S HELTER

SHORTS

N OVEMBER 2014
Rivers & bluffs animal shelter

2014
Coming up
.

November
14th Dog Obedience Classes Starts
20th RABAS General Meeting

December6th Wake Up Santa

18th Christmas
Party
20th- Holiday Bake

Inside
This Issue
2014 B OARD

TREASURER S REPORT

PAST FUNDRAISER
UPDATES

UPCOMING FUNDRAISERS

OTHER NEWS

MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL

RABAS MEMBERS

The Rest of the Story About Bailey You may remember the story of Bailey, a black
lab mix in need of an immediate home because her owners were being deployed. I had
heard about Bailey from Crisse on a Friday afternoon. Crisse had emailed me and said the
owners needed a home ASAP and were on their way to Platteville. They had stopped at
both vets in PdC, but neither could take Bailey as their kennels were full. I had called Baileys owner and he told me that they would stay the night in Platteville, but had to leave by
7 a.m. on Saturday. I thought I had a potential home for Bailey, but the person I was hoping who would give Bailey a new home had already been approved for a lab from CASA. It
just so happened that on that same Friday morning, Robin Lang called Jill and asked her if
she knew of any lab pups in need of a home. Jill and I talked later in the day and we shared
our stories about Bailey in need of a home and Robin looking for a lab. Jill called Robin
and sent her the email from Crisse with Baileys picture and description. Robin contacted
the owners and told that if they wanted Bailey, she would have to meet them at 7 a.m. in
Platteville the next morning. Robin was a bit uneasy about doing so. But she could not
get Bailey out of her mind. She then contacted every vet between PdC and Platteville and
found out that Bailey was left tied to the door of the Platteville veterinarian. Robin and
her family adopted Bailey or maybe Bailey adopted the Lange family. But it is a match
made in heaven to say the least. Bailey finally has the life she truly deserves. I spoke to
Robin just a few nights ago, and Bailey was in bed with Robin. Robin would not give up
on the dog she fell in love with over the internet.
On another note concerning rescues and adoptions that RABAS has helped to facilitate
please let Cheryl Statz know of any successful rescues as she will keep a record of them.
The rescues that we do without an actual building could be an important factor when applying for grants.

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2014 Board of Directors

SHELTER SHORTS is a monthly newsletter intended to
keep Rivers and Bluffs Animal Shelter volunteers and supporters connected. With everyones hectic schedules, we
know it is often difficult, if not impossible to attend monthly meetings or to work at all of our fundraisers.

President- Randy Paske

1300 East Wells Street
Prairie du Chien, WI 53821
608-622-7855- repaske@gmail.com

Everyone is invited to submit articles for the newsletter. To

do so, please call Bev at 608-326-2914 or email her at wyalusing2012@gmail.com.

Vice-President / Newsletter Editor Bev Pozega

32398 Gran Grae Road
Prairie du Chien, WI 53821
608-326-2914 wyalusing 2012@gmail.com
TreasurerJill Cipra
36817 Bluffview Drive
Prairie du Chien, WI 53821
608-326-4870 jbcipra@hotmail.com

General monthly meeting will now be board

meetings that are open to everyone. Each committee will report on progress that has been
made since the last meeting. Board meetings
will start at 6 p.m. and are held on the 3rd
Thursday of each month in the Community
Room of City Hall. Please use the back door for
entrance. The next meeting will be on

SecretaryCheryl Statz
425 South Fillmore St.
Prairie du Chien, WI
608-306-3896
Board Member- Julie Whyte
322 South Wacouta Avenue
Prairie du Chien, WI 53821
608-306-0499- chipndale322@hotmail.com
Board Member- John Ryan
12890 Markley Hollow Road
Bagley, WI 53801

November 20th!
Volunteer hours will be collected by Randy P. at monthly meetings or
you can email your hours to Randy at repaske@gmail.com.

Board Member- Donna Heilmann

1702 East Fowler Street
Prairie du Chien, WI 53821
608-379-2112- heilmann73@gmail.com

Check us out on the Web

www.riversandbluffsanimalshelter.org
Thanks to randy Paske for keeping this website up to date!

