LRKC Scholarship

Nikki Mazzaschi of Laconia is the recipient of the annual scholarship offered by the Lakes Region Kennel Club to a New Hampshire graduate of UNH who has been accepted at a college of veterinary medicine.

Pictured at the recent award dinner held at the Homestead Restaurant in Bristol, are (L to R): Catherine Bourne, LRKC President; Jean Cote, Chair of the club’s scholarship committee; Nikki Mazzaschi, recipient; and Richard French, DVM, Director of the New Hampshire Veterinary Diagnostic Lab and one of the advisors to the pre-vet students at the University of New Hampshire. Nikki is a 2005 magna cum laude graduate of UNH with a degree in Biology and a minor in Animal Behavior. She is now studying for her degree in Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine.

Since 1971, when the Club established a scholarship fund as its major charity to show its members’ appreciation for their Veterinarians and to encourage New Hampshire students, the Lakes Region Kennel Club Scholarship has benefited New Hampshire students and graduates of UNH who aspire to a degree in veterinary medicine. Among their past recipients, in 1979, was Dr. Rick Linnehan, NASA’s first Veterinarian Astronaut, who flew three missions aboard the space shuttle Columbia. On his last mission to the International Space Station aboard the Endeavour, Dr. Linnehan carried a Club patch and a list of the Club’s scholarship recipients.

The Club’s AKC Point Shows and Obedience and Rally Trials and Matches have been the major source of funding for its scholarship. The Club recently held a weekend of AKC Obedience and Rally trials at Brookwood Pet Resort in Canterbury. In early May each year they hold an AKC-sanctioned Match at Prescott Park in Meredith. On Saturday, September 18th, they will hold their annual Responsible Dog Ownership Day at the new Gilford Youth Center. There will be demonstrations of fun activities to do with your dog, a Micro-chip Clinic, Canine Good Citizen and Therapy Dog Testing, Raffles, Door Prizes, games for young and old alike, and this year a canine Project Runway. Club members will also have their dogs on hand so everyone can “Meet The Breeds.” For more information about this event, contact Catherine Bourne 528-7845.

As well as presenting educational programs at its monthly meetings, the Club has been raising funds to provide Pet Oxygen Masks to area Rescue Squads and Fire Departments. They also offer classes for AKC’s Canine Good Citizen program, its S.T.A.R. Puppy program and Obedience and Handling classes at the Meredith Community Center and at the Gilford Youth Center. These classes are open to the public.

For more information about the Lakes Region Kennel Club, visit the Club’s website at www.lrkcnh.org or write to P.O. Box 752, Meredith, NH, 03253 or call 528-7845.