Ahoy mateys! Come aboard as we set sail‘ n I ' ll tell ye a tale from the past. Actually, I ' m just recapping the 2026 ADBA Convention, but you get the drift... no pun intended. I really don’ t want to walk the plank this early in the story! Yes, we had a pirate theme this year and it was A-MAZING!
Before we jump into the party, let us, me, Heather, begin with Saturday morning.
We had the introduction of the ADBA Board of Directors with An- drew Greenwood followed by our Past, Present and Future video, and Hank Greenwood, President of the ADBA, gave the convention introduction. Then, it was time for awards!
Lifetime Achievement Rodger Scott:
“ Rodger’ s first introduction to the American Pit Bull Terrier was when he was about 10 years old at his uncle’ s house. Since that early introduction, Rodger spent a great deal of his time learning about the dogs and the history of the breed.
On a personal note, Rodger spent his high school and college years play- ing football as a defensive lineman.
In 1970 he married his sweetheart, Glenna and they started building a life together with their six children and a multitude of bulldogs.
Some of his early influences within the breed were Bob Neblett from Neo- sho, Missouri, Dick Belveal, Louis Colby and Gary Emmert. Rodger also had dogs from Don Mayfield and Clyde Mason. Rodger often speaks of his time under the mentorship of Bob Neblett and his many trips to visit Mr. Neblett when he lived in Missouri.
Gary Emmert was also one of Rodger’ s mentors in the‘ art’ of breed- ing dogs along with Louis Colby and Clyde Mason who were‘ decent’ breed- ers in Rodger’ s opinion. Larry Warner shared his knowledge of conditioning with Rodger as one of his mentors and friend.
Louis Colby, honored Rodger by including a photo of him and his dog Scott’ s Neblett Blondie in his book, Colby’ s Book of the American Pit Bull Terrier. Blondie was one of Rodger’ s foundation brood matrons of his breed- ing program.
Rodger visited Louis Colby’ s kennel in Massachusetts in 1992 and seemed to influence Louis in a positive way. The picture’ s caption said,“ Rodger is a fan of the Neblett bloodline and one of the most popular judges for the ADBA.” Louis states,“ Rodger visited our kennel in 1992. The breed is lucky to have men like Rodger in its corner.”
Some of Rodger’ s favorite dogs with- in the breed that made an impression on him include Belveal’ s Jimmy, Gary Emmert’ s Junior, Eubank’ s Greaser, Sylvie, Herchel and Pete. Rodger’ s fa- vorite dog was his dog Scott’ s Grip Mc Coy. Grip’ s pedigree traces back 75 % Neblett and 25 % Wilder based on the prominent stud dog Hemphill’ s Geron- imo.
4