gabassetrescue.org Blog

The 2010 Waddle

This is the 13th time that I’ve said “It’s Waddle Time” – I’m more excited than ever.  The dates this year are September 18th & 19th in Dwight, Illinois.  If you’ve never attended, it’s really hard to describe.  Saturday, The Bash, is all off-leash at our GABR park.  During Saturday, we’ll have lots of games & entertainment but the highlight of the day will be the “Great American Basset Races” with 8 heats during the day and then the finals end the day. 

The “fastest Basset” will be awarded a gigantic trophy and will be invited back to defend the title next year.  What a sight it will be.  In order to enter the races, you need to register your family and your Bassets at www.firstgiving.com/gabr  Once you have registered and set up a Firstgiving page (yes – this is a fundraising event!), your Basset can enter.

Any Basset is eligible but there must be obvious Basset blood in your racer – no greyhounds!! 

I can talk for days about the Waddle – is there anything that you want to know about the Waddle???  Let me know.

Larry Little

9 weeks from today is the GABR Basset Ball/Auction.  If you want to be a part of the most entertaining event held by an animal rescue group, plan on attending now!   Ten years ago, we held an auction at the Holiday Inn in Morris, Illinois but we had no idea what we were doing.  Even with that (and a very entertaining un-invited guest!), it was more fun than anything we had done.

Today, it’s the most amazing fund-raising auction that I’ve seen – and I’ve seen a lot as I consult with charities and run some charity auctions myself.  We have an auction chair, Kelli Zopfi, who has put together a VERY dedicated group of volunteers that do everything on a first-class basis.   We also have a huge group of people who find great items for you to buy.

This event has also become a weekend getaway for a lot of people.  There are 4 hotels within 1/4 mile of Jennifer’s garden so many people stay over, party LATE and then get together on Sunday morning when  GABR provides a large breakfast buffet for everyone who stays over.

There are many ways that you and your Basset-loving friends can participate –
You can attend!  All the information, including ticket orders, are at  http://www.bassetrescue.org/Events.html 
         Our supporters come from all over the country so you’re not too far away.  ABC Basset Rescue of New York is bringing 11 board members and spouses - they love it here.

You can donate an item for our Silent Auction!   Are you an artist?  Are you a craftsman?  What can you do that is not available anywhere  else?  Do you have gift cards that you simply haven’t used?  Again, you can check at http://www.bassetrescue.org/Events.html as there is a donation form there also?

I’ll start to give you an idea of some of the items that we will feature on both the silent and live auctions – you’ll love them.

Any questions??  Post them here and I’ll answer.  If you’ve been here before, you know what the evening brings.  And if you haven’t been here, you’ll be amazed.

Larry

Make sure that you add the date of the Auction to your calendar – Saturday, April 17th at Jennifer’s Garden in Morris, Illinois.   You can start your bidding at 5:00.  In the last few years, I’ve had the honor of helping a number of different groups put together an auction to benefit their organization – this is in addition to helping our GREAT committee put our auction together.  Simply put – the GABR event is different.  It’s the Best.

Now you can help.  First, you can make plans to attend.  If you haven’t been there, you’ll see the best small charity event in the country.  Secondly, can you donate an item to the event?  A custom made Basset item, a gift card, a week at a condo that you or a friend can provide – the ideas are really unlimited.  If you have something, post it here or feel free to email our chair,  Kelli  Zopfi, directly at KelliZ@foxvalley.net

I’ll begin posting item ideas and some of the items that we have.  Let me know if there’s any question that I can answer.

This has been a long week as we lost some Basset friends.  First, Jean & Elisa lost Tonka.  He had only missed one Waddle – we just expected him to always be around.  What a gentle boy!

Then Al & Carol Wilson from Dwight found out that Mildred had cancer – 2 days later, it was determined that it was time to let her go.  Since Al was out of town, Emmy went to the clinic to be with Carol as Dr. Cronin took care of Mildred’s pain.

Finally, today I received a note from Hyatt Naganishi that Momo had just gone the Bridge.  Hyatt brought her to The Waddle so that she could take Momo’s picture with me – I was honored.

Momo died at age 16 – what a wonderful life she had!  Although Hyatt had a little problem with our language, she knew how to express her feelings about her love for Momo.  Because Hyatt often had to travel to Japan to be with her family, she felt badly about leaving Momo – here’s a short portion of her write-up for the Memorial page that expresses this feeling:  “She always waited for me with forgiveness, when I was away every so often.  For me, she was the home itself in America.”

