Result: Northeast Ohio Field Trial Club

Location: Polk, Pennsylvania

Post Date: Jan 2, 2026

Submitted By: Mark Fernandez

The Northeast Ohio Field Trial Club held it's spring trial at the beautiful Pennsylvania Brittany Clubs property May 16-18. The Brittany Club was established in 1959 and moved to these grounds in Venango County in1964. There are 180 acres of a combination of field, woods and brushy cover and is a great venue to show a hunting shooting dog. There is a converted farm house with a large covered patio that serves as a headquarters and a gathering place along with a barn that has a large quail pen that makes holding and capturing quail very efficient.

Larry Sutter was the driving force leading to the formation of the Northeast Ohio Field Trial Club as he felt Ohio needs a field trial club dedicated to the walking handler and dog. Unfortunately Larry left us too soon but others picked up the baton , most notably Larry's wife, Paula, Giulitto. Paula is the leader that every successful organization requires and has contributed to and supervised every part of running our club and field trials from managing the paper work to preparing food for breakfast lunch and dinner. The other two club members are Chris Jaeger and Mark Fernandez. Chris has a wealth of bird dog and field trial experience, who can fix most things broken and is a tireless and selfless contributor. Mark fills in where needed.

The weather conditions for the trial were variable. The first two days were warm and humid with occasional thunderstorms and the last day was cooler with a nice breeze. There were some wet and muddy areas on the course but these were manageable.

We would like to express our appreciation to Purina and the U.S. Complete Shooting Dog Association for their continued support. A raffle was held that included a bottle of Blueberry Vodka with a sweets and treats basket from Paula, Chris contributed a hand made bell, a tie out stake and lead and a hand crafted cutting board from Mark. We would also like to thank all of those who stepped in to help. Steve Graham helped where needed and brought some killer brownies his wife Karen had sent with him. Michigan Pro, Rich Hollister was our resident mechanic who also helped with the bird planting on Sunday during the Amateur stakes. Joe Cammisa treated everyone with his homemade petzels and they were amazing! Lloyd Schall was a tremendous help planting birds and also judging the Amateur Derby and the Larry Sutter Memorial Amateur Shooting Dog stakes. We are also sincerely grateful for the generosity of Brian Ralph, Russ Fazio, Paula Guilitto and Chris jaeger for the use of their side by sides and 4 wheelers. I'm sure I have missed someone but rest assured your help was appreciated.

We were fortunate to secure judges with many years of bird dog experience both in hunting over their dogs as well as successfully competing with them. We had Jimmy Johnson in the Open Puppy and Shooting Dog stakes, Joe Cammisa in the Open Puppy, Ken DeLong in the Open Shooting Dog and Qualifier, Doug McMillen in the Open and Amateur Derby, Lloyd Schall in the Larry Sutter Memorial Shooting Dog and Amateur Derby and finally Tim Perchke in the Open Derby and the Larry Sutter Memorial Shooting Dog. We sincerely thank all of our judges for donating their time and expertise.

The Open Puppy kicked off the trial on Friday morning with Joe Cammisa and Jimmy Johnson presiding. Taking 1st place was Sunny a little Brittany owned and handled by Kevin Kline. She blistered the course with an always forward application, intelligently hitting the cover with enthusiasm all with eye catching speed. The second place dog was Steve Graham's setter Back Creek Blue. He's a pretty dog to watch run and grabs your attention with a light footed tail cracking gate while demonstrating a speedy reaching race when the cover opened up. 3rd place was awarded to Dixie with Russ Fazio. She hunted well and made some nice moves but not to the extent of the dogs placed above her.

Next up were the Open Shooting dogs with Jimmy Johnson and Ken DeLong judging this high quality 23 dog stake. The judges said this was an extremely competitive stake with a number of outstanding performances. Rising to the top was Double Duce Zeke with Doug McMillen. Zeke is a powerful pointer who showed speed and stamina while always hunting the cover in front of him wasting no moves. He had 4 well located finds with impeccable style and manners. Second place went to another Doug McMillen entry, Double Duce Miles. Miles had a big powerful race and wasn't seen as much as the 1st place dog. He's a very fast dog with a running style that gets your attention. Miles and 2 well executed finds with perfect manners. The yellow was awarded to Gracie Star an English Setter female handled by Robert Ecker. Gracie handled 3 quail with style and maturity. She had a good race but not as consistent as the first two dogs. Rambo with Robert Ecker impressed with his snappy gait and powerful running style. He had 2 finds with one being a well executed relocation.

In the Open Derby, Fearless, a Pointer female handled by Chris Catanzarite earned the Blue ribbon with a standout forward, fast and classy run. She showed maturity in the way she hunted objectives intelligently. These qualities along with 2 broke finds where she stood with impeccable style sealed her win. Second was awarded to Flash an English Setter male handled by Robert Ecker. Flash had one broke find, was light on his feet and had a flashy running style. Third went to Stone a Pointer male handled by Rich Hollister. Stone had a big race with excellent application. His first find was with perfect style and manners in spite of his bracemate's interference which persisted and detracted from his next two bird contacts.

The Shooting Dog Qualifier was won by Island Attraction with Robert Ecker. She is a bird finder and proved it with 3 well spaced finds while topping off her 30 minutes with a classy back. She had a forward race with logical application. Robert was back for the red with Rocky. This Setter male had a more moderate race and one find. Rich Hollister handled Sandy a Pointer female to third place. She had a nice race, is attractive running and had one broke find but was hurt by unproductives.

