Mr Ted

By Tom Word

I loved Ted Baker like all of us
‘Cause he loved us in spite of us
He gave us a place that was ideal
To run the Sunshine and the Florida for 60 years

That’s two weeks yearly on wild quail lands
With contours and cover sweeping and grand
Where a big going dog could show its stuff
Way off yonder on the tall pine ridges and in the wire grass guts
Where a covey could be found though hard to flush

Where dogs from up north unused to sand
Could acclimate to piney woods land
On Loncalla’s two sections always set aside
For handlers to work on when their entries weren’t down

Ted loved a great dog
No matter who owned it
Or trained it
Or ran it
If it kept the front
And found some birds
And pointed intense

He loved the handlers
Wanted them to succeed
Pulled for the underdogs
Loved it when they won

Now Ted’s flown away
And he will be missed
‘Cause there’s been none like him
Much less still left

Ted Baker died on Thursday, April 28, 2022. He will be sorely missed by countless lovers of bird dogs and field trialers who cherished running dogs on Chinquapin, a place like none other.