Bless these 3 wonderful Bassets.  All of their stories will soon be on the Memorial Page.

One event ends and the next begins immediately – but I love it!  Now we all are starting to focus on the Basset Ball (really it’s the GABR Auction) and this is when we need everyone’s help.  Many things set our event apart from most others – Jennifer’s Garden, our auction chair (Kelli Zopfi), our emotional ties to these dogs – the list goes on and on.  But the best part of the evening is seeing all of the magnificent “stuff” that our supporters find and donate to us.

I challenge you to begin looking for unique items for the Auction.  The best things are absolutely the “one of a kind” items that nobody has seen.  Since I conduct other auctions, I see the type of items that are simply forgettable.  Our auction items are absolutely extraordinary.  I’ve seen auctions with wrench sets, screwdrivers, folding chairs donated by a local bank, used items that wouldn’t sell at a garage sale – you get the picture.

What talents do you have?  Are you an artist, woodworker, writer – you get the picture.  Can you help?  Can you agree to fill a table of 8 at the auction?  Our audience has always been between 210-240.   Our goal is to get 300 people into Jennifer’s this year – wouldn’t that be exciting?  If you haven’t been there, it’s unbelievable.  But remember the most important fact is that it provides the funding necessary for us to continue with “business as usual”.

What can you do to help?  If you’re already involved, what can you do to improve the entire evening?  Sounds like fun, doesn’t it!

Rupert is a new foster at our home – he is a truly wonderful guy.  Rupert (formerly Rufus – anything is an impr0vement) supposedly was having between 10-15 seizures per month.  In addition, he had lost his house training and nothing they were doing could improve his situation.  As soon as Dr. Cronin looked at the vet reports, he immediately thought that Rupert needed a larger (not large) daily dose of pheno – he’s been in Dwight for 2 weeks – NOT A SEIZURE!!  And he is a perfect 63 lb., 2 year old Basset boy.  So far, he’s becoming the perfect dog.

It looks like many of you have already discovered our blog.  I love reading the first few posts as to the great time you all had at the Waddle.  When you see all the dogs that have returned and you see all the smiling owners, it makes all of us at GABR very happy.   Seeing Bassets like Faith, Caesar, Droopy, Momo and many more brings back wonderful memories.

The first question that I want to answer here is “how much did we make?”   We still have bills coming in but I would say that the weekend brought in well over $75,000.  That includes income from a number of sources but I want to cover adoptions and the Corvette Raffle.  First – we adopted out 16 Bassets over the weekend but on Monday and Tuesday, 15 new dogs came into the rescue.   Expenses started increasing right away.  The income produced by the Waddle is mandatory to the success of our group – and the need to increase that income each year is very important.

Secondly – the Corvette Raffle is not just the tickets that our supporters purchase.  Over 60 other animal rescue groups were given the opportunity to sell tickets and receive a commission on all their sales.  Once our final accounting is done, we will be sending out over $45,000 to these other organizations.  That is very, very exciting as we now have an impact on the lives of many animals.  It should make you feel really good to be a supporter of GABR.

Also, we are always looking for other 501c3 charities that would like to be involved in our Corvette Raffles.  Let me know who they are and how I can contact them.  Your help will make a difference to the future of animal rescue.

This is my very first attempt at using a blog – it’s our first step into the future of the web.  This will give you a forum where you can ask any question you want about GABR, its operation and its future.  Have a question about an event – ask it here.  Do you have a financial question? – ask it here.  Our group is as transparent as any animal rescue group in the country.  This will simply make us even more accessible.

My first comment has to be on this weekend’s Illinois Waddle.  It requires so much planning and time from many, many volunteers.  Each year I wonder if I have the energy for another.  Then I see this and I know exactly why we all do it –

There is no greater sight than the beginning of the parade.  Everyone in Dwight waits for the Bassets to “March” and so do I.

I look forward to your comments and questions.  Do you have an idea for changes?  Would you like to volunteer?  Are you fluent in Twitter, Facebook, MySpace?  If you are, I need to hear from you.  GABR will have a major presence on these sights starting now.

I look forward to your comments.  Thanks for being a part of Basset rescue.