Sparky's Pals
Sparky's Pals End of Summer Newsletter
News and Notes
July - August 2008
High Temperatures Greetings!

We've survived the dog days of Summer (for the most part) and the Fall is fast approaching. As the students in the Metroplex return to their classrooms, Sparky's Pals will return to work helping them become humane citizens. We had a good break over the past couple of months with only a couple of events here and there, but now it's time for us to get going again.

This is a special edition of the newsletter - we will discuss our various education programs to give you an idea of what we're trying to accomplish. If any of the programs sound interesting, we can always use more volunteers!

We are already scheduling Girl Scout presentations and have a number of visits to Ft Worth schools planned for this semester, plus our regular Storytimes. If you know a group that would like to have us present, please let us know!

We look forward to seeing you at an event soon, and thank all of you for your continued support.
 
In This Issue
The Rose Pesce Memorial Fund
Events Calendar
Education Team
Storytime
Holiday Photos
Quick Links
Contact Us
P O Box 600266
Dallas, Texas 75360-0266
214-823-7257
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The Rose Pesce Memorial Fund

Rose and FlowerVirginia and I would like to thank everyone who made a contribution to the Rose Pesce Memorial Fund this summer.

Rose had pets all of her life and her love of animals was passed on to her children. We have decided the money donated to her fund will be used to help the elderly keep their pets longer - with assistance with veterinary bills, pet food and necessities and similar needs. This is an ongoing project, so your support is always welcome!
Events Calendar

PlannerOur full events calendar is always available online at our website. Our current events listing is also available on our home page for quick reference. Please check regularly to see where we'll be and also to see if there are any events that you will be able to attend (or volunteer.)
 
Sparky's Pals Education Team

Storytime The Education Team is the heart of Sparky's Pals - it's what we do. It's also one of our smallest teams, which we would like to remedy this year. If you have a desire to help others understand the importance of humane treatment for their pets, that's really the only requirement! We can help you with the rest. We are scheduling events for the Fall now (see the calendar notes), and presentations are for all ages, during the week and on weekends. If you would like to help, or just find out more about what's involved, please contact [email protected] and we'll get you started!
Storytime

Kevin and Clifford Sparky's Pals will have Storytime at Barnes & Noble Prestonwood at least once a month from now until the end of November. These visits are on Saturday mornings.

We read children's stories and do crafts. Sometimes, we even have special guests - on our last visit, Clifford the Big Red Dog stopped by! We will also meet the Pancake Pig and Curious George later this year.
Girl Scouts - Have a Day? Earn an Award!

Girl Scout VolunteersAfter discussions with troop leaders and Scouts, Sparky's Pals has designed two programs that allow a Scout to earn a Pet Care Badge (Juniors) or complete the Pets Interest Project (Cadettes) in one day! We have a number of these programs scheduled (see the Connections manual or our online calendar) or just contact our Education team to schedule us to come present to your troop directly.
 
School Visits

Virginia at Buckner Sparky's Pals is happy to visit school children of all ages! We have talked with students from nursery school to middle school at this point, and have presentations tailored to each age group.

A common thread in all of the visits is usually bite prevention. Children of all ages (and many adults!) need to be aware of how to "read" a pet and how it is feeling, and how to approach and avoid animals safely.
Gift Wrapping!

Christmas WrapEven though it's not yet Halloween, it's never too early to start thinking about our major holiday fund-raiser - gift wrapping at Barnes and Noble! We've submitted the dates we would like and should be getting confirmation soon. Start limbering up the fingers, it's almost time!
 
Holiday Photos with Santa!

Santa Getting Ready Santa is getting ready to pose with your pets for our Third Annual Holiday Photos, our fund-raiser with East Lake Pet Orphanage. We will be taking photos at ELPO on November 22 and 23 - see the website for the schedule and to pre-register for your photo shoot!
We're ready for another busy school year - I hope you can join us! As always, Sparky's Pals thanks you for your continuing support of humane education.
 
Sincerely,
 
Kevin Gilhooly
Sparky's Pals