The season opener of The 1998 Flying Disc Dog Open kicked off in Lyons, Colorado on June 27th 1998. Meadow Park is located in a beautiful canyon in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. A fast flowing river bordered the field and high red cliff walls towered overhead. Watching from above were the occupants of two Golden Eagle nests. 7 pro's and 16 amateurs for a total of 23 competitors came to the park and the fur began to fly. The weather was near perfect with lots of sunshine and very little wind. The competition started off with a moment of silence for lrv Lander and ended with a fly-by of the Blue Angels right after the awards ceremony. The highlight of the day came from the amateur division with a toss by Suzanne Real to her dog, Jesse, in the distance event. Suzanne, who had foot surgery Thursday and was wearing a cast (don't tell her doctor she competed), threw a beautiful fifty yarder. As Jesse leaped for the disc, he tapped it, sending it another ten yards, then made a spectacular catch past the sixty-yard mark. Another impressive showing came from Dennis Madden and Bailey, a two-year old female mixed breed with only one eye. Todd Stevens made the most of his freestyle routine when he brought out two volunteers and vaulted Payton off his back and over them, wowing the crowd and the judges. Unfortunately for Todd, not scoring in the first round of distance left him short of first place. While Chris Sexton had the most impressive distance tosses, with 2 strong 60+yards and tying for most points on obstacle course, he just couldn't get it going in the freestyle round. Our winners, George Vogel and Air Abbey, performed consistently on all three events and took the top prize bag. Congratulations to George and Air Abbey. We'd also like to thank the Town of Lyons for their generosity, the volunteers for their time and the competition sponsors for their prizes. Air Major Travel Duffel, Bolle', Cool paws, IAMS, Mendota, Pet Goods, TennisBone, PowerBone and Zip Specialities. Finally a big doggone thank you to all our disc dog competitors.