Writer: Scot Arceneaux at the request of the owners

We have all read Grand articles, but the story line of this one reads out like a Paul Harvey's commentary. Ronnie and Vivian Anderson are the prototypical farm family. They live on property passed down from generation to generation. Mr. Ronnie a rancher and horseman all of his life and Vivian school teacher of over 30 years. They live in a white farmhouse with a white picket fence were they raised their two children.

Their involvement into the retriever game came as an accident. Like all good parents, when their son Ron wanted a dog to hunt over they obliged. After answering an add in the localpaper. They bought Ron, Maddie (GRHRCH Ron's Maddie Girl MH). Ron, a college student at the time raised Maddie in his apartment and hunted her every chance he got. It is when Ron got involved in the HRC program it seems things took off. Ron, Participated with Maddie but, realized he wanted a dog bred for competition. Once again, Mr. Ronnie and Mrs. Vivian stepped in. They searched for the best possible breeding and what they found exceeded everyone's expectations. Purchasing Ron a black Male puppy that was FC sired out of HRCH MH dam. That breeding produced HRCH Ron's Super Black Sambeau. Beau was like no other dog we had had in our group. We were struggling to pass test but, here was this young dog just blowing up everything we put in front of him, there was no blind or mark he could not do and he was barley a year old. As things seem to go in the retriever game success comes with hard work, a good dog and good training grounds. Which Ron had a corner on the market.

Time passed pretty quick and before we knew it all the dogs in our group had earned their titles. Beau and Maddie now were both Champions. The next logical thing for the Anderson's to do was bred the pair. Why not, they both exhibited the traits that could make great dogs. Maddie's temperament and brains, Beau with his desire, trainability and his pedigree it could be a no mlss breeding.

In May, 1999 Maddie whelped their litter. Mrs. Vivian being the nurse mother to all the animals on their farm raised this litter. It was she who picked Magic, for Mr. Ronnie, who wanted a dog of his own to hunt over and that Ron could train and compete with. During this time, we all started to have that Grand dream, could it be possible? So, the training and preparation started for the Fall Grand. The summer and fall training went good. Our group had grown by leaps and bounds. We all had new retrievers mode!ed after the template Mr. Ronnie and Mrs. Vivian had lain out with Beau. But, the world seemed to crash in October of that year. Ron and Chuck Traveled to Rend Lake to try to capture Chucks Second pass, and Ron's first at the Grand. The first Morning Ron awakened to find his young champion had passed away in the night. Beau's death devastated the whole Anderson household. Ron then had to focus his time energy into Maddie and Magic. Maddie later became a Grand champion passing an unbelievable 6 grand's. But Magic, much like her sire, was always above the mark she ran with style and enthusiasm. Her, Ron and Mr. Ronnie were on a mission to finish what Beau never had the opportunity to do, become a grand champion. She blew through her seasoned and finished level test not failing a test and passing 14 straight finish test. After a few tries's at the grand things looked bleak for Magic.

Ron, with the encouragement of his parents, continued and everything seemed to come together in the fall grand in Louisiana. Magic came through with her first grand pass. Ron unable to participate in the spring grand in Memphis saw her make another exit. Not deterred, knowing she could do the work they traveled to Anderson, South Carolina. What a more fitting place to complete this journey. Everything seemed to be in the cards for the Anderson's. Ron had all four of his dogs in the fifth when the dust finally settled he stood proud with his newest grand champion GRHRCH Beau's Last Black Magic SH. Magic is the third Grand Champion for the Anderson's and the fourth trained by Ron. Magic had finally completed a chapter that no other dog could have done. Mr. Ronnie and Mrs. Vivian would like to say thank you to the big Anderson training group for all of their hours in developing all of their dogs. Though a special thanks to Chuck McCall for handling Magic in Ron's absence. And To Ron the amount of pride any parent feels when they see any of their children succeed is hard to describe." We are so proud of you" Though no thank you should ever be received from them. You are always greeted with a warm smile from Mrs. Vivian and a firm handshake from Mr. Ronnie . It is because of their generosity. That not only have they contributed to Ron's success but, everyone who has ever trained on their farm. We all enjoy the success, which they have made possible. They have contributed to 8 grand Champions, 24 grand passes, and over 25 Hunting retriever Champions. Now you know the rest of the story.