Bulldog Club of Greater Tulsa

The Bulldog Club of Greater Tulsa was founded on May 28, 1990. The first meeting was held at the home of Lee and Joy Scoles.

The initial efforts to found it were made by Anne Whipple and Carol Bump. Together they sent notices, and Tom and Jonie Graves made phone calls to bulldog owners and potential breeders or owners around the Tulsa area.

The first meeting was attended by Charter members: Tom & Jonie Graves, Jean Upshaw, Lee & Joy Scholes, Tom & Anne Whipple, Carol Bump, Betty Steele, Debbie Steele and Phyllis and Cecil Blevins.

The club's first president of the newly formed Bulldog club was Jonie Graves.

Its first official event was a fun match (or AKC-sanctioned "B" Match) at the Creek County Fairgrounds with John Bernardino Judging. The entry fee was $4, with an entry of 27 dogs.

The club continued to hold AKC-sanctioned matches with the help of various breeders and judges such as: Frank Cobb, Dave Hammonds, Rod Berger, Georgia Shipley, Bob Vincent. Mel Berger and Norman Herbal.

Since that time the club continued to grow and obtained its licensed status from the AKC in April 1996. The club's president at the time was Brian Foster.

The club's first specialty show was held on March 9, 1996 at the Holiday Inn in Tulsa. The entry was 101 and the judge was Mrs. Joyce Dingman. Sweepstakes were judged by Linda Sigle with an entry of 24.

The monies made from this show allowed the club to purchase a storage trailer, floor mats and ring enclosures.

The first show was dedicated to members Cecil Blevins and Betty Steele in thanks for the long hours and hard work both had contributed. Betty and Cecil are gone now but their dedication and love of the breed will always be remembered.

Many thanks go to the members who worked so hard for that final push to obtain the AKC's licensed status such as: Brian Foster, Deanna Foster-Grissom, Amber Smith, Betty & Debbie Steele, Phyllis & Cecil Blevins, Mark and Teresa Smith and Dee Bunyard.

It was during this time frame that the club elected to have a Rescue program for Bulldogs. It was a new idea at the time, and the rescue effort unwanted or homeless Bulldogs was headed by Amber Smith with a committee consisting of Deanna Foster-Grissom and Anne Whipple. The club continues to have a strong Rescue program.

The club also hosted shows in conjunction with the Oklahoma City and Texhoma clubs in BCA Division IV.. The 3 day events were called the I-44 Bulldog Cluster. The AKC later declared that the clubs were no longer allowed to do this based on AKC's 200 mile restrictions.

For a while the Tulsa Club held stand-alone shows but decided at one point to join forces with the all-breed Mid-Continent Kennel Club at Tulsa and began hosting its Specialty shows on Thursdays. Entries suffered, and in the autumn of 2002 again hosted weekend back-to-back specialties.

At the time this history was prepared in 2003, the Tulsa club's president was Spenser Pinager.