Humane Society thanks its pet foster families
The animal welfare agency could use some more volunteers
Humane Society thanks its pet foster families The animal welfare agency could use some more volunteers Check out this story on statesmanjournal.com: http://stjr.nl/1Lkgjl5
Published 7:29 p.m. PT Aug. 18, 2015 | Updated 2:50 p.m. PT Aug. 19, 2015
Snowy, a 3-month-old kitty available for adoption at the Willamette Humane Society, samples tuna at Tuesday's Holding Court.(Photo: MICHAEL DAVIS / Statesman Journal)Buy Photo
The Court Street Dairy Lunch restaurant was full of onomatopoeia this week, with all sorts of meows, woofs and vrooms.
Susan Carey, development and communications director at the Willamette Humane Society, brought kittens, 3-month-old Snowy, a white domestic short hair, and Buxley, also three months, but a silver/gray tabby.
Both were energetic and enthusiastic, a byproduct of having been fostered by great volunteers, Carey said. They're up for adoption, and they are the friendliest and most playful balls of fluff one could imagine.
Carey said her purpose Tuesday was to thank all of the volunteer foster families and individuals who have fostered 983 dogs, puppies, cats and kittens this year. The shelter has more than 223 folks who enjoy a flexible pet-caretaker schedule.
Carey brought with her Kim Angle, who along with her husband Doc, daughter Kari, 22, and son Ryan, 17, has been fostering kittens for more than a decade.
"Our volunteers are so precious to us," Carey said. "They really help us. We have kittens that come in with no moms and require a little extra TLC. We have animals who are recovering from surgery or have medical issues and need to be looked after. Our foster families deal with all of this and more. We could not shelter all of the animals we bring in. As of today, we have 195 animals in foster care. There would be nowhere to house them if we didn't have our foster families."
Angle said she started fostering 11 years ago, when her children were 11 and 6.
"It was a family challenge for us. They grew up with cats, and they loved it. We even discovered that their friends would help with the socialization," Angle said. "Today, my daughter works at Nature's Pet (in South Salem), and she still loves working with people and their pets."
Angle did admit one pitfall of fostering: the "foster failures."
"We've had two who we didn't give back," Angle said. "Now we have four cats of our own at home."
One of the advantages of fostering, Carey said, is the flexible schedule. Whenever there is a need, WHS foster and rescue coordinator Ashleigh Lathrop sends out a request and volunteers can choose to answer the request.
The time commitment can be anywhere from one week to eight or 12. To enlist as a foster family or individual, volunteers must first attend an orientation. The next one starts at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, at the shelter, 4246 Turner Road SE. For more information, call (503) 585-5900.
By the way, Buxley and Snowy will be looking for their forever homes at the shelter's new Kitten-Kaboodle Adoption Center set in the Salem Center Mall from 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, and noon to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Twenty-seven dog-themed quilts are being auctioned to raise money for Fences for Fido, a volunteer organization that liberates chained-up dogs and provides them with a custom-built dog house, a warm bed and a fence to keep them safe.
Sylvia Dorney of Greenbaum's Quilted Forest holds one of the quilts created for the auction to benefit Fences for Fido. (Photo: MICHAEL DAVIS / Statesman Journal)
Dog quilts
Fences for Fido board member Elizabeth Sagmiller and Sylvia Dorney, proprietor of Greenbaum's Quilted Forest, came by with two of the colorful works of fabric art, suitable for hanging or snuggling.
Since 2009, the organization has given more than 1,000 dogs a chain-free life, Elizabeth said. "We rely on donations," she said, adding that if the silent auction, currently underway, generates $3,000 as hoped, four additional dogs would benefit from a safety and comfort makeover of their yards.
The quilts are being displayed at Greenbaum's and in other nearby businesses near the shop at 240 Commercial St. NE in Salem. Photos of them are posted on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Greenbaums-Quilted-Forest/138319267149.
There is a $49 minimum bid on each quilt, as well as a "buy it now" price for those who don't want to take a chance of being disappointed by a last-minute bidder, when the auction ends at 5 p.m. Sept. 1.
For further information contact Elizabeth at (503) 510-9605 or visit www.fencesforfido.org.
CASA to benefit from auction
If you're out at the Salem Saturday market this week be on the lookout for a silent auction of art items benefiting CASA of Marion County, said CASA volunteer Gayle Wood.
Among the items will be a hand-crafted wooden bowl, etched glassware and a wine-themed painting.
CASA's executive director, Lene Garrett, said there also would be a "beautiful bling purse" up for bid. If you want a look, visit www.casamarion.org.
CASA is always hoping for more volunteers to be court-appointed special advocates for children. A new class will begin in October.
In addition, CASA has launched its Lift Up a Child giving campaign to educate the community about the program and build sustaining funds.
The organization is seeking co-chairs to assist campaign chairman Kevin Cameron.
For more on CASA, call (503) 967-6420 or send an email to execdirector@casamarionor.org.
Scholarship money available
Coming to a mailbox near you this weekend is a message from the folks behind the Nellie Thompson-Dorothy Patch Scholarship Fund, the local nonprofit organization that provides needed funds to ethnic minority students pursuing a college or technical degree.