The seventh Larry Sutter Memorial Amateur Shooting Dog was hotly contested by the 22 quality dogs that competed for the honor to take home the exquisite rotating Memorial Trophy. Coming away with this prestigious win was Double Duce Zeke owned and handled by Doug McMillen. Zeke put down a powerful race and showed consistency in going to logical objectives. He coupled this with 2 perfectly handled finds. The last was to the front inside the woods edge where he was found after a big move. Second went to Sage, another Doug McMillen owned and handled dog, Sage had a solid well applied race coupled with 2 faultlessly handled finds. Third place went to Tess, a Pointer female with Russ Fazio. She had one divided find shortly after the breakaway and a second where after an extended absence she was found pointing a dead bird next to her brace mate. She is a fancy light footed dog who was seen infrequently. An honorable mention this reporter would like to mention is Lucy a Setter female owned and handled by Steve Graham. She had a solid forward flowing 30 minutes with speed and snap. She had 2 finds one requiring a well executed relocation. The bird finder of the stake was Fly handled by proud owner Bob Shoemaker. This was Bob's first field trial and she didn't disappoint him!

The Amateur Derby closed out the trial. We had four dogs in the event so only 2 placements could be awarded but these two quality winners could place in any trial. First went to Rubee a black and white Pointer female owned and handled by Debbie Hornyak. Rubee really catches one's eye as she sails ahead with her light footed and fancy gait. She hunts every jump consistently going to the right spots. Along the way she cared three nice finds. Debbie also got the Red ribbon with her other Pointer, Cassie who had a similar performance as her kennel mate along with three finds and a back. There wasn't much separating these two. They both show promising potential as they move up to Shooting Dog.
Thank you once again to all the handlers, owners, judges and participants for a successful three days of competition. Everyone's hard work and understanding through some difficult situations is appreciated. We hope to see everyone again next year!

Polk, Pa., May 16 - One Course
Judges: Joe Cammisa and Jimmy Johnson
OPEN PUPPY - 4 Pointers, 3 Setters and 1 Brittany
1st-TEXAS SUNRISE, unreg., Brittany female, by Blazer's By You Too-Hystyle Patrice. Kevin Klein, owner and handler.
2d-BACK CREEK BLUE, unreg., setter male, by Tarheel Hunter-Tarheel Attitude. Steve Graham, owner and handler.
3d-HITAIL ROLLING DIXIE, F1714644, pointer female, by Hifives Rolling Stone-Speed Dialing Kaia. Russell Fazio, owner and handler.

Judges: Ken DeLong and Jimmy Johnson
OPEN SHOOTING DOG - 8 Pointers, 13 Setters and 2 Brittanys
1st-DOUBLE DEUCE ZEKE, F1673940, pointer male, by Double Deuce Peter-Funseeker's Holiday. Douglas E. McMillen Jr., owner and handler.
2d-DOUBLE DEUCE MILES, F1691405, pointer male, by Double Deuce Zeke-Bucket List Bella. Douglas E. McMillen Jr., owner and handler.
3d-GRACIE BALLROOM STAR, F1694839, setter female, by Sunrise Star-Lucy Two Star. George Najor, owner; Robert Ecker, handler.

Judges: Doug E. McMillen Jr. and Tim Perschke
OPEN DERBY - 5 Pointers, 2 Setters and 1 Brittany
1st-BACKCOUNTRY FEARLESS, F1705245, pointer female, by Springflow's Backcountry P-Apple Annie's Sweet Delight. Chris Catanzarite, owner and handler.
2d-CLARKS FLASH GORDON, F1704537, setter male, by Sterlingworth Jack-Sarah Star. Philip Clark, owner; Robert Ecker, handler.
3d-DUNROVENS ROLLING STONE, F1705028, setter male, by Crosswind Jim-High Banks Down'n'dirty. Mark & Tony Fernandez, owners; Richard Hollister, handler.

Judges: Tim Perschke and Lloyd Schall
LARRY SUTTER MEMORIAL AMATEUR SHOOTING DOG - 12 Pointers, 7 Setters, 2 Brittanys and 1 Irish Setter
1st-DOUBLE DEUCE ZEKE, F1673940, pointer male, by Double Deuce Peter-Funseeker's Holiday. Douglas E. McMillen Jr., owner and handler.
2d-DOUBLE DEUCE SAGE, F1673986, pointer female, by Double Deuce Peter-Funseeker's Holiday. Douglas E. McMillen Jr., owner and handler.
3d-HYPOINTE MONARCH EXPRESS, F1704239, pointer female, by Springflow's Backcountry P-Apple Annie's Sweet Delight. Nicholas Mellon Jr., owner; Russell Fazio, handler.

Judges: Douglas E. McMillen Jr. and Lloyd Schall
AMATEUR DERBY - 4 Pointers
1st-HACKBERRY'S ELHEW RUBEE, F1704631, pointer female, by Hackberry's Elhew Falco-Hackberry's Addi Blackhawk. Deborah J. Hronek, owner and handler.
2d-VALLEY VIEW BEAN'S CASSITY, F1706375, pointer female, by Skeet's Barshoe Bear-Valley View Sassy. Deborah Kronek, owner and handler.