About the IWCC
The Irish Wolfhound Club of Canada
Jim Reynolds the first IWCC PresidentThe first meeting to establish The Irish Wolfhound Club of Canada was held at Mr. James G. Reynolds’ home on Sunday, March 14, 1971.
The first IWCC Board of Directors:
President: Mr. James G. Reynolds,
Vice-President: Mrs. Wm. R. Morrison,
Vice-President: Mrs. A. H. Lee,
Secretary/Treasurer: Mrs. Rene de la Roche,
Directors: Mr. G. Laughton, Mrs. John Scarlett, Mr. Allan Fournier, Mrs. J. Sikora, Mrs. C. F. Daley, Mrs. Wm. R. Morrison, Mrs. Rene de la Roche and Mr. Rene de la Roche
There were 37 members with a total of $282.41 on hand. These founding members all remained active in the Club for many years. Several of the names are still familiar as working members of the Club, today.
Mary Morrison and CH Magmellan Fitzwilliam AvocaGreg and Jacquie Laughton ran the first Booster Show in Burlington, Ontario, on September 25, 1971, with Mr. John Murphy judging. Forty-two Irish Wolfhounds were entered and competed.
By 1972, many things were underway. On March 25, 1972, a Booster Show was held at the Canadian National Sportsmen’s Show. The first Specialty was held in Kars, Ontario, on July 15, 1972, with Mary Jane Ellis judging. A Committee started working on a the first Code of Ethics, and the club saw its membership increase, as it welcomed many new members from all over the continent.
Carole GuifoyleJosie Moody
Mrs. Josephine MoodyDate of Death: December 1, 2002
Josie Moody was well known to the IWCC as a very loyal Club member. Her eight-year battle with cancer and diabetes kept her from being as active as she would have liked, but she still attended as many Specialties as she could. Josie bred a few litters under the prefix Phelan and her most famous dog Ch. Phelan’s Digby O’Toole still exists in our pedigrees today as seen in the iwdb.org.
Josie was a member of the Irish Wolfhound Club of Canada from its early days. She was a friend of Ivy and Alf Lee's and got her bitch, Solay (Ch. Bardic's Wild Harp of Solay) from Ivy. Josie was active in the show scene with Solay, taking along Lugh (Ch. Bardic's Lugh the Sun Lord) for Ivy on many occasions. We think it was Lugh that sat on Josie's lap at the benched Sportsman's Show in Toronto, collapsing the chair and taking them both to the floor.
Josie bred Solay to Lou Kelly's Kelly of Ships Bell and produced Digby (Ch. Phelan's Digby O'Toole) who did quite a bit of winning, including the Sighthound Match in 1977. Bred to Fawn, (Ch. Pendomer's Rosamond) he produced a notable litter including Susan Prokopenko's Fion and Carole and Jim's Carraig.
Josie was a dog lover and had several rescues including an Afghan and a St. Bernard. She was always on the go and a people person as well as the animals. For several years she worked at the Burger King restaurant on the 400 and was a popular server with the regulars. She had a huge house in King City, but we all spent our time in the kitchen and family room with the dogs.
Her friend Ivy Lee of Bardic IW’s stated at the time of her passing that “her Irish Spirit, never was far from the surface, ready to do battle for anyone whom she felt was being misused, but it could not hold back the clock. You did well Josie. You have left your mark. The memories remain, sleep now.”
In May 2004, the Moody Estate generously bequeathed to the IWCC the amount of $107,000.00. Through much discussion at the Board level, management of these funds through an investment strategy was discussed and Bylaws written to guide future BOD.
Submitted in part by Carole Guilfoyle and Susan Prokopenko