Memory of Monroe Scottie Rescue
11th Annual Scottie Lover's/Rescue Reunion
September 19, 2009
We had a beautiful day on Saturday, September 19th for our 11th Annual Scottie Lover's/Rescue Reunion. What a great day to see these little terriers strut their stuff with their loved ones proudly looking on.
Rescue dogs, regardless of where they were adopted, get a bright red bandana to wear for the day. Our Class of 2009, which are dogs that have been adopted since our last picnic in 2008, wore "Class of 2009 - Memory of Monroe Scottie Rescue" bandanas. We had a good turnout of our "Class of" this year. Overall, our number of intakes were down a bit from last year, but we're finding that homes are a bit harder to come by. All of our 2009 dogs found great homes and are doing well in their new abodes. Two of the current foster dogs, Chelsea and Sassy, found new homes the day of the picnic and have since been adopted!
We had over forty volunteers doing anything from setting up tables, unloading auction items, prepping the rummage sale tables, preparing food, serving food, checking out the silent auction, grilling, intake of auction items, getting attendees registered and a plethora of other duties. We could not have done it without them!! We are lucky in that we've had so many repeat volunteers that most everyone knows their "job". Things ran smoother than ever this year!
We had a grooming demonstration by Joel and Kay Addison, and Peggy Gerold did a demonstration on obedience. We got excellent feedback about all demonstrations!
Our bagpiper, Scott Bartell, did a great job leading the Class of 2009 to the stage area for their introductions, and later again for the parade around the fairgrounds. Our Class of 2009 attendees introduced themselves and told a little bit about their rescue dog
We bid goodbye with a balloon release to our 2009 rescue brigade which consists of dogs adopted out by Memory of Monroe that have passed away since our last picnic in 2008:
Aunt Stella and Dusty owned and loved by Bob and Sharon
Dodds
McMurphy and Sandy owned and loved by Ron and Susie Fett
Heidi owned and loved by Ed & Sheila Hagstrom
Suz owned and loved by Greg & Sue Beltramo
Nellie owned and loved by John and Vicki Ramsay
Buddy owned and loved by Linda Walker
OMalley and Addie owned and loved by Gwen & Terry
Henricksen
Sassy owned and loved by Denice and Charlie Allen
Fala owned and loved by Dave and Elaine Hendrickson
Mikey owned and loved by Colleen and Myron Voss
Andii owned and loved by Chris Baldwin
Riley owned and loved by Lynn Tempes
Misha owned and loved by John Biesanz & Judi Miller
Tulip owned and loved by Carolyn Foreman and Joel Mueller
Rudy owned and loved by Barb Rheaume
Wynne & Gracie owned by Kathy & Randy Johnson
Annie Owned by Craig and Betty Morton
McKenzie Owned and loved by Shirley Kohler
Frannie Owned and loved by Barb and Ken Boyer
Lynne Wunderlich - former foster mom and friend
Janet Salhus - mom to Claire - Class of 2007
and of course,
We will always remember our friend Gary Penke who loved his Scotties Aunt Stella and Heidi very much. Gary was a friend who gave so much to Scottie Rescue
We had a surprise from Marcie Useldinger. Marcie is a long-time Scottie (among others!) owner, and graciously donated $1000 worth of Oracle stock to Memory of Monroe. This is a very generous donation and much appreciated. This dovetails very nicely with our "Perpetuity" fund established this year through a sizable donation from Sharon Dodds. With these funds and other donations received, we are starting a fund to enable the perpetuity of Memory of Monroe Scottie Rescue so that these precious dogs will continue to be rescued from various situations for years to come - hopefully long after I am gone.
Our other donations received through the year will go towards our operating expenses including veterinary care, supplies, food, transportation and insurance. Our operating expenses are funded mainly through the picnic we hold each year and other donations received throughout the year. We could not do this work without the funds we have received, and a thank you to all of you seems trite; you have no idea how much your donations are appreciated and how much they help these little dogs get into wonderful homes.
