Yesterday morning began early, preparing to work the Greyhounds Rock booth at the Downtown Dog Fair all day. I pulled out of our driveway at 7:30, with my golf cart loaded in the back of my pickup truck, and headed for downtown Fredericksburg to set up our booth.
My talented husband designed the banners for the sides of the golf cart. The Crager SS wheel covers were one of my Christmas presents last year.
The event began with the Masquerade Dog Parade. My dog Daniel and I collected pledges and were going to march, but I left him home instead. The day was going to be a long one, and I didn't want to tire or stress him out that much. The Greyhounds Rock Team raised over $1000!
The parade was led by Elby Brass, a fabulous brass band ...
... and you can't have a decent parade without cheerleaders. (Even though this one cheers for the wrong team.)
We lined our booth with ex-pen panels to make it into a large dog pen so the dogs had a place to relax.
This is Denny, wearing one of my collars, and Audie, a Cesky Terrier greyhound-wannabe.
TJ was holding court, greeting his admirers, as always.
This is Anthony Moringello, who worked all day taking fall-themed portraits. He will also be set up at our 'Take a Bite Out of Canine Cancer' benefit in November.
The Adoption Park was full of booths from many animal rescue groups. Here is my 'niece' Holly Ann, with my sister, representing Blue Ridge Border Collie Rescue.
I worked our booth all day, answering questions about our organization and selling collars. People love the idea of a martingale collar, and more than two dozen of them went home with happy new owners. Ironically, I started making collars for greyhounds, and not one was sold to a greyhound owner yesterday. It's wonderful that owners of other breeds of dogs are learning about the advantages of these safe, comfortable, humane collars.
This lab's owner wanted a classic, girly collar. Pink houndstooth was perfect!
How about a Christmas-style plaid on this Dobie?
By the time we broke down the booth and packed up to go home at 4:00, all of us were exhausted. There was a huge crowd of dog lovers and dogs enjoying the sunny day in downtown Fredericksburg all day, and I think I talked to almost all of them ... telling them about Greyhounds Rock and what our mission to fund canine cancer research is all about. I kept telling folks, "Our organization is called Greyhounds Rock, and I have greyhounds, but cancer doesn't care what breed of dog you have."
