Danville Spring Fling

This past weekend Peter , Steeler and I enjoyed working at the SART booth at the Danville spring fling. Steeler and Chance are both mascots for the columbia/montour county animal response team so we try to bring one or the other (who ever is cleanest at the time!)to events to help draw in money for much needed supplies for shelter set up in case PA ever finds itself in an emergency situation. The last big need for a pet shelter was the flood of 2006, particularly for the Bloomsburg area, however SART was not yet activated.

Over the years I have found that when ever we do such events people always want to take the dog's picture, probably because they are not used to seeing such giant creatures! A reporter for the Press Enterprise once described Steeler in his article as a must see at the Bloomsburg Fair, as he put it, "Steeler's head was as big as a basketball and if he stood on two feet would probably be at least 6 foot tall." Since the dogs are actually working at these events we decided to use them in a way that would help SART make some money, so we decide to set up a nice backdrop and a chair or two for picture taking. This worked out very well. When we do a street fair the pictures can't be printed off on site as there is no electricity so what I do is set up the background and get the persons email address (or mailing address) Take the picture then email them a copy. This way they can print off as many as they like for friends and family. This year we had at least two repeat customers and they brought other family members for the same purpose. I mention this because there are many cute or unusual pups out there that may belong to a non profit organization and it is a good way to make some money for your organization. The backdrop is easy enough to make. I bought a large white table cloth at the dollar store , spray painted it two different shades of blue to give it a little depth, and hung it across a firing strip. The stand for the firing strip can be made of 2x4 's, but make sure the base is wider to accommodate giving the poles steadiness, or to place a brick or two on it to keep the backdrop steady. Drill two holes at the top of the
2x4's large enough to fit a six foot firing strip through and then hang the painted table cloth from the firing strip. This homemade backdrop can be easily moved from place to place as it all comes apart easily. When you take pictures that you are going to mail or email it is best to have a small wipe off board (or piece of white paper) which you will use to write the customers name on and take a picture of them holding the wipe off board, this ensures the right pictures go to the right customer. Also have a sign up sheet with the customers name, email address, and telephone number.

Above you will find a few of the pics we got this past weekend.

Also if you are interested in becoming a volunteer for a state animal response team in your county, or you just want to see what it's all about click on www.pasart.us , once on the page go to the map of PA. Click on the county that you are in and information will come up on who you need to contact in that county.
If you are not in the state of PA then go to www.sartusa.org
Here is an article I wrote for a very popular pet health website which can give you more of an insite to SART. BE sure to click on the pics at the top to see Steeler and Peter in action! http://www.petplace.com/dogs/help-during-disaster-state-animal-response-teams-sart/page1.aspx