When January comes
I will be here at home
First time since 1994
Won’t be at Chinquapin
The second week
Of that cold month at home
I spent in North Florida
From 1995 through 2022
Spent that wonderful week
Watching all-age pointing dogs
Do their thing on wire grass over sand
Reaching wide pointing quail
In 1969 Ted Baker started
A field trial on the grounds
Assembled by his dad
A Marine hero of the Pacific war
The grounds were unique
In their contour and capacity
To nurture quail
And the Bakers burned disked and mowed them
With results unbelievable
Coveys whistled off their roosts
Each dawn across the lands
Each year there were more
The Bakers dealt in sand gravel and rock
For roads bridges and blocks
They brought their customers here
To hunt quail on this place they called Chinquapin
For the plant that grew naturally here
Only Ted among the Bakers caught the field trial bug
But he caught it fierce
Loved the dogs that went big and found coveys when others could not
And thus the Suwannee River Open All-Age was born
And ten years later it became the Florida Open All-Age Championship
A dream trial that for 43 years (save 1994) ran at Chinquapin
A wild bird trial with equal chances on all courses
For all those years Ted Baker ran it
As a trial should be run
Even chances, good judges, free lunches
We all loved it
Each morning we gathered on the pipe line
Across Highway 247
Heard a prayer for safety
A judge say “Let ‘em go”
Then for forty minutes
We watched two dogs roll through the country
Heard their handlers sing and squall
Saw scouts lift their caps
We rode to them pointed
Watched handlers shuffle to flush
Watched quail lift
Heard their wings beat the air
Heard the pop of the pistol
Watched the scout grab the collar
Lead the dog for the restart
Watched it sprint ahead
As the handler remounted
Sang out to his dog
Watched in awe
As it crossed the next ridge
And so it went
Until all entered had hunted
Their forty minutes
Then the judges picked the call backs
They went down for an hour
And when that was done
The judges named a Runner-Up then a Champion
And each winning handler got a generous check
Pictures were taken
Hands shaken
Thanks exchanged
Duallys and their long trailers departed
Now it is over
Not for a year but forever
The Florida Championship
The best one-hour All-Age Championship ever
So trialers be grateful
To Mr. Ted and all the Bakers
For their wonderful gift to us
The field trial community
Florida Championship, 2013
Florida Championship, 2018
Florida Championship, 2021
Florida Championship, 2022