[We were all frightened by the firetrucks. Daddy put BJ’s reflective vest on like a real service dog and the two of them went next door to see if they could help recover the pets. But read on— mommy has a happy ending to this! As always, click on the photos to enlarge. Rudy…:O]
Monday, January 21, 2008. It was growing dark when we first noticed the flashing lights of fire engines and emergency vehicles driving by our house at 19 Deer Run. We didn’t know, of course, where they were headed, but from a rear window we could just make them out through the trees. They had stopped next door—local police, an emergency rescue unit and two fire engines, Grantham and Springfield!
My husband decided to see if he could help, so he put BJ’s reflective vest on and the two of them (”BJ”, our black Lab, leashed in tow—maybe vice versa…) trudged down the recently plowed road to see what they could find out. And if it was a fire, maybe they could help rescue “Decker”, the couple’s young yellow Lab.
Turns out, the house was being rented by a new couple, Amy and Zack Weed—the occupants we knew long gone! Amy who—we were informed—was pregnant, had been at home, napping. Husband, Zack, was at work. She awoke to the sound of an explosion coming from the rear of the house. As the house filled with smoke, she managed to crawl out a screened-in porch window and was subsequently taken to the hospital. Zack and his dad, Josh, arrived shortly thereafter. My husband learned that there were two dogs, “Daisy” and “Bullet”, and two or more cats. For a while we didn’t know the fate of the animals but we later learned that all of them had made it out alive! One of the cats was being treated with oxygen for smoke inhalation.
Three neighbors that we know of offered to put the Weeds up for the night. Fortunately, Zack’s family is local in Lebanon.
So far as we know, all of the Weeds—bi-ped and quadri-ped both—have made a complete recovery.
Unfortunately, the house is a different story. Last we heard: the owner was planning to tear it down and rebuild it from scratch.
At this writing, the official cause of the fire remains undetermined.
Kudos to our (Coldwell Banker-Redpath) rental staff, Clint Bean, Debbie Violette and Vicki Cafarella for their quick response to this emergency and in getting the word out for contributions to the Weed family.
If you would like to make a donation to this young local family (they lost everything in the fire), please contact Listen Community Services at 603-448-4553.
In a thank-you letter to us, Merilynn Bourne, Executive Director of Listen, cites the following community assistance efforts in 2007:
For 35 years, Listen has been delivering essential programs to Upper Valley families and individuals in crisis. In 2007, this agency provided 18,103 units of service and over 50,000 meals to low-income households. Listen sent 289 at-risk children to summer camp, helping them to re-discover their worth and potential. “Heating and Housing Helpers” funds assisted 280 households and our thrift stores provided $15,795 of free clothing and furniture to those in need. We can not do this work without your help.
[All I can say is “Thank God the doggies got out safely. And cats, too, I guess… Mommy and daddy offered to take the dogs overnight. I can just imagine the free-for-all that would have been that night around here…! All things considered, I think that’s enough neighborhood excitement for the time being. Rudy…:O]
[Mommy said the event wasn’t for doggies, so I couldn’t go…:O( Anyway, here’s how it went according to mommy. Check out the photos—click to enlarge. Neat!]
The day began at 10am with a slew of outdoor activities and contests, including cross-country skiing, snow shoeing and skating. Lunch, served in the Center’s Draper Room, consisted of about 15 “chili cookoff” entries (including one “chocolate chili”!). What a feed after the morning’s outdoor exertions!
Thanks to Coldwell Banker-Redpath for making this day possible. Thanks to the Eastman Community Association for hosting the event. Thanks to the many CBR volunteers and neighbors for staffing the event. And special thanks to all participants—most families with kids of all ages—who, by their attendance, made this a success.
[For more information contact Eastman Recreation at 603-863-4500 or email to recreation@eastmannh.org.]
[Mommy says don’t forget this eagerly awaited event at the Eastman Activity Center on Saturday, February 9, starting at 10am. Enjoy a fun-filled day of outdoor games, face painting, skiing, snowshoeing and our famous chili cook-off. And don’t forget to bring me home a doggy bag…!!!]
Admission
Includes trail fee and
Chili Cook-Off
Adults - $10
Kids 12 and under - $6
Cook-off only
Adults - $5
Kids 12 and under - $2
David’s House is a home away-from-home for children undergoing treatment at the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical
Center. It is a home where parents and families can stay together while giving support to their child and each other.
Net proceeds go directly to David’s House. Special thanks to Coldwell Banker/Redpath for their generous sponsorship of this event.
