S HELTER

2013 up Coming
January-

SHORTS
2012

DECEMBER

Rivers & bluffs animal shelter

D ECEMBER S

FUNDRAISING EVENT

Wake up Santa
Was a big hit!

10th
Board Member/ Planning Committee Meeting City Hall 6 p.m.

17th-RABAS
Christmas party and meeting -Huckelberrys Restaurant- 6 p.m.

Inside This Issue

2012 B OARD R ECENT FUNDRAISERS O NGOING FUNDRAISERS O THER NEWS W U S ANTA PHOTOS M ISC . NOTES R ABAS MEMBERS 2 3 4-5

6 7 8 9

See page 3 for details!

RIVERS AND BLUFFS ANIMAL SHELTER

2012 Board of Directors

Shelter Shorts is a monthly newsletter intended to keep Rivers & Bluffs Animal Shelter volunteers connected.

President- Randy Paske 1300 East Wells Street Prairie du Chien, WI 53821 262-388-2654 [email protected] Vice-President Bev Pozega 32398 Gran Grae Road Prairie du Chien, WI 53821 608-326-2914 wyalusing [email protected] TreasurerJill Cipra 126 Randee Avenue, Prairie du Chien, WI 53821 608-326-4870 [email protected] SecretaryTamara Aldrich 63513 Lohmann Lane Eastman, WI 54626 608-874-4223 [email protected] Board Member- Julie Whyte 322 South Wacouta Avenue Prairie du Chien, WI 53821 608-306-0499- [email protected] Board Member- John Ryan 12890 Markley Hollow Road Bagley, WI 53801 608-996-2281 Board Member- Donna Heilmann 1702 East Fowler Street Prairie du Chien, WI 53821 608-379-2112- [email protected]

Rivers and Bluffs Christmas Party will be held at Huckleberrys Restaurant on Thursday, January, 17th in conjunction with the January meeting. We will order off the menu at 6 p.m. with the meeting to follow while our food is being prepared. Everyone will be responsible for their own meal and tip. If you would like to participate in a gift exchange, please bring a gift with a value of $10. If you bring a gift, you will go home with one. Due to the lack of response for pet food, we will not be collecting pet food, but if anyone would like to bring nonperishable items for the Food Pantry, we will see that the donations get there. Donna called Peggy, the manager of the Food Pantry. She said that canned fruit and vegetables are always in need. If you would like to come to the Christmas Party, please RSVP by replying to this email or by calling Bev at 326-2914 or Jill at 326-4870 by Sunday, January 13th. The party is an excellent time to renew friendships and enjoy each others company without working at a fund raiser. I hope to see many of you there!

Treasurers Report
Jill Cipra Treasurer

Current balance as of December 20th, 2012

Check us out on the Web

www.riversandbluffsanimalshelter.org

$117,197.69
One thing to note if we do not have land by the spring of 2013, we will need to pay the George Family Foundation back the $10,000.00 that we received from the foundation three years ago. It was given to us with the stipulation that it would be used for land purchase and that we would have 3 years to purchase it.

Like us on Facebook
Rivers and Bluffs animal shelter-pdc

2 shelter shorts shorts/december 2012

recent fundraisers report

Tractor supply gift wrapping and bake sale

Tractor Supply Gift Wrapping and Bake Sale was held on Saturday, December 15th from 9 a.m. 3 p.m. Donna, Merilee, Bev and her trusty canine companions Vegas and Nicki sold delicious home-made candies and cookies and wrapped a few gifts (very few). Vegas entertained patrons of Tractor Supply by jumping rope. I believe we made about $350 at the bake sale. Thanks for all of you who baked for this.

Wake up santa
Wake Up Santa was held on Saturday, December 1. Thanks to everyone who helped to make Wake Up Santa a success. This years event was well attended. Seventy-three boys and girls anxiously awaited their turn to sit on Santas lap for a personal visit. These personal visits are what Wake Up Santa is about. For a number of children on the verge of believing or not believing, this personal visit with Santa reaffirms for them that Santa does indeed exist. This years event ran very smoothly and again just seemed to come together. We had a number of first time volunteers who seemed to enjoy Wake Up almost as much as the kids. Thanks also to Trina Skime and Tammy Katsung for coordinating the girl scouts help. Their help was invaluable. Santa Bingo, Santas Secret Gift Shop, and Santas Workshop, always favorites with the kids, helped to entertain them while waiting for their Santa visit. This year we added Pin the Nose on Rudolph, which also proved popular with the kids. The wait for Santa seemed much improved over years past. Never did I think we would get through 73 kids in 2 hours! Congrats to Santa and Mrs. Claus on a job well done. Donna, Randi and Merilee assured that everything went smoothly in the kitchen while Jill and her registration volunteers played a big part in how well things ran upstairs. Kids enjoyed meeting Chance (aka Linda Bedward) and having their picture taken with the large RABAS mascot. Julie and Kelly kept the craft table well organized (which is no small task), Kris Perkins ran Santa Bingo with the help of the Girl Scouts and Santas Secret Gift Shop was manned by Santas elves (Girl Scouts). John and Judy staffed the beverage table and helped parents get the plates to the tables with no mishaps. Brian Cipras beautiful photos will keep this special memory alive for many years to come. I believe we made about $1,000 on the 5th Annual Wake Up Santa. We can be very proud of this organization for providing such a wonderful event for the community. Again, thanks to everyone who helped with this 2 december 2012/ shelter shorts 3

ongoing fundraisers

Kwik Trip gas cards

Thank you to all the people who have purchased Kwik Trip gas cards in the past!

