Pet Talk

by Cathy Davis
www.houltonanimalshelter.com
    Last Saturday, the Hodgdon United Methodist Church hosted a yard sale, food sale and Adopt-a-thon for the Houlton Animal Shelter.
    If your children have run out of things to do on these rainy days, maybe they would like to enter the animal shelter’s coloring contest. The entry fee is $1, which goes directly to animal care, and you can pick up the pages to color at the Shelter or at any of the Shelter events, such the Shelter’s yard sale on Aug. 21 and 22 at the Congregational Church on High Street. Winners of this contest will be drawn in September.
    Remember to keep Sept. 12 open on your calendar as you will not want to miss “Rockin’ the Dog” in Monument Park.
    This will be an all day event with dozens of activities for all ages – the car show for the macho man in the family, games for the children, a barbecue for all ages, and a fabulous rock band concert for the young and young at heart. The best part is, entry to the park for all these events is free, but we will be asking for donations throughout the day so if you see children with donation buckets, please keep in mind that the purpose of this event is to raise money to help keep the animal shelter going. All of the people working this event are volunteering their time, energy, and talent, just to help the animals. We had felt that a $6 fee for the entire day’s activities would not be unreasonable but the logistics of charging a fee to a public park became a little bit tricky so donations only will be relied upon.  
    And remember to bring lots of cash to purchase the homemade items that will be for sale throughout the park, or to buy a wonderful barbecued dinner. And bring your lawn chair or blankets, you’ll want to stay all day and eventually you’ll want to sit down.  
    I can’t wait for the band, we are so excited to have RAVOCTA play for us, they are a wonderfully talented group of youngsters who have captured a wide audience and we are fortunate to have them for the afternoon.  
    Please join me in offering up a simple request to the goddess of rain that she gives us a gorgeous day on the Sept. 12 to enjoy this fabulous treat.
    If you would like to do more than just attend, we are going to need a dozen or so volunteers to man the food tables, to bake for us or make desserts. If your man is bored, perhaps he could come flip a few burgers that day, or turn a hot dog or two. Even your kids could help pick up in the afternoon when the event is over, we’ll need a really big team to clean up the park and haul away the trash.
    Remember that we do all of this to help cover the cost of caring for the animals. We do all that we can to reduce our overhead every single day.  Not a penny is wasted, and we do receive some town assistance but it’s just not enough and every week there are more bills to pay and less money to pay them with so special projects like this one, and your generous donations and support, are what keep us going.
    If you would like to volunteer to work at our Rockin’ The Dog event, please contact Heather Miller at the Houlton Animal Shelter 532-2862 and let her know if you can bake, work, or help clean up. And thank you once again for your support.