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by J. Jeffrey Bragg |
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by J. Jeffrey Bragg |
FOR THE PAST THIRTY YEARS Elsie Chadwick of 3 Faludon Court, Etobicoke, Ontario has collected and conserved photos, newspaper clippings and memorabilia relating to Siberian Sleddogs. It all started when she bought a son of DITKO OF SEPPALA from J. Jeffrey Bragg. As Elsie tells it:
"First, may I introduce my Co-Founder, Tadluk's Davik (Ditko of Seppala x Snow Ridge Koda). His whole being exuded history and I could do nothing but follow his commands. Our beginning was a shoe box filled with pictures of Siberians . . . I no longer have my Co-Founder, Davi, watching me work at the typewriter. However, his spirit accompanies me and the desire to leave a heritage behind for the breed is as strong as ever."
The two Siberians shown with Elsie in the photo above are, needless to say, not Seppalas. Southern Ontario is not fertile ground for Seppalas these days, I suppose. But Ditko's son Davik inspired Elsie Chadwick in much the same way that Ditko inspired me. The result was The Siberian Husky Archives, containing photos and data for over twelve thousand dogs.
In late April 2003 I send Elsie a letter of enquiry, seeking historical material to expand this website. Three weeks later the post produced a box containing several pounds of priceless historical source material! The result is that I can now generate a decent Seppala History section for the website! In earlier versions of the site, the History page was rudimentary.
Elsie's Herculean efforts to collect and preserve Siberian breed material that everyone finds fascinating has somehow attracted little support from those who should be most appreciative (breed clubs, for example). The Siberian Husky Club of Canada consistently slighted Elsie's achievement while at the same time trying to obtain possession of the Archives for itself.
I want Elsie to know that we appreciate what she has done for the Seppala Siberian Sleddog Project. I hope she will like what has been done with the photos and clippings she so generously provided. THANK YOU, ELSIE CHADWICK, FOR PRESERVING THIS PRICELESS HISTORIC HERITAGE. Your generosity has resulted in a special Historic Photo Gallery on this website, as well as providing illustrations for our several history pages about Wheeler, Shearer, Belfords, McFaul, Cold River and Chinook kennels.
Seppala Siberian Sleddogs owe another special debt to Elsie, too, one that involves their very survival. In the early 1970s a young veterinary parasitologist who had seen Gagnon's Spot and bought a little Seppala bitch from the Québec kennel of Constantine Dello went searching for more Seppalas and asked Elsie Chadwick where they might be found. Elsie introduced Betsy LeSueur Bush to J. Jeffrey Bragg. The rest, as they say, is history . . .
