by Cathy Davis
This Saturday, Sept. 14, Rockin’ the Doghouse is going to rock the roof off the animal shelter. Starting at 11 a.m., there will be a petting zoo, a farmers market, bake sale, kids games, an antique and classic car cruise-in, a BBQ with hot dogs and hamburgers, there will be ice cream, popcorn, cotton candy, and more. Somewhere around 12:30 p.m. there is going to be a pie and cake auction. It’s going to be a fun day that you won’t want to miss.
Last year was the first year we held this event right at the shelter and it was a huge success. There were cars lined up all the way down the street in both directions, the yard was full of people all day long, there were pony rides and the petting zoo included an incredible diversity of fun animals. I so enjoyed watching the faces of the children as they went from one end of the yard to the other, finding more and more things to do. It’s a great place to be and this is our biggest event of the year.
If you have a large family, don’t worry about being able to “afford” this adventure, there is no admission fee and burgers and dogs are only a dollar, in fact almost everything is only a dollar. You might ask yourself how we can raise enough money to help the animals by only charging a dollar? That would be a legitimate question – the fact is, we don’t count the dollars to judge the success of the event, we count the smiles, the number of adoptions (yes, there will be puppies available, and cats, and bunnies with great adoption deals going on all day), we count the support, the good wishes and the leftovers. If we run out of food (like we did last year), that’s a success. If we have no farm produce left, that’s a success. If we sell every pie and cake, that’s a success.
It takes a huge group of incredible volunteers to pull off an event like this – set-up takes hours, there are dozens of people who donate farm produce, home made jams, jellies, pickles and baked goods, there are people who get up early and gather up their critters and crates and bring them for the petting zoo, there are the car show people who drive for hours to spend the day, there’s the shelter staff who work so hard to get the facility ready early so we can do tours, and then all the folks who cook and serve burgers, popcorn and the like. Many thanks to each and every one of you for being a part of this event.
With a summer like we’ve had, the weather is always a factor, so we do have a rain date. Just in case it is pouring on Saturday, the event will be held on Sunday. Don’t get confused by this, we will be there, Saturday at 11 a.m. unless it’s pouring rain.
If you would like to contribute to the bake sale, you still have time to bake. You can bring things to the shelter Saturday morning (or Friday afternoon before 4 p.m. if you want).
One thing I should mention is that we really want you to come (did I already say that) but we ask that you leave Fluffy and Rover home. That might sound a little strange as this is an animal event, for animals, about animals, but there will be a lot of people, commotion, petting zoo critters, shelter pets, and we just feel it’s in the best interest of your pets, and ours, if we don’t add any more to the mix.
So gather up your family, tell your friends about this, post a reminder on Facebook to invite your neighbors, and we’ll see you Saturday morning at the shelter at 11 a.m. I guarantee you’ll have a blast, we can’t wait to see you! If any questions, call Heather Miller, 532-2862. Many thanks to Heather and Jon Miller for organizing this event every year! And just in case I didn’t mention it, our own Jon Miller will be DJ’ing all day long! See you there!