We have made almost $7,000 for RABAS since October 2011!

Please consider buying the Kwik Trip cards before filling your tank or buying Kwik Trip products. Just think what we could be doing if more members , volunteers and their family members purchased the cards! RABAS makes 10% on each card sold! This is by far, the most profitable fundraiser, and the easiest! Purchasing the cards is easy! Call either of these members: Jill Cipra 608-326-4870 Bev Pozega 608-326-2914 (home) or 608-306-1260 (cell)

Cards will be delivered to you with a days notice. If you live out of town, we will mail them to you upon receipt of your check made payable to RABAS. Cards come in increments of $25, $50 and $100

Make checks payable to RABAS

phoneraiser
Please continue to save your old cell phones and ink jet cartridges. Drop them off at Tender Care Animal Hospital, or bring them to the monthly meeting. Thanks Donna, for taking the time to collect, sort and send the phones and cartridges in!

4 shelter shorts / december 2012

ongoing fundraisers

Dr. donna higgins wildlife photos

Dr. Donna Higgins continues to support RABAS through her beautiful wildlife prints on display at her office in downtown PdC. She has recently changed the format to 12 x 12 prints in borderless clip frames. Donna explains that these may be more affordable at $35 each. She will donate $25 to RABAS for each print she sells. These prints are absolutely beautiful! Please stop in at Dr. Higgins office, downtown PdC to see them. You may be able to see them on RABAs facebook page or Donnas facebook page, or possible on our website.

U. s. bones
Please continue ordering cat and dog treats from USBones.com. They donate 25% of each order placed, to RABAS!

Pet food pantry

Pet Food Pantry donation boxes have been out in the community since mid November. Currently, I have about 800 pounds of pet food in my porch. Very few people have taken advantage of the free pet food. I check the Food Pantry about twice a week. The Food Pantry is small and there is not much room for the pet food. I have received 2 phone calls from people who were in need. I delivered dog food and cat food to a gentleman in PdC who has a black lab and a small toy mix dog as well as 1 cat, all of which he rescued. On Saturday, I received a phone call from a lady who had recently been laid off. She has 3 cats. I delivered a large bag of cat food as well as numerous cans of cat food as one of her cats does not eat kibble. Boxes are still out in the community, but donations have all but ceased, except at Tractor Supply. I will leave the boxes out for a few weeks, but I feel the donations are done. If I do not get more requests for the pet food, I will contact CASA and also Iowa County Humane Shelter to see if they would like some of the food. Thanks to everyone who donated food to what I thought would be a worthy cause.
Santa had a very busy season making personal visits to families in the area. In fact, Santa and Brian Cipra made an extra special visit to an area family with very young children. This family has attended Wake Up Santa in 2011 and 2012. Due to the fact that this young family was close to the end of the list, by the time it was their turn to sit on Santas lap, the kids were not in the best of moods. Both years, this family left without the personalized visit as well as without the picture that they had previously paid for. After hearing about this, Santa and Brian contacted the parents and arranged to visit the children at their home and take their picture. It was a very special night that will not soon be forgotten. Santas visits brought in $150 this year. Thanks, Santa and Brian.

One last note about Wake Up Santa!!

