(Puppy Rescue 911) Chester IL Animal Control

   Popeye Picnic

When Jennifer Lochhead, owner of The Colors Edge beauty salon in Chester, called me to say her salon wanted to have a stand at the Popeye Picnic to raise money to repair the Chester Dog Kennels, I found myself reverting back to being a five year old on Christmas morning. Giddy with excitement, I tried to speak, which is always a bad idea when you are giddy.

 Suddenly I was stumbling over my words and repeating "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you very much" to the point that I was sure Elvis was back in the building!

 I started doing "the running man dance", but only in my head...because to do that for real, well, that would just look silly. I thought to myself "Wow, what an amazingly thoughtful thing for Jennifer and the girls from her salon to do. I wasn't sure anyone even knew Chester has a dog kennel. Jennifer explained that they were going to have a stand where they would spray washable color in people's hair for any donation they would like to make to the Chester Dog Kennels. I thought to myself, "Well, if no one knew about the kennels before, they will now. 

Jennifer said I could have flyers and a banner made to promote the event. I went straight to Blazing Color, where they helped me come up with a beautiful banner designed exactly as I had pictured it. They were able to print pictures to the banner from pictures I had, that were amazingly sharp and clear, and they came up with flyers that were equally as nice. This was starting off to be a great event.

  As the day got closer, my excitement grew. The morning of the event, I got up early, showered, curled my hair, and put on makeup. I ran out, bought drinks and snacks for the girls, and ran to the Dog Kennels to ask Steve Renner if he would help me out by feeding the dogs so that I could help the girls at the stand. Steve said "sure I can help you out" because that's just the kind of nice guy Steve is, and without missing a beat he added, "but Elanna...the picnic is tomorrow."

Oh my gosh!!! Today was Friday, I thought it was Saturday! And I had put on makeup...MAKEUP I tell you! Steve made sure to let EVERYONE know what I had done. As they all chuckled and laughed I realized...yep, Steve just lost his NICE guy title.

SATURDAY morning, I got up and repeated the dress rehearsal I had done the day before, but today was no dress rehearsal, and suddenly, I found my stomach a little queasy with butterflies. I told my husband Chris how I was feeling, and he said "Honey, you are never nervous talking to people, and this is talking about something you love."

That’s when I realized he was right. This IS something I love, that’s why I was feeling this way. To me, this wasn't just a fund raiser, this was an opportunity to let people know, first, that Chester has a dog kennel, second, that they are in dire need of repair, and third that we have beautiful dogs that come through these kennels and they deserve to be warm, dry, and safe while there.

The amazing girls from The Colors Edge gave up their whole day to raise money, and raise awareness, and I didn't want to let them, or our kennel dogs down. I was also concerned whether or not the public would embrace my passion to make things better, not only for the unwanted, unloved strays that make their way into the kennels, but also for the extremely wanted, beloved family pets that have gotten loose and are now in the safety of the kennels. I would hope that if one of my dogs got loose they would be kept warm, and dry, given a soft place to lay their head, and a gentle hand to comfort them until their return home.

This was my chance to proclaim "Dog lovers unite! Help make a difference, for stray dogs, for lost dogs, for potentially your dog if it ever gets away." I was questioning if I would be able to convey how desperately the kennels need repair, and if anyone would even stop at our stand, or would anyone even care?

I met the girls at the stand. There were rows of pink, orange, green and blue cans of washable hair color...and the children came! As the children got their hair colored I had the chance to hand out the fliers, and paint a verbal picture of the distress the Chester Dog Kennels are in...and the children came. I saw children with pink, green, and blue hair everywhere, and then while talking to a parent about the kennels, she said "You know, it’s for a good cause, paint my hair too"! The entire family had their hair painted! As my eyes welled up I knew...if no one knew about the Chester Dog Kennels before, they will now!

Many more families followed suit and all had their hair colored, to help raise awareness, and funds for the kennels...to help make a difference, and what a difference it made! Thanks to the hard work of a group of beautiful Beauticians with beautiful hearts, and thanks to ALL the truly generous kind hearted loving people (with the really gorgeous colorful hair) that made donations we were able to raise $485.00 to help repair the Chester Dog Kennels!

I have found throughout the years that dog lovers have some of the biggest hearts. I now know that Beauticians and people with very very colorful hair do too!

Thank you so much Jennifer Lochhead and all the girls from The Colors Edge for all your hard work, and for picking the Chester Dog Kennels to raise the money for. The "fur faced kids" at the kennels are sending you puppy kisses. You and your girls are amazing.