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Post by jaybird on Aug 25, 2008 11:59:08 GMT -5
We did it, everyone!!!! ;D ;D ;D
We've received wonderful feedback thus far. Our wonderful judge, Heidi Hopen-Wright, and several other kind folks, told us that our show was the best run and best organized that they have ever been to! And the gals from the Lake Washington Saddle Club, who run over 8 shows a year in the park, told us when we left that they have never seen another group leave the park in such pristine condition. I could have kissed all of you when I heard these things!! You should be very very proud of yourselves!
I am going to get the THANK YOU's rolling here, but I encourage all of you to join in and let the group know what you personally witnessed on Saturday (or before!). We have a lot to celebrate!!
First off, continuing a tradition that began with last year's show, I want to congratulate and thank REDMOND!/Valerie for being the number one fundraising superstar again this year! Valerie was responsible for bringing in our top sponsor, Barn Pros, at the $1000 level, as well as Tracy Setzer at $250, Efficient Arena at $150, and an amazing 10 class sponsors for a total of $500. In addition to all of the money, Valerie worked at the show all day, and made a beautiful gift for SAFE to present to Dr Hannah Evergreen to thank her for all she has done for us. Another blue ribbon day for Valerie!
Next, I'd like to thank Shekaberry/Allison , my trusty co-manager, who was largely to blame for the smoothness of this year's show. Allison worked hard for months prior to the show getting everything ready, organizing our volunteers. Her presence in the announcer's booth on Saturday made my job SO much easier, not to mention that she was upbeat, enthusiastic, unflappable, and fun all day long. She did a great job on the mic, and a great job setting up the Hunter Hack and Bribe Your Horse classes.
Cardicorgi/Jenny ran registration again this year, and she did a bang up job keeping things going smoothly, handling the class changes that most of the riders seemed to make, managing open checks, fielding questions, and if that weren't enough, jumping in to give Amy a break in the Concessions booth. She was first to arrive at the show grounds in the morning, last to leave at night, and she never stopped working. She was a huge help to me to get all the show stuff loaded up at my house, offloaded at the park, and back home again at the end of the day. And to top it all off, she drove up from Portland OR to do all that. Amazing!
We had three more wonderful folks who came from far away to help at the show! Our trails course was planned, executed and judged again this year by Whitewolf/Crystal who drove over from Post Falls, Idaho to be part of this year's show. Once again, Crystal handled this job like a complete professional, and everyone loved the course she put together and the work she did. She was also on hand to help Jaime in the morning before the show and help get the show horses loaded up and loaded in at the venue. Jaime, Jenny and I had a lot of fun hanging out with her before and after the show, and if she has any stories to tell about our post-show behavior, I'm sure they are not at all true!
The other troopers who came a long long way to do big, big jobs were Trillium/Laurie and her dearly beloved husband Kurt . Laurie and Kurt drove 3 hours from Oregon to be at the show, and both of them worked all day long without a break. Laurie is the person who brought you the prize drawing, and she did an amazing job with it! The prizes were top notch, the booth was beautiful, and the drawing was a huge success. We'll have the happy totals soon, but we think that the prize drawing brought in over $600 this year. Laurie and Kurt were also the folks who brought you the goats at the Trails course, and we are so happy that they were willing to "loan" them to us again this year. And big thanks to the goats for making the trip!
Kurt was our gate keeper again this year and he played a huge part in the smooth and easy running of this year's show. His job was made easier by the addition of modern technology like walkie-talkies that worked, and printed class lists, so his talents could really shine as he kept our participants moving into the ring in a timely manner, dealing with adds and scratches, finding missing riders and horses, knowing when to give someone a few extra minutes to change numbers or deal with problems, and when to say "the show must go on" and close the class. I hope that all our participants had the chance to thank Kurt for the work he did because it's not an easy job, and he did it all day without a break.
We had two wonderful ring stewards this year, who worked out in the hot sunshine assisting the judge and relaying information to and from the announcers booth. Honeydofarm/Wendy was the morning ring steward and Cat67/Cathy was the afternoon ring steward, and they both did a tremendous job. Watching them work, you might believe that they had done this job all of their lives. They kept everyone happy, from the judge to the riders to the announcers, and they did it all in the middle of a hot and sunny arena. And their both had a cheerful and willing attitude that made the day fun for everyone.
After Wendy finished her morning duties, she and her husband Craig continued to work hard for the rest of the day, and were instrumental to us being able to leave Bridle Trails looking better when we left than it did when we arrived. I cannot thank them enough for all the work they did, and for their willingness to do it.
Another person that cannot be thanked enough is a new volunteer to SAFE named Emily . Emily was one of the first to arrive in the morning, and knowing none of us and with very little direction managed to jump in and make a huge difference in the success of this show. She worked with Jenny in the registration booth all morning, and Jenny had nothing but raves for her performance and her attitude. After a long day of hard work, she also helped Wendy and Craig clean the parking lot and made it possible for all of us to be able to go home at a reasonable hour with all of our work done. We are hoping that Emily will continue her involvement with SAFE as we think she could be a huge asset to our group.
(continued)
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Post by jaybird on Aug 25, 2008 11:59:23 GMT -5
so many more people to talk about!!
