 Cheryl DeMarkis
First I must say that I am truly honored to serve this amazing organization. The dedication, passion, knowledge, compassion and love of our volunteers is quite humbling and inspiring. Countless hours and dedication to the task abound. I personally cannot thank our volunteers enough for caring tirelessly and endlessly for this breed that I love and to which I, too, have dedicated my life.
My husband, Joe, and I were both born, raised and currently reside in Southern Schuylkill (Skook-ill or School-kill) County Pennsylvania. For those beer lovers, yes, this is the home of The Yuengling Brewery. Joe and I were married in 1972, and having both been raised with various dogs, naturally wanted our own. After lots of research, it was decided we would have an English springer spaniel. Joe wanted a hunting buddy and I wanted a beautiful spaniel companion with long hair. Little did we know that our fate was cast! We purchased Muffet in 1976 after waiting a year for her litter to be born. She was the sole survivor and, quite obviously, meant for us. She was everything and more than we could ever have imagined. She went everywhere with us and loved everyone. She loved hiking, canoeing and camping. She had her own backpack! She got us through the loss of our second child. She gave us our start in alternative medicine. She taught us so wisely and patiently. She gave us our start in breeding. With ancestors from a kennel called Shohunt which was owned by Dr. and Mrs. Klembara, we decided we would like to be breeders and produce beautiful and talented hunting dogs with excellent dispositions. We hoped to carry on the Klembara’s tradition and so our kennel is called Shogun. She led us to rescue. We rescued our first springer from the local SPCA (now the Hillside SPCA) in 1984. The dog was sired by one of our dogs. It was horrifying to know that someone could abandon their pet. Hence began our long term belief in and commitment to rescue. We have rescued, rehabilitated, trained and re-trained many springers over the years. We worked for many years with Mary Hovis from Keystone ESS Rescue. She was a wonderfully dedicated and driven woman. We are proud to have known her and been her friend. In rescue, we have great successes, a few failures, lots of joy and many heartaches. We rescued one of MAESSR’s first dogs named Roxanne who was adopted on August 26, 1998, while MAESSR was being formed. Today we remain as committed to rescue as we are to breeding great dogs.
Within MAESSR, I have reviewed applications with Karen Ellery, whose seat on the board I filled. I truly enjoyed working with Karen and she is a friend to this day. I have fostered, done foster home mentoring, interviewing, transporting, shelter checks, evaluations, new adoption consulting and anything I am called on to do.
By trade, I am an accountant and spent most of my years in manufacturing. Joe and I own Rivers Outdoor Adventures, LLC an outdoor education and travel based business which offers guided fishing trips, fly fishing schools, guide schools, gun dog clinics and training. We manage Stoney Ridge Preserve, a private gun dog training club. We are professional dog trainers specializing in field training and life skills training.
We own several English springer spaniels which we show in AKC conformation events and run in AKC hunting tests. We also own field bred English cockers which we run in AKC field trials and hunting tests. Joe is an AKC licensed judge for field trials and hunting tests. I have recently accepted my first judging assignment. I have had some fun in obedience trials and agility and hope to try rally soon.
In the past, I have served for many years as an officer of the now defunct Schuylkill (Haven) Kennel Club and very briefly as treasurer of the Hillside SPCA during their very early restructuring. I am currently a member of the English Springer Spaniel Field Trial Association, The Keystone English Springer Spaniel Club since 1982, The English Springer Spaniel Club of Long Island, The Mid-Atlantic Hunting Spaniel Club, The English Cocker Spaniel Club of America and the Schuylkill County Animal Response Team (SCART). I also serve as a delegate to the PA Federation of Dog Clubs proudly representing Keystone ESSC. I am Red Cross certified in pet first aid and CPR.
My hobbies are my dogs, flyfishing, hunting, travel to flyfishing and hunting destinations and dog events and reading about all of the above. I love cooking for people and dogs. My dreams are to own a boarding kennel, perhaps become a vet tech and to someday provide a sanctuary to a few old and sick springers who need a kindness, care and a home.
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