Ohio, in 1924. The first unofficial UKC Nite Hunt was held in 1953 in Ingraham, Illinois. In 1960, UKC held the first Autumn Oaks event, at which the organization crowns a National Grand Nite Champion yearly. In 1978, UKC launched Coonhound World Championship, to crown a World Nite Hunt Champion. The event continued to grow, and UKC instituted a zone semifinal system in the late 1980’s, with qualifying dogs hunting in one of four zones to earn their way to the Finals. In 1992, the number of zones expanded to five. Today, there are seven zones, accommodating hundreds of dogs. Bench Show A Bench Show is essentially a Conformation show for Coonhounds. The dogs are placed on a two-foot high platform to assist the judge in their examination of the dog for adherence to breed standards. The first UKC licensed Bench Show for Coonhounds occurred in 1946, at the National Leafy Oak Field Trial, in Kenton, Ohio. Today, UKC licenses thousands of bench shows a year across the country. The organization also crowns National Bench Show Champions yearly at Autumn Oaks, and a World Bench Show Champion at the yearly Coonhound World Championship event. Beagles Though promoting Beagles in Bloodlines as far back as 1913, the first UKC-licensed Beagle Field Trial did not take place until 1924. In 1988, UKC met with Beaglers across the country to develop the UKC Hunting Beagle format, with the first event taking place in 1990. Currently, UKC runs the Hunting Beagle Nationals, established in 1992, and the Hunting Beagle World Championship, established in 2000. Both events feature a Hunt and Bench Show portion. In 2021, UKC paired with the Beagle Gundog Alliance to develop a new format, the Beagle Gundog program. This format held its first national event that same year. Hunting Retrievers In the early 1980’s, UKC held a series of meetings with several prominent voices in the Hunting Retriever field, about an arrangement to create a new format of field trial for retrievers. This became the Hunting Retriever Club, which was quickly affiliated with UKC. In April 1984, the first Hunting Retriever Club and UKC hunt was held in Ruston, Louisiana. The first Grand Hunt, was established in 1986, as dogs quickly reached the title of Hunting Retriever Champion, and had no higher levels to reach. In October 1986, the first Grand Hunt was held, and in the years since, there has