Telethon 2012 for Lollypop Farm a Success!

We are so grateful to all our donors and supporters, tonight's hosts and crew, our wonderful volunteers, great sponsors, and everyone else who helped make it possible for us to go above and beyond our goal tonight. We were aiming to raise $210,000 for the animals, and our final toteboard total was $237,320! What a night! Thanks so much to everyone!!!

2012 Telethon For Lollypop Farm

Join us as we celebrate our 16th year of Lollypop Farm’s Telethon, our largest fundraising event for homeless and abused animals in our community. The six-hour broadcast will showcase the diverse and meaningful work Lollypop Farm performs each and every day. Celebrate our far-reaching community programs, successful adoptions and hear stories of some of the special animals that have touched our lives.

Your support is critical! All funds raised help Lollypop Farm care for homeless and abused pets and continue to bring valuable services—including humane education, cruelty investigations, and much more—to the Rochester community.

2012 GOAL: $210,000

Make a difference in the lives of homeless animals with your Telethon donation. Remember—every dollar raised stays in the Rochester community and helps change a pet's life for the better. See how your donation is put to work:

$25 = Spay/Neuter one animal
$50 = Purchases surgical instrument trays
$100 = Purchases animal capture gloves
$200 = Purchases a veterinary heating pad
$500 = Allows for surgical and rehabilitation of one animal cruelty victim


You can donate at: www.lollypop.org/telethon2012 

New Years Eve With the Razorsharks

As part of my xmas present, Megan brought me to my first Rochester Razorshark minor league basketball game at the Blue Cross Arena.  Please let me introduce you to Finley, the Razorshark.



warming up



More Finley



Oh man!  My first Razorshark game is also a banner raising ceremony!  Now I can tell my kids that I was there when it all happened!



The banner!






Mayor Tom Richards throwing the highest tip off in the history of basketball.  






Unfortunately, this ladie's half-court shot for $10,000 barely made it to the free throw line.  



The Razorsharks beat the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Steamers 107-98 in the 2012 championship banner raising home opener.  Megan and I had a great time.  Lots of great people watching.  For some reason, the pictures didn't turn out very good.  Hopefully, my next Blue Cross Arena event will look much better next week...



Well, winter started about three months later than it did last year.  Hopefully, this doesn't mean that it will ending in August to make up for lost time.  


That's about it for now.  Very, very busy at work right now catching up on everything with the holiday season.  So, nothing too exciting to report...

The Summer Red Wings

Who's that dog with Megan?  It's Barbie!  Who's Barbie?  Just another lap dog that loves Megan.  It must be a sign...



Rachel and I ruining papa's driveway with chalk paint that doesn't come off with water even though it said it did.  Oh well...



"Poopie."  Real nice work...



Stella (aka Sasha to those at Lollypop Farm) enjoying all the other dogs at Ellison Park



She's a bit big for a lap dog.



Frontier Field, home of the Rochester Red Wings.  So, now I can have my "Winter Red Wings" hockey and my "Summer Red Wings" baseball.  



Baseball glove horse sculpture.



Why was I at a baseball game?  FREE TICKETS, FREE FOOD, FREE DRINKS! FREE BEER!  FREE STOMACH ACHE AFTER THE GAME!!!  So very worth it!



If there's one thing I've learned about Rochester, it is that they love bounce houses!






Tire race gets a little dangerous and almost takes out a third base coach



The Legends of the Red Wings.  One is Cal Ripken, Jr. and I don't remember the other two.  And, I couldn't find it on their website.  So...



HERE THEY COME AROUND THE BEND!



OH NO!  NOW THEY ARE COMING AFTER US!



Panoramic shot of Frontier Field.  Thanks to Dee for organizing this.  It was a good time and I expect to see the awesome new glasses at work soon.


I'm done.  Need to find a way to get out of the heat...

A Night of the Unexpected!!!

Le B.A.R.C. (Bohemian Arts Revival Cabaret), Lollypop Farm, the Humane Society of Greater Rochester's fundraising gala.  It was amazing!  Sword swallowing, baudy women, contortionists and so much more.  


  
The entrance.  If only I had a pic of the guest as they walked in.  I think we really lived up to the motto of "a night of the unexpected."









before opening



So red!



I wish I had more time to fiddle with my camera to take better pictures of the evening.  Sorry...



Here I am with Joanna, who's all over the news today for our rescue of eleven more horses from Riga, New York



VIP cocktail event before Le BARC in the main lobby of the Memorial Art Gallery



Juggling.



All the lights in the chandelier.  Details in everything.  It was like going to the theater for a show and ending up on stage






Aerialist on those ribbon things on the boulevard






Contortionist! 



Escape artist with baudy woman!






People actually had to leave the room when he dislocated his shoulder to get out of the straight jacket.  



The whole time this was going on I was thinking "oh no, what is she going to do to our donor?"  It only got worse when the whip came out.



Making final adjustment to the rose before she whips the bud off



Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.



I forget what was going on here.  I'm thinking magic.



Sword swallowing!






The live auction by Pam Sherman, the Suburban Outlaw.  



Norma and Andrea Holland.  Norma is a local news anchor and Andrea is a comedian/video producer.  They were hilarious and I guess they got their outfits from a theater in Chicago.  Norma and I also share a love of coffee. 


  
Here's where the real work gets done.  Checking out all the auction items and everything else at the end of the night.



This is what was happening outside the window during check-out.  At the end of the night, people were already asking "how are you going to top this?"  Good question...



All good things must come to an end and here are some of the guys lugging out the trees...


It was a great night.  Thanks to all of our guests, sponsors, volunteers, artists, staff, and anyone else that made this such a wonderful night.  



The Lilac Festival in Highland Park.  It has seriously rained in Rochester for about a month and a half straight.  It's rained so much that they had to cancel several days of the Lilac Festival, which is about 10 days long.  We finally made it out on the last day and it even rained then...



Megan and I went back to the scene of the crime for the first time.  This is the sunken garden at Warner Castle in Highland Park, which is maintained by the Rochester Civic Garden Center.  This is wear we took our wedding photos almost a year ago.



The art fair portion of the Lilac Festival



handsome carriage



Tomorrow afternoon, I will be saying "I knew her when..."  This is Minnie and she's going to be Lollypop Farm's "Pet of the Week," which means she'll be on TV tomorrow and on all sorts of things.  She's 15-24 lbs (depending on your source of information and easy going, friendly, loves dogs, and food.  And, I like her too much to keep her in our office any longer.  Hopefully, she'll get a forever home tomorrow!



Ok, Minnie is done with the photo op.  Whoever gets her will be very lucky!