Category: Q&A

Merrimack resident judges at Westminster dog show

Merrimack resident and retired dog handler Mark Threlfall headed to Tarrytown, New York, earlier this month to serve as a breed judge at the Westminster Kennel Club’s 145th annual Dog Show — his third time judging the all-breed purebred conformation competition. It’s the longest nationally televised live dog show and second-longest continuously running sporting event in the U.S., following the Kentucky Derby. Threlfall, who handled the Best in Show winning dog at the show in 1993, talks about what it’s like to work with top dogs.

What did you do as a judge at the WKC dog show?
I was one of probably about 40 breed judges. [Breed is] the first level of judging: Dogs compete with other dogs of their same breed. We select one dog as the Best of Breed winner, and that dog goes on to compete in his variety group. I did sporting dog breeds — they’re what I judge the most, and I enjoy them — like Irish setters, German wirehaired pointers, German shorthaired pointers, Gordon setters and black cocker spaniels. I [chose] one [dog] in each of those [breeds] to come back that night and compete in the sporting group. It keeps narrowing down from there in a process of elimination; four dogs [in the group] would be placed and the dog that wins first place would go on to compete for Best in Show.

What is your experience with dog shows?
My first job in high school was a job in a kennel in Amherst, and from there, when I got out of high school, instead of skipping off to college, I went to work for the handler who showed the dogs for that kennel. It was supposed to be just a gap year, but that turned into four years of working for him. Then I went on to work for a couple who were handlers and very famous people in the sport in Southport, Connecticut, for five years. After that experience, I decided it was time to go out and show dogs of my own. As a handler, you do basically the same thing a horse trainer does for [racing] horses to get them ready for a race, but for dogs. Then, you’re not only the trainer, but you’re also kind of the ‘jockey,’ because you’re the one who brings them into the ring and shows them.

What do you look for when judging the dogs?
Every breed has what’s called a ‘standard’ — a complete word description of every physical attribute of a perfect dog in that breed. It tells you how big it is, what kind of coat it has, what colors it can have, the [body] structure and everything from the length of the nose to the length of the head. You judge the dogs against their breed’s standard — you aren’t judging them against each other — and then you pick the dog that you feel most closely approaches perfection as described by its breed’s standard. By the time Best of Show is judged, you’ve got seven dogs in the ring that are all excellent examples of their breed, and what it comes down to then are those little intangibles. The dogs seem to know and understand that they’re in a show and that it’s a big deal, and you can just tell that they’re into it. They get all happy and excited and bubbly. It’s hard to describe, but it’s more about the performance, that little bit of magic a dog has going on that day that makes it catch your eye.

How does one become a dog show judge?
We’ve all spent many years in the sport and around purebred dogs. … To judge for the American Kennel Club, you have to pass a test on the breed. Then the American Kennel Club has what they call ‘field representatives’ who work for the club and will come watch you in your first several [judging] assignments to see how you do, kind of as a hands-on test of [your knowledge of] the breed. Then, if they think you know what you’re doing, they’ll give you regular status [as a judge] for that breed.

How did you get called to judge the WKC dog show?
They have a committee that selects the judges. Basically, they look for people who … have a good reputation of being fair and knowledgeable of the breeds that they’re judging. … Everybody hopes they get invited; it’s the biggest and best show. It’s a really big deal and a thrill for us [judges], like the Academy Awards or something.

What is your favorite part of judging a dog show?
There’s nothing like finding a new great dog. There are [dog show] magazines where the owners advertise if their dogs had big wins and things like that, so when you go into the ring, you probably know several of the dogs. When you find an unknown one that you think is a really wonderful dog and is better than any of the others, that’s what’s really exciting.

Sara Ann Hiland-Alanis

Lactation consultant

Sara Ann Hiland-Alanis is a registered nurse and International Board Certified lactation consultant. She owns her own practice, Nourish Holistic Lactation Support, in Bedford.

Explain your job.

I help families feed their babies. I help breastfeeding moms with breastfeeding concerns; moms who are pumping milk for their babies; and bottle-feeding families, feeding either breast milk or formula, if they’re struggling.

How long have you had this job?

I’ve been doing this for nine years and opened the business in 2017.

What led you to this career field and your current job?