[Mommy says you can pick up some good buys this coming Saturday, 2-9-08, at the Grantham Town Hall. All proceeds go to American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life program. Don’t miss out on this worthy fundraising event, even though it’s not for doggies… Your faithful servant, Rudy…:O]
- Date: Saturday, February 9
- Time: 8:30am to 3pm (no early birds)
- Place: Grantham Town Hall (lower level meeting room)
Tag Sale Items for Sale Include:
- Mugs; Glasses; Pans; Utensils; Kitchen-Aid Heavy Duty Stand Mixer; Food Processor; Blender
- Sony 300 CD Player; Playstation; XBox; Video Games; TV; VCR; Yama Electric Piano & Stand; Trickle Charger
- Heated Towel Rack
- Planting Beds
- Crystal Decanters; Vases; Prints; Candles; Baskets; Decorations; Christmas Decorations
- Child Snowshoes; Child Camping Chair
- Movies (DVD & VHS); Books and much more
Angels of H.O.P.E.
ACS Relay for Life® Team
To join our team or make a donation, call 603-863-7133 or 603-863-0688. Or go online to: Angels of H.O.P.E.
[Another pet recovery story as woofed to mommy by me, your humble servant, Rudy…By the way, click on the photos to enlarge… :O]
As Christmas, 2007, approached, the St. John’s of Fairway Drive (Eastman), were just welcoming the latest addition to the family, a Cardigan Corgi by the name of “Jenna”, when Jenna decided to check out the neighborhood all on her own! According to owners (I prefer the word, ‘guardians’…), Laura and Walter St. John, Jenna—a shy little girl of one or two years—had just been adopted from a breeder and had been in her new home barely one day. Not enough time to bond with her new family. On December 10, in the middle of a storm, Jenna went missing and stayed missing for seven days!
(Yikes! How did she survive outdoors for a week…!?)
As soon as she was discovered missing, the St. John’s did what any Eastman pet owner can do in similar circumstances: contact Eastman’s “ListServe” bulletin board (owner-eastman-owners@srnet.com) and give them the details to email out to Eastman residents. On December 12, Roger Woodworth posted the following message to Eastman owners:
lost dog as of yesterday, 12/10/07: Cardigan Corgi, red & white in color with a tag indicating an ID chip. Dog goes by the name of “Jenna”. Please contact Walter St. John at … with any info. Thank you, Eastman Email List
When she didn’t show up the following day or the day after, Jenna’s mommy and daddy grew increasingly anxious for her safety.
Meantime, Vicki Cafarella of Coldwell Banker-Redpath, began reaching out to known animal lovers in Eastman, including good neighbor, Adele Furdyna, who jumped on the UVHS (Upper Valley Humane Society) hotline for help with ideas for Jenna’s recovery. She spoke with a Robin Stern who suggested leaving a baited “have-a-heart” trap in the vicinity of where she was last seen. Among others called were Bonnie Bauer, Joann Lutz and Ronnie Clifford (hey, that’s mommy…!)–Eastman residents who have helped with pet recovery in the past.
Others participating in Jenna’s recovery with calls and sightings and posting notices were:
- Eastman Security
- Eastman Ski Center
- Grantham Police
- Grantham Post Office
- Rum Brook Market
- Several folks at UVHS
- Several Upper Valley vets
(Mr. St. John hopes that he has not left anyone off this list and apologizes if so…)
One theory was that Jenna might have been trying to work her way back to the breeder. Hopefully, however, Jenna might still be in the neighborhood.
At the suggestion of folks at UVHS, the St. John’s left the garage door open with food and water and blankets inside. This was done the day after Jenna went missing.
Mr. St. John also contacted the breeder (Cheryl Black of Blackdale Kennels, Shrewsbury, Vermont) who volunteered the “loan” of Jenna’s father. The idea was that if Jenna were somehow still in the neighborhood, she might pick up “dad’s” scent and stick around long enough to be recovered. Sure enough, the breeder came by with Jenna’s Cardigan Corgi dad. Unfortunately, walking him on the golf course in the hopes of attracting Jenna’s attention proved to no avail.
Meanwhile the weather grew colder throughout that week, and hearts grew sadder with each passing day.
One afternoon a week after Jenna went missing, Mr. St. John came home from work and “smelled dog” as he drove into the garage. Miracle of miracles, there was little Jenna huddled in a corner in her blankets! And the food was gone!! Though scared and hungry she had returned to her new home none the worse for wear…(Don’t such happy endings give you a lump in your throat…?)
And so, a happy ending to a pet recovery story that might well have turned out otherwise. My daddy checked with her guardians and Jenna is now “settling in” nicely. Running away is probably the last thing on her mind these days, as you can now see them “on [Eastman] roads most afternoons…”. Also, “midnight walks are still big on her agenda.”
While her family has no idea where little Jenna went or how she survived, she was spotted a couple of times during that cold winter week: once on Walton Heath where she was approached but ran off, and two days later on the golf course behind Troon. The people who spotted her thought she was a fox until reading the notice about a missing dog.
—Rudy Clifford
P.S. Mr. St. John says the attention gained and the efforts put forward on Jenna’s behalf are a tribute to the community in which we live. And mommy says if you have any stories of this kind–or ideas for pet recovery–please forward them to her.
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