as the Best Bulldog Publication in the country. It won Honorable mention in 2002 and 2003.
The club began giving a Bulldogger of the Year award in 60’s that was for the member that the club members felt had contributed the most to the club for that year. The Lifetime membership was first given out in the 70’s and Ed Winfield and Juanita Chenault were the first recipients.
In 1982 we hosted another BCA National Show and drew an entry of 242 dogs, which was the largest entry at a National up to that time. C.D. Richardson judged the Dogs and Best of Breed and Nancy Harrison did the Bitches. He picked Lodel’s HiJacker of Kralan owned by Nan Burke of San Antonio. Nan was one of our first members.
Lone Star started a bulldog rescue program in 1993 that has proved to be very successful. Our goal is that no bulldog will be put down at a shelter without an attempt to save it.
The club has held a Sanctioned B and Futurity Match each year. The futurity is for members only and the puppies are nominated for the futurity before they are born. All puppies that were born the previous year are eligible for competition.
Our Guidelines for Ethics was approved in 1997 and is a part of this web site. It is very enlightening about the club’s goals and our responsibilities to bulldogs.
The club has tried to keep up and progress with the times so in 1997 a Web Page was started on the Internet. This has called attention to bulldogs in general and our club in particular.
Over the past fifty years this club has strived to educate its members and the public about bulldogs. The work is never done and it is hoped that we can continue to do so for another 50 years.