I was a registered nurse, and after the birth of my first child I had a lot of struggles with feeding. There wasn’t a lot of support available at that time. I started going to a local moms group, and one of the group leaders was a lactation counselor. She’s the one who got me interested in helping moms and babies. After the birth of my second child — at that time, I had started working as a registered nurse with families and maternity and NICU — I had a lot of trouble with feeding him as well. I met with a lactation consultant in a private practice. … She’s the one who made me really fall in love with the profession. … I [opened Nourish] because there’s a different level of autonomy and investment in caring for patients in the community outside of the hospital umbrella. I think the care is much more personalized and available.

What kind of education or training did you need?

I have a bachelor’s degree in nursing, and … [for] the board certification [in lactation consulting], I had to complete a year of lactation-specific education, 1,000 hours of hands-on clinical experience as a mentee and sit for the board exam.

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

Business casual, something comfortable.

How has your job changed over the last year?

I think that, with all the Covid restrictions, families have become more reliant on care obtained outside of hospitals and doctors’ offices. More families are now seeking care outside of that realm and private practice care.

What do you wish you’d known at the beginning of your career?

I wish I’d had more clinical knowledge. Clinical knowledge is something you’re always getting, because every single case teaches you something, but, of course, you can’t really go into it already knowing that.

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

I wish people knew I existed. I don’t think a lot of families know there’s feeding support out there, and I don’t think a lot of pediatricians, midwives and in-practice doctors refer [patients to a lactation consultant] as often as they should. I’m a vested member of the medical community; I have extensive knowledge in infant feeding, both breast and bottle. I can really … make a difference in a family’s overall child-rearing experience.

What was the first job you ever had?

I was a nanny.

What’s the best piece of work-related advice you’ve ever received?

There aren’t a lot of us [lactation consultants], so I didn’t really get any advice on how to do this. If I was giving advice to someone who wants to be a lactation consultant, it’d be that they can do it. It takes a lot of work and a lot of time, and more goes into it than people would expect, but it’s a wonderful and fulfilling career.

Five favorites
Favorite book: I don’t like reading; I can’t sit still that long!
Favorite movie: Dirty Dancing
Favorite music: Country
Favorite food: Strawberry shortcake
Favorite thing about NH: The seasons

Featured photo: Sara Ann Hiland-Alanis

Brad Greenland

Genealogist

Brad Greenland is a Manchester-based genealogist and founder of Greenland Genealogy, providing family history research and record retrieval services.

Explain your job and what it entails.

I work with clients who want to know about their family story, get details about their family tree or get something [about their family history] confirmed. I do the research for them [by] searching online records and sometimes contacting archives around the region or country to track down physical copies of records. Then, I write up a report and present it [to the client].

How long have you had this job?

I started about four years ago.

What led you to this career field and your current job?

It’s something I’ve always been really passionate about. … I first got into genealogy when I was in high school. One day, my family realized that we didn’t really know anything about our family tree, so we started looking into it, and I was hooked from there. … In college, I thought a lot about doing genealogy [as a career]. I wanted to be able to shed some light on other people’s family trees. After college, I started doing it and absolutely loved it. I’ve been doing it ever since.

What kind of education or training did you need?

A lot of it is self-taught. I did a lot of online webinars … and talked to other genealogists about how to go about certain things. … I also have a bachelor’s degree in international relations and have always been interested in history, so [genealogy] is a good way to tie that [education] in.

What is your typical at-work uniform or attire?

I usually do my correspondence with clients over email or over the phone, so I can dress casual.

How has your job changed over the last year?

It’s definitely been harder to get hard copies of records. A lot of the archives had to be shut down due to Covid, and they didn’t have staff because their job couldn’t really be done remotely, since they work with the physical records. I just had to hope that the records I needed were digitized and available to access online.

What do you wish you’d known at the beginning of your career?

When I originally started, I had no idea that so many records weren’t digitized. There are a lot that I have to physically go to a historical society or library or archive to find.

What do you wish other people knew about your job?

People are surprised when they find out that I’m only in my 20s. Genealogy is often associated with an older crowd, but it’s really something that can be interesting and appealing to everybody.

What was the first job you ever had?

I was an umpire for my local baseball league as a teenager.

What’s the best piece of work-related advice you’ve ever received?

