2017 Reunion
Report from Yvette Jones
What a fantastic day we had at the reunion and funday. After months of preparation the day had arrived, all of the 25 stalls were in place, the weather was fantastic, we just needed our wonderful members to come and join us. And join us you did.
We had a fantastic turnout, people and dogs arriving from near and far to make the day special. In fact people came from both ends of the country from Cornwall to Scotland and everywhere in between, I’d say that’s true dedication to a cause.
We had lots of fun activities for the dogs, hosting 10 novelty dog classes in which 84 dogs took part. Tim, our MC had a lot of names to remember and judges Lesley and Nicola had the unenviable tasks of choosing a winner from each of the categories. I know we have to have an official winner but personally I thought all the dogs were winners.
The kids were also kept busy by Tracy manning the bouncy castle and kid’s corner and our face painter Katie who created some wonderful designs. It was such a nice day, the vintage ice cream van was kept busy with both human and dog customers alike. Yes, she had even sourced dog friendly ice cream just for us 🙂
John was kept on his toes on the entries tent, with a constant stream of people entering and recording all of the 84 dogs who strutted their stuff and Gwen our official photographer took some wonderful shots of the day. She was nearly lying on the floor at one stage, in order to get that perfect shot. The Parade Of Rescue was a huge success with 49 wonderful dogs parading to the crowd whilst Tim gave a snapshot of their lives. Some may have come to IRR in a neglected and often very scared state but the only dogs we saw were happy, healthy and very much loved by their moms and dads. I do believe there may have been a few tears shed by some of the crowd, such heartwarming stories of love and perseverance.
And I’m delighted to say our wonderful family of IRR did us proud and raised an amazing amount of nearly £1700. Well done and thank you everyone who came along to make it a very special day.
I would like to make a personal mention to all of the volunteers who helped out both on the stalls and over the weekend. They were:
Agility – Joanne Jones
Cakes – Leonie Peacock
Carpark Marshalls – Berni Waters, Jelly Craig, Bill Davis, Paul Whitchurch, Philip Peacock
Catering – Lynda Allport, Janice Preece, Jane Westwood
Craft – Alison Andre, Jenny Mackenzie, Karen McInerney
Entries – John Preece
Judges – Lesley Latham and Nicola Askey
Kids Corner – Tracy Craig, Sharon and Em Whitchurch
Merchandise – Wendy Illman
Name The Teddy – Jake Illman
Photography – Gwen Flynn
Raffle – Andy Johnston
Teddy Stall – Lorna and David McGregor
Tombola – Alison Reaston
Thank you to our crafters and our bakers who made some gorgeous items and also everyone who donated items for us to sell. I would also like to thank Lorraine for donating the first prize goody bags and Sandra and Owen for donating the lovely winners rosettes.
And one last thank you, to someone who has worked tirelessly behind the scenes over the last few months and without her help the prizes would have been very sparse. So a massive thank you to Wendy Waygood, you are a treasure.