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2025 John O. Blackbird Memorial Award Recipient

Picture

Ed Sullivan


The seventh recipient of the annual John O. Blackbird Memorial Award is presented to a man we feel truly represents the ideas, passion, compassion and other qualities emulated by the late John O. Blackbird.  The Master Amateur Retriever Club’s Board of Directors is pleased to honor Ed Sullivan with this heartfelt, prestigious award.

Ed Sullivan was introduced to the retriever world in the 60's and had his first dog trained by D. L, Walters. 
 
After moving to Kansas City in the early 80's he joined the Kansas City Retriever Club and got involved in Field Trials with dogs trained by Bill Eckett, Bobby George & Greg Bartlett. As a member of KCRC he held positions of Director and VP. He also started judging Field Trials and Hunt Tests. To date he has judged over 75 Master tests and two nationals, one in 2008 and one in 2015 as well as numerous Senior & Junior Tests.

He helped start up and run Northwest Missouri Retriever Club and served as VP & President.

He is a founding Board member of the Master Amateur Retriever Club and served as a Director  & VP of the Central Region. He was responsible for the set up and running the Master Amateur  in 2018 in Sedalia Mo. and did the ground work for the 2022 MAI also in Sedalia.

He has competed in field trials and qualified dogs in all levels of the hunt test program up to & including MNH. He has had both Labs and Goldens and has done most of the training on the dogs he runs in tests.  He plans to keep training and running dogs as long as the good Lord will let him.

In Memory of John O. Blackbird
Online Nomination Form
John O. Blackbird Memorial Award Nomination Form (Download to print and submit)
​•    ​•    ​•    ​•    ​•
If you would like to mail the form, please print and submit to your regional officer.

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Copyright ©2026  Master Amateur Retriever Club  •  Photography by Mark Atwater – UpClosePhoto.com
  • Home
  • How it Works / FAQ
    • MARC History
    • How it Works >
      • MARC By-Laws >
        • By-Law Change
      • Tracking Amateur Results
      • Qualifying Standards
      • Definition of an Amateur
      • Sport, Weekend Events, National
    • Public Document Links
    • Region Information
    • Our Mission
    • FAQ
  • Membership
    • Member Login
    • Become a Member
    • Current Membership Lists
  • 2026 MAI
    • 2026 MAI Event
    • 2026 MAI Qualifiers
  • Master Amateur Invitational Events
  • Invitational Hall of Fame
  • John O. Blackbird Award
    • 2025 JOB Award
    • 2023 JOB Award
    • 2022 JOB Award
    • 2021 JOB Award
    • 2020 JOB Award
    • 2019 JOB Award
  • Sallie P. Sullivan Award
  • Newsletters
  • Links
  • Store
  • Contact Us