Good Bye Ol' Blue. Then end of an era

Old blue, our weasel wagon is up on EBay. She need lots of work to become safe and road worthy, and right now the shelter need funding.

It is sad for me. Over 900 ferrets have ridden in that mini van, even a few people too. That van has been to many shows, fund raisers, vet office visits, supply runs. One time we had it one third of the way up the sides with Feline Pine bags, 500 or so pounds of it.

Day after Christmas back in 97, 98 - can't remember. We did a rescue out of Detroit. Forty one ferrets fit in that van in cages with hammocks, food bowls, water bowls, bottles, bedding and litter boxes.

I can't tell you how many thousands of pounds of food got hauled in that van, or how many times on long trips I stopped in rest areas to take a nap.

Sounds like I am saying good bye to a friend doesn't it? Well, I am. I purchased Old Blue for the shelter from the company I used to work for, they took payments from my check. The first thing that I did was get rid of all of the passenger seating. Only one passenger, and the driver. After all, I wasn't going to haul people around.

I put 25,000 miles on her in less than one year driving all over creation for ferrets. She only left me stranded once. But there were no animals with me, and it was only 1/2 mile from home.

I miss driving her to the vet, it is so easy to get a travel cage in and out of a mini van, I never used carriers for that, always had nice cages, that got taken out and put on a dolly. That way if I had to leave them over night, they had their very own little cage with bedding they had slept in.

Yeah, I miss driving her. She had just enough power to go, and keep me out of trouble (I have a lead foot at times).

But the shelter needs funds, and she needs repairs, more than we can afford, so hopefully someone buys her that will give her a good home and appreciate her.

1991 Chevrolet Lumina

A bit of a Conumdrum

Well, it is the only way to explain. You see, I honestly hate sounding like a whining, complaining witch, and I really don't want to start a mass snail mail (blew up big time last year) or mass email campaign to find support and help, but it seems that it in the only way.

I would like to send out newsletters, but that is a problem two fold, first, I seem to be the only person putting any articles in it. (I have asked several people to write about their experiences over the years, and have not gotten one). I have asked for vet referrals and information and why they like their vet, only one person sent me the information on their vet and asked their vet to give us some info on themselves personally.

This puts me back to the original spot of ending up sounding like a whiney shrew, which I really do not want to sound like. Honest! : )

At the Brain Storming meeting, 15 people showed up, I mailed out 339 invitations, to folks who have adopted or volunteered in the past all within a 40 minute drive, give or take a few. Nineteen came back undeliverable.

One of the things I was trying to get through is the fact, that if someone says they will do something, they own it, they follow through with it, and so I am not left hanging and doing a mad dash to find a way to get it done. Normally either that happens, or no one steps up to help and it is all done by one or two people.

The Car Show is a good example. Sarah said she would make follow up calls to the businesses who received the Show Packet, BTW, she is a trooper no matter how rude or nasty people were, she kept her cool and was polite. Someone else was supposed to help and put it off until yesterday, so here I am this week punting.

You see, I do like organizing things, doing the newsletter, creating things, and that, but I do need help. With the regular stuff of the shelter, like cleaning and such, help getting donations, raffle prizes, people to follow through with what they say.

Someone at the meeting said, it would be harder for businesses to say no if you show up to ask with the information. Which, in some cases it would work, but I have one question, how am I suppose to do that? I am one person. I cannot be everywhere.

If I am working on the basics, mailing out information packets, getting together the addresses, general mailings doing vet runs, talking on the phone, doing adoptions, dealing with surrenders, keeping track of items for rescues and funds raisers, sending thank you letters and receipts, litter boxes, oh and let's add trying to find a way to make the human area of the house smaller, but still livable, and trying to keep up with the bills, cooking, cleaning, well, you get the idea? Oh, and doing the taxes and recovering the shelter information that is in back up form (another story, did I ever mention that I have the kiss of death with computers sometimes? I look at them and loose information).

The shelter needs its own home. I have not given up on that. I am still working on it, just got off the phone with a group looking for summer opportunities for volunteering, but they will not come into a private home.

I cannot blame them, and to be honest, someday I would love to have some privacy.

So back to the original reason for this, we need help, and if you say you will do something, own it and follow through to the end, without having to have someone hold your hand the whole way through, if you have questions, ask, but do what you say you are going to do, don't just talk it up.

If you think about it, that is something not only for helping here, but also in every area of life.

Blessing of the Cars Fundraiser May 12, 2007

Help spread the word, help us make this a successful fundraiser. Sponsors and Donations for goodie bags needed and appreciated. Thank you!!

Ferrets Unlimited Ferret Shelter Proudly Present the

2007 Blessing of the Cars
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Noon - 5 PM
Home Depot Parking Lot (Our thanks to Home Depot for allowing use of their lot)
10800 Brookpark Road
Brooklyn, OH 44130
Dash Plaques & Goodie Bags
50/50 Raffle
Music, Food & More!!

Trophies - Participant Judging
Best of Show
Best Paint
Best Engine
Best Interior
People's Choice - by popular vote

Enter early! Get a discount! All Cars and Owners Welcome!
All proceeds benefit Ferrets Unlimited ferret shelter, a non profit, no kill shelter new Building Fund (help us get our building)

For more information contact: Jean (Director & Car Enthusiast) 216/409-3849

To enter just send the following information with your entry fee:

Name, Address, City, State, Zip Code, Phone number and Email address.

You also need to include year, make model of your car.

Make checks Payable to: Ferrets Unlimited - Blessing of the Cars
4116 Bucyrus Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44109

Entry fee: $6.00 by April 1, 2007**
$10.00 at event

Entries will receive confirmation via email and snail mail
All early entries with paid registration will be put in a drawing for $100 cash!!

Contest - Name our Car Cruise and Bike Run

Yep, you read that right, a car cruise and a Bike Run, two separate events.

I have tried just about everything on earth i can think of to raise money and get attention for the shelter short of running down the street naked, and no one wants to see that.

So, why not try something that I DO know, and I LOVE? Cars and Motorcycles!!!

So I need a name for a car cruise, and one for a bike run.
Let's make this a contest, we'll put all of the names up on the web site, and set up a some type of poll.

Send your ideas to ferrets_unlimited@sbcglobal.net with car cruise name in the subject line.
Winner will get a $25 gift card to Red Lobster or The Ferret Store, your choice.

You have until December 31 to get your ideas in, the first week of January will be for voting.

Then I can design a letterhead around the name of the cruises and start begging and looking for a location.

This is another one of those contests folks that is free, so enter often. Oh, please feel free to cross post your little hearts out!! Thanks much!!