Congratulations to Roger Dale Carnegie
1/10/2009 9:51:54 AM
The coonhound world got the news this week that Larry and Rita Meeks have sold the Professional Kennel Club to Roger Dale Carnegie of Franklinton, Louisiana. I certainly congratulate Roger Dale in the purchase of PKC. No one has been more faithful than Roger and he's always played an important, albeit "behind the scenes," role in the success of PKC. Roger is the numbers guy for the organization and as I understand it has sold his industrial duct work business in Louisiana in order to devote his time to PKC.
Carol and I enjoyed working with Roger Dale in our six and a half year tenure at PKC. Roger became a close friend and was very easy to work with. I never called him with a request that he didn't do his best to accommodate. Roger has a personality that some folks don't get, a dry wit that we found amusing and entertaining to say the least. For those of us working behind the desk at PKC, Roger was a lot of fun to be around. Those in front of the desk often had a different view but that was Roger. No one worked any harder to make sure the numbers and the all-important details were in place.
Roger's claim to fame in the coonhound world came in 2002 when his Treeing Walker coonhound Deep South Pac Rat won the PKC World Championship. It ws a great night for those of us on the PKC team as we rooted for Craig Deschamp to bring the World Championship home to Roger. It's one of the few times I saw Roger display emotion, revealing just how much the win meant to him. I think we all were as happy as he was that night.
PKC is a competitor to the AKC Coonhound program but I've always put friendships ahead of business. I sincerely wish Roger Dale the very best as he leads PKC in the years to come. No doubt his leadership will provide formidable competition for the rest of us that work in the world of competitive coon hunting. I look forward to working with Roger Dale and his staff as days go by. And of course, Larry and Rita Meeks have done a great job with PKC and are due thanks from everyone in that organization for their dedication and leadership.
Here's a photo of Roger Dale, shown fourth from the left in the back row taken the night Deep South Pat Rat won the PKC World Championship. Shown kneeling at the left: Mike Craney, Tim Leggett, and Basil Kittell. Standing left to right: Steve Fielder, Carol Fielder, Mark Hayden, Roger Dale Carnegie, Rita Meeks, Larry Meeks, Craig Deschamp, Roy Tramble, Karen Simmons, and Rick Stretch.
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