Treasurers Report
Jill Cipra Treasurer

Current balance as of October 16, 2014

$199,380.05

Like us on Facebook
Rivers and Bluffs animal shelter-pdc

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Checking Account Balance - $5831.72; Total C.D.s- $193,548.33

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october meeting update

October Meeting of Rivers & Bluffs Animal Shelter was held on Thursday, October 16th. Crisse
Reynolds, Crawford County Animal Control Officer, attended and told us of some of her recent experiences as well as duties of this position. She answered a number of questions from those in attendance.
Crisse, thank you for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to attend our meeting. I think everyone enjoyed meeting you. Following Crisses presentation, 5 of the 7 committee chairs summarized activity since the committees were organized. All 5 of the 7 committees have developed a mission statement. To date, the following committees have had at least one meeting: Building, Fundraising, Membership, Public Relations and Grants & Foundations. Personally I feel that we are making excellent progress.
The building committee has visited a number of shelters. The building committee is working diligently on
a potential building plan. They will be molding it over the winter months. Possible grants are being researched by Grants & Foundations Committee. The Fundraising Committee is focusing on the next 2
fundraisers Wake Up Santa and Tractor Supply Holiday Bake Sale. The Fundraising Committee has identified the number of volunteers necessary for Wake Up Santa and many of the spots are filled. We also
listed the things that need to be done before Wake Up Santa. Bev and Bob will solicit sponsors to help
cover expenses and advertising. Membership and Public Relations Committees are working on ways to
increase membership and raise public awareness for RABAS. Many of the things discussed on the Public
Relations Committee have been ongoing or were implemented, but dropped due to lack of volunteers.
We also discovered that Membership and PR committees share many of the same ideas and that the two
committees are closely related. If you would like to join any of the committees, please contact Steve Tibbets at satibbs@hotmail.com or reply to this email. The more the merrier.
Fundraising Committee will meet at 6 p.m. on Monday, November 10th at Steve and Cheryls house.
Their address is 425 S. Filmore. Membership Committee will meet on the 1st Thursday of each month.
The next meeting will be held on Thursday, November 6th at 6:15 p.m. at Steve and Cheryls. PR Committee meets on the 2nd Thursday of each month. The next meeting will be held on Thursday, November
13th at 6 p.m. at Steve and Cheryls. If you are interested in joining the Building, Operations, Finance, or
Grants & Foundations, please let contact me at 326-2914 or reply to this email and I will find out when
those meetings take place.
Kudos to Paula After visiting Chasing Daylight Animal Shelter with members of the Building Committee, Paula learned that although CDAS receives free Pedigree dog food for adult dogs, they need to
purchase puppy food. It is not donated. Paula ordered a pallet of puppy food to be delivered to CDAS.
Way to go, Paula!!!!!
Thank you, Pete Prew. Paula had requested that I send out an email asking if anyone could mow the
remaining area of our property that Randi and Mike Kluesner were not able to do. Crisse emailed me
about Pete Prew and Sue Rider called me and said we should ask him. Traci K also emailed that she may
have an idea. Paula contacted Pete and in just a few hours from the original email being sent requesting
help, the rest of the lot was mowed.
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RabasRabas- ongoing fundraisers

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Kwik Trip gas cards

Kwik Trip Gas sales from September 19th through
October 16th totaled $4,295.00 for a profit of
$429.50. Once again thanks to everyone who supports RABAS through the purchase of these cards. If
you are not supporting RABAS through the purchase
of the KT Gas Cards, would you please consider doing
so? Jill, Donna and I are only a phone call away. If we
could continue with almost $500 income per month,
that would mean a profit of $6,000.00 per year with
little time or effort involved. The holidays are just
around the corner. Gas cards make excellent Christmas gifts for that person who has everything or for
that college student traveling back home. Also, please keep RABAS in mind before
you fill your tank for traveling over the holidays.

