Many try to do something important in their lives but few achieve their lofty goals. Jack Billhardt and his wife, Patricia, have done so in the world of dog competitions with their boxer named Scarlett. Perhaps I should phrase that differently: Patricia Billhardt, with cheerleading support from Jack, has achieved something outstanding via Scarlett. Their dog, the top bitch in the history of the breed, has become a legend in her own time. Among the awards to Scarlett’s credit are the following: No. 1 boxer in 2009, 2010 and 2011; No. 1 working dog in 2010 and 2011; 88 career Best in Shows; four-time Best of Breed at the Westminster Kennel Club show. I interrupt this paean to Scarlett to honor two classmates who have passed on. 


The Barbary Coast Dixieland Jazz Band can be heard once again marching up Main Street and as always they are led by Samson Occom dressed in green buckskins. Behind the band this time are William Paul Doherty Jr. and Robert McCutcheon Beatty. We bow our heads in silent tribute to these newly fallen classmates.


To put Scarlett’s achievements into perspective I would like to quote some comments from one of the judges at the last Boxer National Show, in May 2011. “What can I say about this dog that hasn’t been said before? She is stunning. I have found her as close to perfection as Mother Nature will allow.” 


I close with a poetic limerick written especially to salute Jack, Patricia and Scarlett. 


“Around the girdled earth they go,


With their boxer named Scarlett in tow;


In dog competitions,


She wins high positions,


A win or a place or a show.”


—Joel D. Ash, P.O. Box 1733, Grantham, NH 03753; (603) 863-3360; joel@poeticlimericks.com