Papillon Club of Iowa

On September 9, 2006 an organizational meeting was held in Des Moines, Iowa with nine interested individuals present. Appointment was made for President, Vice-President, Secretary and Treasurer. Phyllis Fleming accepted the position as President. It was decided at that time that we would call our club Central Iowa Papillon Club. Our goal was to recruit members which we did. Word was spreading and we attracted more members ranging from a wider area other than just the central part of the state so we renamed the club Papillon Club of Iowa and received AKC approval for the club name.

In September 2007, the first election was held and Danna Robinson-Saathoff was elected as President. Danna resigned her position a short time into her term and Vice-President Lou Ann King stepped up to finish Danna's term and then Lou Ann was elected as President in 2008 and again in 2009.

In 2008, Phyllis Fleming petitioned the parent club to have a Midwest Regional Specialty in Des Moines. Although, PCI was not an official club at that time, the members worked to put on a great event.

The club developed a website, logo, Constitution and By-laws. There were some fund raisers, fun matches and we continued to recruit more members. In July 2009, the CB&L was completed, submitted to AKC and was approved.

In July 2009, the club held a picnic at member, Nancy O'Connell's home in West Des Moines. Members worked on organizing donated items for a fund raiser to be held along with the PCA Midwest Regional Specialty in September. A potluck meal was provided as well as some fun classes to show off our Papillons! Beth & John Shonts did a wonderful job of coming up with some fun classes as well as some fabulous prizes.

In August of 2009, we applied to AKC requesting B Status and were approved to hold our first Sanctioned B Match which we held on Saturday, September 4, 2009. The match was held at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. It was judged by Mrs. Carolyn Schaldecker of Imagine Keeshonds. It went very well! We were on our way!

In September 2009, PCI hosted a PCA Midwest Regional, again doing trophies, having a fund raiser and hosting a potluck meal.

AKC gave us permission to hold our second Sanctioned B match, which was held in Des Moines on Saturday, February 20, 2010. This was our largest entry so far with 13 puppies! Greg Larson of Ista Shih Tzus judged. After the match members and guests went to the Okiboji Grill for a meal hosted by the club and a brief meeting. Our second match went super! So after two successful B matches, the club was eligible to apply for A status. This was done in May, 2010. Unfortunately, AKC did not feel we were ready to move on yet, so we set out to bring in more members.

The club sponsored the trophies for all Papillon classes at the four day Amana Cluster in September 2010. Lou Ann King provided food for breakfast and lunch to all exhibitors. The Annual meeting was held and John Shonts was elected President. The club also officially hosted the September PCA Midwest Regional in Des Moines for the second time.

On October 30, 2010 at the Canine Craze Performance Center in Urbandale, IA we held our third Sanctioned B Match which also included a sanctioned all-breed obedience match. This was the first time PCI was approved to conduct a B/OB match. There were 22 entries, 17 in obedience and 5 in conformation. The judges were Sonia McGrail for obedience and Deborah Thompson for conformation.

On January 7, 2011, we officially became the Papillon Club of Iowa, Inc. when articles of incorporation were filed with the Iowa Secretary of State.

The club continutes to move forward in our effort to become an AKC licensed club. If you are interested in joining the club see the Membership page.