Schwans/amazon
Schwans and Amazon.Com To support RABAS by placing an order from Schwans, please visit the following website:
https://schwans.flipgive.com/c/11785#.U7QGs-Z5E31.gmail. Even though the 20% donation period is
over, Schwans will still donate 5% of each order placed to RABAS. $332.77 was donated through the Schwans program.
Thanks to Randy P for setting up this program for RABAS. Amazon Smile is a website operated by Amazon that lets customers enjoy the same wide selection of products, low prices, and convenient shopping features as on Amazon.com. The difference is that when customers shop on AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5%
of the price of eligible purchases to the charitable organizations selected by customers. Please consider either or both of
these fundraisers when shopping online from Schwans and Amazon. It doesnt get any easier than this. As you begin your
holiday shopping, please keep RABAS in mind when ordering items from Amazon.

phoneraiser
Phoneraiser Please continue to save and donate your old cell phones, smart phones and ink cartridges. They can be dropped off at Tender Care Animal Hospital, Radio Shack or just bring them
to a RABAS meeting. Donna, as always thank you for your time and effort in this project.

U. s. bones
Please continue ordering cat and dog treats from USBones.com. They donate 25% of each order placed, to RABAS!
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upcoming fundraisers
Wake Up Santa will be held on Saturday, December 6th. It will be held in the
Community Room of City Hall. We will wake Santa from his slumber promptly
at 8:30 a.m. Breakfast, personalized visits with Santa, Santa Bingo, Santas Secret
Gift Shop, and Santas Workshop will follow. We will decorate the Community
Room on Thursday Evening, December 4th. Everyone is invited. We usually start
at 4:30 p.m., I believe. We can still use a few more volunteers for Wake Up Santa.
If you would like to help, please call Bev at 326-2914 or reply to this email.

Tractor Supply
Holiday Bake Sale
is scheduled for Saturday, December
20th. Donna suggested that we have
some type of food
stand in addition to
the bake sale. We will need baked goods. If you can bake your favorite holiday
treat, it would be greatly appreciated. Baked goods can be dropped off at Tractor
Supply on the morning of the 20th of December. If you need someone to pick up
your goodies, please let me know by calling the above number or replying to this
email. For those of you who would like to help, but just do not feel comfortable
slaving away in a hot kitchen baking goodies, we have a solution for your dilemma. Alexis Burns, ace cookie baker and dessert maker will do the baking for you.
A number of people have said that instead of baking, they would rather donate
money to someone who is willing to bake. If you would like to make a donation
instead of baking, please bring your money to the November meeting or mail it to
RABAS PO Box 421 PdC, WI 53821. Checks should be made payable to Alexis
Burns.
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Other news

Therapy Dog Teams Paula Gutzmer and Maggie continue their regular visits to Prairie Maison and
the hospital. Deb and Jaz drop in at Walter Schmidt for visits. Deb and Jaz started their weekly visits to Bluff View School this week. The students read aloud to Deb and her therapy dogs. Vegas,
Nicki and I visited patients at Crossing Rivers on October 10th and were scheduled do so again on
the 24th of this month, but I had a very bad cold and had to cancel. We will visit the Opportunity
Center on November 21st. Margie Bennett and her mixed breed, Emmy, recently tested and passed
the Canine Good Citizen test at Best of Friends in Dodgeville. Congrats to both! The Canine Good
Citizen test is the first step towards becoming a therapy dog team. Margie and Emmy are one of the
best teams that I have had the pleasure of working with in my years of training dogs. I know they will
succeed in becoming a successful therapy dog team.
Micro-chip Clinic at Tractor Supply on Saturday October 18th sponsored by CASA
(Crawford Area Shelter for Animals) was another successful fundraiser based on the number of people who brought their dogs in to be micro-chipped. Crisse Reynolds had asked me to help so I
thought why not. There were a number of very nice dogs available for adoption as well as some
friendly felines. I fell in love with a beautiful purebred beagle named Penny. My husband was in
Oklahoma hunting so I thought what a perfect time to add a beagle to our pack. I was on my way
out the door with Penny to take her home to see what Nicki and Vegas thought of her. But as I was
leaving, a mom and 2 adorable children arrived to specifically meet Penny. They already had one
beagle and were familiar with the breed. It was love at first sight for the kids and also for Penny.
Penny took to them immediately. Soon the childrens father came to meet Penny and he was also
impressed with her and how friendly and gentle she was with the kids. Penny may have some medical issues, so for the time being, the family is fostering Penny. Keep your fingers crossed that Penny
will be ok and will have a forever home. I hope all goes well for Penny and her new family. It was
very nice to see a number of people who came specifically to meet certain dogs they had seen on
CASAs website. I was very impressed with how well behaved all of the adoptable dogs were.
Pounds Off People and Pets Community Dog Walk (POPP) has ended for the season.WAGS
(Working with Animals to Gain Socialization) also known as Foster Dogs and Prisoners has been
postponed due to liability and the fact that CASAs insurance company will not permit them to take their
dogs into the prison. I believe that another rescue group is being sought to provide dogs for this program.
Rivers & Bluffs Christmas Party will be held on Thursday, December 18th (our regular meeting
night) at Huckleberrys Restaurant. We have the front section of the banquet hall reserved. Everyone is
responsible for their own meal and beverage. We usually meet around 5:30, and order off the menu at
6 p.m. We hold the December meeting while the food is being prepared. Please RSVP by Monday, December 15th.
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Other news

