Huntsman's Diary

 

 

When Bun Sharp died, Clayton Bright compiled his notes and produced a lovely hard bound publication, The Treweryn Diaries. Clayton enhanced the entries with his own drawings and illustrations of hounds and logos. The publication was limited to 600 copies.

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In 2011, Russ began tracking numbers, numbers of hounds going out each hunt day, how many hunt days a season, the number of rabbits accounted for, etc. By 2014, this evolved into a diary of hunting experiences. Russ sent the first diary file to Marianne, who was surprised to learn he was unaware of Clayton's publication. It was clear Russ's notes needed to be archived to preserve the NTB annual activity and hound information. 

 

​At the same time, Marianne and Russ were looking for a way to thank long-term supporters who did not hunt but nevertheless had been contributing subscriptions to the pack for many years. The notion of giving an annual diary as a gift to say "thank you" to supporters was born. 

 

When choosing a design for the diary, Marianne recalled a booklet printed by the Mellons about their Brick House, with cover art by Cathy Zimmerman. The general design was adapted, of course, to lower its cost. Each year, Marianne asks a different local artist (or NTB supporter) to create a piece for the diary cover and donate it to the organization, which further supports the pack. The piece is owned by the NTB and used for fundraising; it can be sold if funds are needed, and its image can be used on greeting cards or other promotional materials for the NTB. It has been a fun way to engage and promote local artists who support beagling and foxhunting.​

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