The Spirit of Tessa Award goes to the current year's rescue dog who shows the tenacity, will to live, and gumption despite the odds being stacked against them. The award is in honor of a darling rescue girl named Tessa who underwent years of abuse and neglect in a puppy mill only to be saved for research purposes. After her work was done with veterinary students, she was scheduled to be euthanized. An angel rescued Tessa, and yet another angel, Susie Fett, adopted Tessa and gave her the life she so richly deserved.
This year's award went to Annie Juelke (known as NeNe while she was in rescue). Annie entered rescue as a stray from the Fargo area in January, 2009. We received a little tiny girl estimated to be about 10 years old. Annie had tumors on her which needed to be removed, plus all kind of other things .... her rescue paperwork folder is quite thick with all the vet visits and notes. In addition to teeth cleaning/removal, and getting her infections taken care of, she was diagnosed with Cushings. Her eyesight was not 100% and neither was her hearing, but this little girl wanted the comforts in life and she let it be known that she had no intention of leaving us. Thinking she would be in permanent foster care, Annie found a perfect home. Her owners have another Cushings-diagnosed dog, and had just lost a Scottie. They felt she was destined to be theirs and I think she felt the same way.
Our June Bug Spirit Award is sponsored by June Bug's owners, Bob Popelka and Paula Steuttgen. June Bug is a puppy mill girl who overcame many obstacles to become the Queen Bee of the household. June Bug arrived to Paula and Bob as a traumatized young dog with little to no socialization. She was timid, fearful, and didn't know how to play or enjoy a family. June Bug rules the roost in her home! Bob and Paula generously donate $500 to Memory of Monroe Scottie Rescue to sponsor the June Bug Award. Eligible dogs are invited to apply for the award. They must explain how their dog overcame the demons associated with their former life.
We had so many great stories submitted by their owners! The winner was Fiona Bartlett, a Scottie girl who was rescued from an Indiana Amish puppy mill in September, 2008. A wonderful woman named Jackie Inman took five Scotties and some miniature poodles from a miller to save them from death. The STCA Rescue Coordinator for Michigan, Regina Hess, helped get these little ones vet care and assessed them before they flew up to Minnesota (thank you Mike and Mary Gombold!!). Fiona was the eldest of the Scotties and the last one to be adopted. She stole our hearts as she tentatively blossomed. All of these dogs were traumatized in some way, shape or form, and they have all made great strides in their rehabilitation. Fiona found her way to Paul and Linda Bartlett in St. Paul where she received all the TLC any dog could muster. Paul routinely takes Fiona and their Westie, Molly, to Mears Park for their exercise and socialization. Fiona has become a confident, loving dog and Paul proudly calls her, "The best dog in the world". She sure ended up in a wonderful home!
Sharon and Bob Dodds generously donate the Gary Penke Meal Deal award. This is a random drawing and given in honor of Gary Penke, who loved to eat and loved to feed his dogs, Aunt Stella and Heidi. The award is a $50 certificate to Petco and another $50 certificate to Cub Foods. This year's winner was Linda Bartlett, Fiona's mom!!!
The raffle items were all won by people at the picnic:
Cedar Scottie Bench - Mary Nelson
Custom Scottie Portrait by Cherry O'Neill - Evie Norton
Our rummage sale was a first! It was deemed a success and brought in a little over $1100! Wow. That is great! We had some wonderful Scottie/Westie items and I think people liked shopping. Our silent auction was chock full of great and interesting items. We had some good-natured bidding wars going on. Thank you to everyone who donated items for the rummage sale and/or silent auction. We appreciate it all very much.
Crossroads Animal Shelter in Buffalo, MN set up a booth and sold some wonderful items to benefit their shelter. We are nuts about their crate pads and the rescue dogs here enjoy sleeping on the nice, comfy pads. The designs are adorable with many Scottie patters! Thanks to John and Stephanie Wisecarver, Susan Brouse and Karla Dixon for joining us!
Keep the date of Saturday, September 18, 2010 on your calendar for the 12th annual Scottie Lover's/Rescue Reunion. And speaking of calendars, our 2010 calendar is available!
Thank you again to everyone who volunteered, attended, purchased and donated. We could not do this without you!
Jan, Jake, Izzy and Dottie - Memory of Monroe Minneapolis &
Pat Gory and Tom Steyer, CJ How, Kasey and Katie - Memory of Monroe Omaha