2 december 2012 / shelter shorts 5

Rivers & bluffs animal shelter

Other news
Dog Obedience Classes will begin on Saturday, January 5. Classes will be held indoors at Tractor Supply and will last for 6 weeks. Class time is 10 a.m. Dogs must be current on all vaccinations and be on a topical flea and tick treatment. Cost of the class is $60 and all proceeds will benefit Rivers and Bluffs Animal Shelter. For registration information, please call Bev at 326-2914. Class size will be limited. Nelson True Value will be revamping their pet department in the near future. Donna Teynor and Oscar had asked me in mid November if we would be interested in doing some type of event to promote it. We could do a food stand, dog demonstrations, or basically anything we would want to do. This promotion was to be held in January. I called Donna today to see if they had picked a date for this. She apologized, but said it had been put on the back burner. She told me she and Oscar will discuss it and get back to me next week. While on the phone with Donna from True Value today, I did sign RABAS up for our annual food stand and bake sale on the Friday and Saturday of Mothers Day May 10th and 11th. If we decide not to do this usually profitable fund raiser, I can call and cancel. This should be discussed at the January meeting. Bingo Anyone? I have not taken this any further. I still think this is something that we could turn into a successful fund raiser and would like to pursue it. I would like to have more discussion on this at the January meeting.
Adoptions, Losses, People Looking for a New Pet, Pets in Need of a Forever Home December was a successful month for pet adoptions. Trina Skime adopted the teddy-bear kitten that Randi K was informed about. Thanks and congrats to Trina and her family for opening their hearts and home to this adorable kitten. And thanks to Randi for facilitating in the adoption. The yellow lab which was one of the 4 dogs seized by Crawford County Sheriffs Dept. and handed over to CASA found a forever home. Dr. Jami and the staff at Tender Care Animal Hospital cared for the dog and helped to get the dog (named Ranger by its new owners) ready for a forever home by socializing it and providing love and attention to this neglected dog. A purebred miniature dachshund found a new home just by Bev being in the right place at the right time. One day she learned of someone looking to rehome the dachshund and the next day she mentioned it in passing to an acquaintance and the dachshund went to its new home on New Years Eve. It was a sad month for me as Misty, my horse died. Misty was 32 years old and had been with me for 20 years. I still miss her, but am glad that I did not have to make the decision. She is buried in her pasture. Don and Eileen Klatt are looking to provide a forever home to a small to mid-sized adult dog, ideally about 4or 5 years old, house trained and with no separation or barking issues. If you know of a dog in need of a home, please reply to this email.

6 rabas / December 2012

Rivers & bluffs animal shelter

Photos from wake up santa

2 December 2012 / rabas 7

Rivers and bluffs animal shelter

Miscellaneous notes
Therapy Dog Teams continue to make a difference in the lives of many in the community. Deb and Jasmine spend 2 mornings a week at Bluff View. The kids read out loud to Deb and Jasmine. Kathy and Digger make weekly visits to Prairie Maison every Tuesday morning. I am happy to report that Paula and Maggie are back at Prairie Maison on a weekly basis. They are very happy to be doing what they love doing and I know the residents look forward to the visits of Kathy, Digger, Paula and Maggie. My dogs, Vegas and Nicki and I started our visits at Wyalusing Academy. On December 27, we visited with a number of Wyalusing Academy students. As always, Vegas entertained them with ball bouncing (until she popped it) and jumping rope. Vegas and I both got a good workout as we performed for 5 or 6 classes. But most of what the dogs do at Wyalusing Academy is to just be available for petting and loving what dogs do best is to provide unconditional love to whomever needs it. As always, I never know who enjoys these visits more. And I believe all of the therapy dog teams feel the same way as we are sharing our beloved dogs with others less fortunate. Wyalusing Academy is still interested in getting a resident dog. Amy is now the contact for this and I hope to work with her in the near future to make this happen Thank you for the following donations: Irma Koonce, Jean Bula, Ray Wrobel, Rita Clancy, Roxanne Howell (in memory of Patti Patnode), Wyalusing Academy, Tender Care Donation Jar. Reminder: Annual memberships should be renewed 1 year from the month in which you joined. Memberships- New and Renewal
Sponsors-

Phil and Deb Dwornik, Tammy OBrien

Family

Jami and Ken Quick, George and Mary Tilley, Jim and Kathy Powers, Tom and Margie Bennett
Single

June Burns, Alexis Burns, Shirley Wegmuller, Merilee Pleggenkuhle

Monthly Pledge-

Don and Eileen Klatt

6 shelter shorts / december 2012

Rivers and bluffs animal shelter membership

Patron members
Lu DeGuzman Laura Nix Bob & Diane Witt

Sponsor members
Marilu Bintz Phil & Deb Dwornik Gary & Kathy Koch Vicki & Bill Mueller Linda Munson Bonnie Olson Trinas Girl Scout Troop Tammy OBrien

family members
Randy & Linda Bedward Tom & Marjorie Bennett Sharon Boylen Donna Cipra Jill & Brian Cipra Jennifer Clements Amy Enlowe Mike & Mary Jane Faas Jane Howe Peggy Johnson Randi & Mike Kluesner Randy & Kathy Paske Jim & Kathy Powers Jami & Ken Quick Mike, Shelly & Kaitlyn Rider John & Judy Ryan Roberta Spires Tractor Supply George & Mary Tilley Brenda Wilson

single members
Tammy Aldrich Tori Armstrong June Burns Deb Cross Marilyn Crubaugh Dawn Eggers Kelly Fishler Paula Gutzmer Donna Heilmann Janis Hein Joe Hunzeker Georgia Hutchinson Kristin Helgerson Kriegl Marty Leeman Kim Pinkham Bev Pozega Rosemary Reese Sue Rider Julie Whyte Alexis Burns Shirley Wegmuller Merilee Pleggenkuhle

Monthly pledge member

Don & Eileen Klatt

Student member
Mollee Whyte

2 december 2012 / shelter shorts 7

Rivers and bluffs animal shelter

Inspiring stories

Here is a recent letter from our friends at the Iowa County Humane Society in Dodgeville, WI. Stories like this are why we are all working so hard to build a shelter here in our neck of the woods!

2 december 2012 / shelter shorts 7