Dog Obedience Classes I have a number of people who are interested. Classes
will start on Wednesday, November 12th. Money generated from this session will be
used to help Crisse Reynolds with a spay/neuter program for cats. I will offer the
first 2 classes free to anyone who adopts a dog through CASA.

Membership renewals & donations

Memberships New & Renewals
There were no new memberships or renewals to report in the past month.
Donations: Mary Weeks, Schwans, Paula Gutzmer (money raised from her garage sale), Mary
Duffy in memory of her husband Bill Duffy, New Generation RV by Phil Dwornik,

River and Bluffs Animal Shelter Membership Form

Student - $5.00 ____

Sponsor - $75.00 _____

Individual - $25.00 ____

Patron - $150.00 _____

Family - $35.00 ____

Benefactor - $500.00

I would like to make a monthly pledge of : ________ per month for a total of

Needed: Your email address!

Please include your email address when
filling out your membership form. This
is a fast and inexpensive method of
communication.
Postage, paper, envelopes and printing
costs add up! Electronic mailing of the
newsletter saves RABAS big $$$$!

$_______ per year.

Name:___________________________________
Address:_________________________________
City/State/Zip_____________________________

Email:____________________________________ Phone Number:______________________

Please mail membership form to: River and Bluffs Animal Shelter

PO Box 421, Prairie du Chien, WI 53821

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Patron members
Amy & Michael Enlow

Paula Gutzmer

Randy & Kathy Paske

Laura Elsinger

Stephanie McCumber

Mike & Shelly Rider

Bob & Diane Witt

Sponsor members
Marilu Bintz

Donna Heilmann

Linda Munson

Joe and Kay Schmitz

Patricia Dillman

Bonnie& Denny Fuller

Bonnie Olson

Frank & Mary Weeks

Lu DeGuzman

Sandy Kittle

Ron Stark

family members
Tom & Marjorie Bennett

Randi & Mike Kluesner

Brent Seamans

Sharon Boylen

Mike & Julie Hazen

Cheryl Statz and Steven Tibbetts

Jennifer Clements

Gary & Kathy Koch

Bill & Nancy Stuart

Donna & Dale Cipra

Jami & Ken Quick

Bill & Marlene Ziemer

Jill & Brian Cipra

Ron & Kathy Quamme

George & Mary Tilley

Mike & Mary Jane Faas

John & Judy Ryan

Steve & Lynda Welter Honorary

Kurt & Peggy Smith

Eric & Betty Frydenlund

individual members
Tori Armstrong

Kelly Fishler

Deb Luebker

Shirley Wegmuller

June Burns

Janis Hein

Kim Pinkham

Sally Whitish

Alexis Burns

Joe Hunzeker

Merilee Pleggenkuhle

Brenda Wilson

Deb Cross

Kristen Helgerson Kriegl

Bev Pozega

Julie Whyte

Marilyn Crubaugh

Marty Leeman

Rosemary Reese

Phil Dwornik

Sue Rider

Dawn Eggers

Monthly pledge member

8 & Eileen Klatt
Don

Student members
Mollee Whyte, Seth Sanders
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