Everyone has a different starting point with their genealogy. Some people know a ton about their family history, and some people just don’t have a lot of information for various reasons. You have to understand where people are coming from and be able to work with them and the information they have to get the job done.

Five favorites
Favorite book: The Great Gatsby
Favorite movie: When Harry Met Sally
Favorite music: I like an eclectic mix — everything from Frank Sinatra to today’s music.
Favorite food: Italian
Favorite thing about NH: You can go to the beach, or hike the mountains, or visit a historical town; there’s such a wide variety of things to do.

Featured photo: Brad Greenland

VNA merger expands home health, hospice services

Visiting nurse associations Concord Regional VNA and Central New Hampshire VNA & Hospice have merged to form what is now the Granite VNA, providing certified home health care and hospice care to 82 communities throughout the greater Concord area and central New Hampshire. President and CEO Beth Slepian, formerly the president and CEO of Concord Regional VNA, discussed the merger.

Why was Granite VNA formed?

Industry-wide, [VNA] organizations have been looking at how to be sustainable for the long term. … Over the last five years, and even longer than that, home care and hospice has become challenging because of Medicare payment cuts; our fees are reduced. … We provide over $5 million in community benefits, which is unreimbursed … and we’re seeing our reimbursements declining. We’re also seeing [an increase] in patients to care for. Our biggest costs are labor wages and benefits; how will we be able to continue to both support our workforce and provide those community benefits? … Both Concord Regional VNA and Central VNA & Hospice were very strong financially; neither had to embark on this journey now, but we were looking toward the future to make sure that we could leverage scale and volume to meet the needs of the entity in the long term.

How will the merger improve health care in the state?

In the Lakes Region, Central New Hampshire VNA did not have IV-certified nurses, and that’s something we’re looking to bring to that area. We have more wound care nurses and certified lymphedema therapists in the Capital region that [were part of] Concord Regional VNA, so we’ll be able to spread them throughout our entire service area. We’re expanding the maternal child health services that we provide in the Lakes Region. [Central VNA] had a program, but it was small, so we’re staffing that to address the pediatric and maternal health needs of mothers and babies. … Finally, we’ll be able to spread our community education programs [like] Powerful Tools for Caregivers [and] Better Choices Better Health throughout the communities we serve, based on an assessment [of their needs].

Who will benefit most from these expanded health care services?

More people are receiving care in their homes now than ever before. … We have an aging population in New Hampshire, and an expanding group of people requiring care, [including] patients who have chronic illnesses like diabetes and congestive heart failure, have had joint replacements or an accident, or need IV therapy. We’ll also be able to give patients in the remoter areas of New Hampshire greater access to visiting nurses and home care and specialty care.

How is Granite VNA operating as of now?

The main office is located in Concord, with two branches in Laconia and Wolfeboro. … We now have five home care teams, two hospice teams and a hospice house. We’re currently still operating on two different electronic health records, and once we’re on one, we’ll be able to really resource all 82 towns that we serve with one workforce.

Did the pandemic impact the merger process?

It was hard, as we went through the pandemic, continuing to care for our communities while also working toward this big project … but we persevered … and methodically worked our way through the process to integration. … Discussions [about the merger] had been happening for a year prior [to the pandemic], and they were very collaborative discussions; we were working closely together to create this new entity, so [by the time the pandemic happened] we had already formed a relationship and could support each other and share knowledge and processes on how to handle the new [pandemic] rules.

How has Granite VNA taken care of its staff throughout the merger?

Mergers are not successful when not enough work is done on creating a new [workplace] culture. That’s why we created a new name, instead of keeping either [organization’s] name, and a new identity. It’s really important to us that as we go through this integration it’s a shared experience and a shared new culture for everyone. … We actually [have a] consultant who is working with both organizations to bring them together … and [help them] acknowledge what each is feeling and really understand each other.

What do you anticipate will be the biggest challenge for Granite VNA?

Workforce, workforce, workforce. [Health care organizations] are all competing for the same people [to employ]. We would hire as many nurses as we could find right now, but it’s really hard. We’re doing what we can … and we’re trying to get creative. We have a nurse graduate program so that we can train nurse graduates … and that’s a slow but steady build of our workforce.

Featured photo: Beth Slepian