Cleanup Day May 15

Before we had the Grand Opening on May 22, 2010, we had a cleanup day the week before.

Our crew showed up bright and early and others joined us later.  Even the kids were there.

Above –  Albert, a long time volunteer, and Mark, a student from St. Joe’s, rest on their shovels and survey their handiwork of carving steps out of a clay bank.  Below, Lisa tries out the steps and Tammy makes a haul from the bottom of the hill.

Below – The crew loads and unloads trash.

Above-  (left) Jeremy Player stands on his handiwork- a set of natural steps, and (right) everybody pitches in.

Grand Opening May 22 & 23, 2010

Chico Sanchez of Hog Wild http://www.hogwildforever.com/, in a move that can only be called inspired, delivered a great rendition of “You Ain’t Nothin’ But A Hound Dog” after the leash was cut for the Grand Opening of the Lions Club Dog Park in St. Thomas.  Below, Alderman Dave Warden does the honors with the scissors.

Despite the rain and a long weekend, lots of people came out to witness the event.

But before the leash could be cut, people had to be thanked for an event that was at least 10 years in the making.  Above left, Luanne Demers, President of the STDOA, above right, Cliff Barwick, Mayor of St. Thomas, below left, Gayle Cudney, President of the Lions Club of St. Thomas who donated $15,000 toward the park, and below right, Alderman Dave Warden of St. Thomas City Council who worked to make St. Thomas’s first off leash dog park a reality.

John Blake of Elgin Realty johnshomepage really came through and returned Sunday to set up his equipment after being rained out on Saturday.  Lots of dog photos.  Sherry Rawlings (above right) lent her talents on Sunday as well.  Below, our food tent served up lots of goodies and it looks like somebody really has an eye on that hot dog.

Vendors always make an event more interesting.  Besides our own booth, Animal Love Foundation (ALF) http://www.adoptapet.com/adoption_rescue/77918.html and All Breed Canine Rescue  http://members.petfinder.com/%7EON229/MAIN.html attended.

Q97.5 EZ Rock of London http://www.975ezrock.com/ attended as part of their long weekend events coverage and (above right) Ann MacDonald of K-9 Concepts http://k-9concepts.com/ returned Sunday and gave lessons in the park.  Below, Gerald and Lisa Demars really did double duty parking their camper and spending three nights providing security and keeping an eye on things for the duration of the event.  Without people like this events can’t happen.

On Sunday, the sun came out and made everybody’s day more enjoyable.

More Grand Opening Pics

John Blake has posted some of his pictures on Picasa.  The link is here http://picasaweb.google.com/JBlake2222/DogParkOpening?feat=email#.  His email is JBlake2222@gmail.com.  Aren’t you sorry now you didn’t take advantage of this?  Don’t be shy next time.

And there’s more-

Sherry Rawlings has posted some of her great photos on flickr.  She was at the Grand Opening on Sunday.  The link is here http://www.flickr.com/photos/sherryrawlings/ and some are shown below: