The 3 day GREAT IDEAS FOR GIVING LOCAL blog - Day 1

Normally I like to put up blog postings that have some lasting value: something that can be referred back to from time to time. But I am going to stray from that for the next three days.  My usual M.O. is to put upcoming event postings up on the Country Doctor Facebook Page or my Twitter feed instead of in my blog.  But there are 3 events in the next couple months that deserve some special mention and give Ashtabula County residents a great chance to help animals and keep donation dollars local.  So I will highlight 1 event per day for the next three days.  All 3 events benefit local Ashtabula County animals that really need our help.  Each event helps a different group so you have a chance to go to 1, 2 or all 3 events and do multiple good deeds.  And everyone of us (me included) need a little prodding and a little cheerleading to get motivated to do something for a good cause so let the cheerleading begin...........

Event #1

What: Family Fun Dog Show
When: Sunday May 22nd starting at 1pm
Where: Ashtabula County Fairgrounds Sheriff Station
To Benefit:  local police and sheriff working canine units

I cannot say enough good about our county's K-9 units.  Trained police dogs are such an invaluable part of our local law enforcement.  Because of them and the officers who train and work with them, we are a much better off community.  From drug detection to apprehension to search and rescue, these dogs are amazing.  The K-9 unit departments do have quite the challenge though when it comes to budget.  It takes quite a bit of money to keep these units up and running and we all know how bad the budget situation is in our county.  So being the best staff on the planet, the women who work at the Country Doctor decided they wanted to come up with a fund raiser to help out the K-9 units.  The dog show is 100% their idea and I think it is great!  Giving back to the community is what this life is all about.  Making a difference.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am blessed to be working with such generous and caring people.

Now on to the dog show details...............

In case you think that your dog can't enter a dog show because it is not a show dog, not in this case.  This is a fun show!  You can find the complete flyer and the dog show registration form over at the County Doctor web site by clicking on the hot links.  Here is a list of classes that you and your dog can enter:

Best Tail Wagging

Best Under bite

Crazy hair do's

Pet and owner look alike

Cutest eyes

Best pet trick in 60 seconds

You can enter for only $5 per class.  There is something for every dog.  There will be guest judges (including me and if you really want to know, my weakness is chocolate frosted brownies *wink,wink*)  Several of the K-9 units will be at the event so you can meet them.  We are going to have a bake sale too so if you can't find a dog to enter, you can at least come over and eat.

Since this our first Family Fun Dog Show, we need folks to sign up by early May so we can plan.  If you need more info you can visit the Country Doctor web site at http://www.countrydrvet.com/  and look for the show flyer in the "Patient Center" tab and then go to "events".  OR you can email us at info@countrydrvet.com.  We would love to see everyone there and help us raise money for the dogs who do so much to make our communities a safer place to live.

And thanks to Flickr's creative commons for helping me fill in a few pictures.

The fair is coming to town!

I do believe I may be back and blogging. Finally. What a crazy life it is sometimes. Wish I could say that I was on vacation the whole time I was not blogging, but alas I was only vacationing about 5 days. I have some more serious stuff to blog about in the upcoming weeks, but to tell you the truth, I need to blog about something fun today. We've had a rough couple weeks at the clinic with lots of very terminally ill patients coming into the clinic and many not going home. It has not been quite as bad as a stretch I had last year (maybe some day I'll blog about that), but it does seem sometimes that the "when it rains, it pours" factor takes over from time to time. It's sometimes hard to remember all the successes we do have when we are in the midst of a rash of bad, non-fixable problems.

OK, so where is the fun part. Well the Ashtabula County Fair is coming up in just under two weeks. I absolutely LOVE the fair. You might say I am somewhat of a fair junkie. I love the whole experience. The noise, the smells, the sounds. The animals, the exhibits, the food. The entertainment, the tractor pull, oh how I love the tractor pull. I'm just smiling thinking about it. I only eat jalapeño poppers once a year and this is it!

Now that we don't do large animal medicine at the clinic anymore, I don't get to see the horses, cows and pigs prior to fair like I used to, but I do still get to see a handful of turkeys for pullorum testing. I really like turkeys. They have lots of personality and are just very cool birds. When the turkeys start showing up in the appointment calendar, I know the fair cannot be that far away. Their arrival at the clinic marks a very special time in summer for me. I think the rest of the clients enjoy seeing them out in the parking lot as much as I do too. Plus there is nothing cooler than seeing appointments out in the clinic lawn.

Maybe because I was raised a city kid and now live and work in the country, but I really have enjoyed learning about where our food comes from. And no, it does not come from the grocery store wrapped in a package of cellophane. It comes from the farms of rural America. And the future of our food supply is in the hands of our children. I do worry that the children of today are getting so out of touch with where food really comes from. I know as a kid, I did not understand half of what I understand today. So I'm rambling a bit, but here is the true value of our county fairs and our 4-H programs. We need to teach our kids the truth about food. The alternative is that farms will be so over-regulated by people who have no idea about the truth of food production that farms in this country will cease to exist. Then how do we feed our nation? From exported food products? Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me. OK, got a little bit serious here, but I love the fair for so many reasons. Fun is one, but education is another. I guess it should be no surprise that a veterinarian is an education junkie too.

So please go support your local county fair. Take your kids and let them learn about the cows and the chickens and the pigs and the horses. Have fun eating greasy fair food (just don't do it all the time). Enjoy what local agriculture brings to the table. And when you hear those diesel engines cranking up, you can think of me sitting in the infield at the tractor pull and cheering on my farmer friends!