Ken Bierly, representing the group, said the fund awards assistance to high school seniors who may not have gotten straight A's, but "good students who have applied themselves and demonstrated an interest in giving back to the community. Many of these kids are the first in their families to seek higher education."
The namesakes of the scholarships, Dorothy Patch and Rev. Nellie Thompson, are renowned figures in Salem for their work in racial justice and equality.
The scholarships, which can range up to $1,000, are awarded in January.
For additional information, contact the fund's treasurer, former Salem Mayor Mike Swaim at (503) 363-0063.
Jeff Hart, carrying coconuts for sound effects, came to Holding Court to promote Movie Night at the Salem Saturday Market.
Coconut giveaway
Raymond Dukes watched as Jeff Hart clopped up to their table doing his best Monty Python horseless soldier impersonation (think coconut sound effects).
The two were eager to share news about Movie Night at the Salem Saturday Market. Now before someone lectures us on the market closing mid-afternoon, know this: The Salem Saturday Market will close at its regular time, 3 p.m., but then reopen three hours later with seven or eight food booths and 20 other vendors to support Movie Night.
Movie Night festivities begin at 6 p.m., and the movie will start at 8:30 p.m. The giant screen, the same as is used at Salem's Riverfront Park, will be used to show "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."
The movie is free, but suggested donations of $5 per person will benefit the Salem-Keizer Education Foundation.
Hart said there will be entertainment, Spamalot bits, and musical guests. There will be prizes, including a script reproduction autographed by original cast members such as Michael Palin and John Cleese.
A limited number of chairs will be made available for free, but moviegoers are encouraged to bring their own low-back chairs, blankets and pillows to get comfortable.
"Remember, this is a parking lot, not a lawn, so we want folks to be comfy," Hart said. Monty Python-like costumes are also encouraged.
The movie will be screened at the state's Green Lot, which is at Marion and Summer streets NE.
For more information, go to blockpartysalem.com.
Jim Billings waves from his 1962 Chevy Bel Air wagon, which will be among classic cars around the Capitol Aug. 29. (Photo: Photos by MICHAEL DAVIS/Statesman Journal)
Downtown will be abuzz
Jim Billings came down to talk about a new event that will fill the streets around the Capitol with classic cars instead of sweaty bodies (that's Hoopla).
Beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29, the streets around the Capitol will be closed and a mile of classic cars will be parked in the street to serve as a backdrop for a one-mile foot race. The cars will be mid-century (last one) models, circa-1940 through 1970. Cost to register for the foot race is $15. All other activities are free.
"Everyone kept telling us no one does a mile race, and folks want to know their time for a mile, so we're having one," Billings said.
Then at 10 a.m., there will be a Capitol Mall car show. Billings is expecting about 100 to 150 cars to participate, and for the first time, there will be entertainment, six food trucks and a beer garden on the grounds of the Salem-Keizer transit center at Courthouse Square.
"It's the first time an event will take place in that space," Billings said.
The final piece of the daylong event is the Cruise the Gut activity. The city, which can ticket drivers who pass the same landmark three times or more going 10 or 15 miles per hour, has agreed not to issues tickets until after 9 p.m. So this is a chance to show off one's wheels without getting a ticket. Billings said all cars are welcome to cruise the gut, not just classic mid-century cars.
Billings said restaurants are promising to expand their sidewalk seating during that time to accommodate an admirable zone for the cars cruising the gut.
Jim Billings, pulled up in his 1962 Chevrolet Bel Air wagon, which will be part of the Cruise Salem classic car cruise-in on Saturday, Aug. 29 in downtown Salem. (Photo: MICHAEL DAVIS / Statesman Journal)
And while the Cruise Salem is ongoing on Saturday, Aug. 29, Ross Swartzendruber and the Salem Downtown Organization will be bringing more folks to the downtown core for the Big Ballyhoo.
Running also on Sunday, Aug. 30, Swartzendruber said it's one giant street performer festival that required permits from the city, county and state in order to surround the State Capitol State Park, the Oregon State Capitol, Courthouse Square, the Marion County Courthouse, and State, Court, High, Church, Cottage and Waverly streets with activities.
"It took eight months," Swartzendruber said. "There was no process in place, and I had to work with folks to develop rules. But we did it, and we plan to use all of the public space downtown that we can."
There will be free live music, three stages, street performers, buskers, magicians, fire spinning, food trucks with comestibles for sale, beer gardens hawking libation, walking tours, and a millennium market. There will also be a foot race on Sunday.
The millennium market will take place at Courthouse Square from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, and a Ballyhoo 5K race, that will go through Willamette University, begins at 10 a.m. Sunday (registration cost is $15). From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., there will be an art fair on the Capitol Mall, while the millennium market continues during the same hours at Courthouse Square.
"The goal is to combine these three events and attract a larger, more diverse crowd downtown," Swartzendruber said. "It will coincide with Salem Sunday Streets."
For more information or to register for either of the foot races, go to salemdowntown.net
ccurrie@statesmanjournal.com; (503) 399-6746 or follow on Twitter at @CATMCurrie; or mdavis4@statesmanjournal.com; (503) 399-6712 or follow on Twitter at @MDavisSJ.
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