Sunday, September 18, 2011

Fur and Foliage Followup


Saturday was the Humane Society of Knox County's annual Fur and Foliage fundraiser event. I am happy to say it went off without a hitch. The weather was fabulous and we had very good attendance. I was in charge of the "Try-your-luck" agility course and answered training and behavior questions for free. It is always fun watching kids (and adults) trying to get their dogs to co-operate on the course. The rules are: no pulling or pushing your dog to get them to go, and we want to see you having fun! I help whoever needs it on the course with lots of motivation in the form of cheese. Everyone gets some sort of prize at the end and a certificate. Our biggest competitor this year was a mastiff and our smallest was a dachshund. It was a hoot to watch.

We tried to add more vendors this year. Unfortunately some couldn't make it but we did have more than we had last year. My friends at The Smiling Frog Pets came and did very well. They donated some of the prizes for the agility contest too. CW studios glass work, Barefoot Books, and The Loyal Biscuit Co. were some of the others that made it. Thanks also to Tri Pom Chews for donating to our raffle even though they couldn't attend. We had a balloon artist that was amazing and a caricaturist too. We also had some live music this year which was new. I have to admit I was worried about that addition but it was fabulous.

We also had photos with Santa and this year added a fall scene area for photos as well. I thought it looked great. I only wish I had my own dogs there to take advantage of it. The Maine POM project was also in attendance and we had other fun stuff like face painting for the kids who were there. I saw lots of cat faces so I assume it was a hit. Lots of money was raised thanks to all of the walkers collecting donations. Congrats to Missy Parkerton and Joette Adams for being the top 2! These ladies have been in the top for about 3 years in a row now. How awesome are they?!!


Sadie from the K-9 Corrections program got to attend since she is currently looking for her new home. She is seen here wearing her "Adopt Me" vest. Extra thanks to Kim Grinell for making that for her at the last minute. She looked great!  I also got to see Mason at the event. He is one of the former K-9 Corrections dogs. His new name is Ollie and he is doing fabulous. I bought a few raffle tickets myself and this year even won a couple items! It was very surprising as I rarely win stuff. Especially stuff I really want. One was a bag of delicious Made in Maine chicken jerky from Tri-Pom Chews (I know it is delicious because Jack told me so!) and the other was a gift basket donated by the Loyal Biscuit. Nice! Before you say I am being selfish by keeping my prizes let me assure you that at least half of the stuff is headed to the prison for the K-9 Corrections dogs. I have always been good at sharing. :-)
I'm sure I am forgetting something important but those are the highlights as my brain has remembered them. I look forward to next year as we plan in it being even bigger and more fun. Stay tuned! Many more photos of the event can be seen on my facebook page. They aren't the best though since all I have for a camera at the moment is on my phone. As they say, something is sometimes better than nothing!

2 comments:

Ashley said...

One of the downsides about being a vendor was that I didn't get to take advantage of all the fun stuff. But I still had such a blast!! I can't wait for next years. And you are such a lucky dog for winning those two prizes. I think you should do a haul video of all the stuff that was in the Biscuit basket :D

jen said...

You are a good sharer! I am grateful for that :)

Yay for an awesome turn out and YAY for the winnings! I'll have to keep watch for next year's date and plan my trek to Maine around that.