Rabbithounds/Amy was our concessions maven, and it was her very brilliant idea to bring in the concessionaire from the Lake Washington Saddle Club, and spare SAFE from having to deal with things like cooking and stocking perishable food. Amy worked very hard in the months leading up to the show to organize this part of things and get donations for the rescue. And Amy herself took charge of selling the donated food items that SAFE received to raise money for the rescue. She had help from SAFE volunteers Jenny and Met (who wasn't slated to work at all that day, but thanks so much for jumping in to help!)
Another new face on the day was Lynnm . Lynn was our Ribbon Diva, and worked the entire day by the in-gate handing out ribbons. She did a fabulous job making everyone feel like a winner. It was a great pleasure to meet her and she is another person who I hope will continue to be involved with this group as she is a lot of fun, and very friendly, cheerful and pleasant to work with. Lynn was also the person who coordinated the Trop's Chocolate booth and the beautiful display of original artwork that was being sold to benefit SAFE. I did not see the art until Jaime posted her photos, but I plan to get more information about it from Lynn and see if we can advertise it for sale on our website.
Big thanks goes out to Coconut's family members Les and Nicole who both contributed a lot of energy and enthusiasm to the running of the show. Les is Coconut's husband and he was recruited to sell tickets for the prize drawing, but he did a lot more than just that. He brought in a truckload of tables, tents, concession items, and more, and spent his morning setting up the prize drawing booth, and then tearing it down and resetting it up in a better location. I hope you all got a chance to meet Les because he is a very avid and outspoken supporter of our rescue, and he really cares about our horses. We are very lucky to have him on our team. We are also very lucky that he brought along his daughter Nicole, who helped all day as the runner between the announcers booth and the In-Gate. Nicole worked very hard all day....too hard, in fact, as I found out later that she was literally running when we sent her out with the class lists for the gatekeeper and judge. She was a tremendous help to us in the booth, and we couldn't have done it without her.
Oh gosh, I forgot to mention MyMercedes/Kim who provided us with our very first sponsorship from her restaurant Amici Italian Eatery. Kim was on hand to present the trophy for Western High Point champion, which was very cool, and she spent the afternoon lending her support to the riders in the ring. Kim had really hoped that we'd have some gaited classes in this year's show, and unfortunately we couldn't, but despite that, she was a tremendous supporter for our show and we are very grateful to her for her help!
Special thanks to our SAFE riders/handlers on the day: Monica , Leah , Dr Hannah and Mindy & Merle . All of them went above and beyond to showcase their adoptable SAFE horses and let them shine at the show. This involved weeks and months of work prior to the day of the show, working with their horses to get them as prepared as possible for their show experience. On the day of the show, their horses were groomed to perfection, and all looked fantastic. Special thanks to Allison who took Friday off from work to help with pre-show bathing and grooming too. More special thanks to the people who worked together to haul these horses to the showgrounds. I'm going to ask Jaime to post about the team effort that went into making all of this possible as I am sure I am going to leave someone out.
I'd also like to thank Jaime for everything she did to help this show happen, especially for stepping in to assist me last week when crunch time descended and I started to get stressed out. Jaime is the one who made all of the signs for the available SAFE horses. She also helped coordinate things with Laurie and was the mastermind behind getting our horses to the show. As Monica said in her blog, Jaime was a wonderful "show mom" for all the SAFE horses, and kept everyone calm and ready to go. She was my go-to gal again this year when it came time for Bribe Your Horse and Sit-A-Buck, and both classes went off really really well and everyone got a huge kick out of it! (Speaking of Bribe Your Horse, great job Allison for the running commentary and play-by-play on that!) Jaime also spent the entire show taking pictures, and jumping in to help whenever needed. And she offered up her home for Jenny, Crystal and I to crash the night before and night after the show.
More thanks goes to Jaime's wonderful boyfriend Farmboy/Mike who I had heard was not going to make it to this year's show, but in fact was there helping us for most of the day. Mike helped us get packed up after the show (something that is very hard to do when you are tired) and helped get the trucks loaded up and out, something that I am very grateful for. I'm sure he did more than that because that is just the kind of guy he is.
I'd also like to thank Liz Stabbert for acting as our official show photographer. I was astounded at how hard she had to work all day long, and I am looking forward to seeing the photos. I hope that all of our participants appreciate her being there to preserve the experience for them, because she took photos of everyone who rode, regardless of whether or not they plan to buy her prints. If you rode in the show, please at least consider buying a photo or two from Liz as she is a wonderful photographer and I am sure you will be pleased with the results. Information about where to view the photos will be available soon.
I hope everyone enjoyed the wonderful goodie bags that were handed out to the riders. They were made by Mswan/Merle who surprised us all not only by making the coolest goodie bags I have ever seen, but by doing them so quickly that our heads spun! Talk about above and beyond the call of duty, Merle! Thank you SO SO MUCH for doing those, and for donating the materials that went into them! Our competitors were delighted to receive them!
There were a number of other volunteers there that I saw and spoke to briefly, and I apologize for not being able to do much more than that. I know that Lyn F, who volunteers every week at Jaime's farm, was there and thank you Lyn for being willing to come out and help us, and I hope you had a good time at the show! I also saw jodycat/Met for a brief second, and want to thank her for coming out and for helping with the Concessions and anything else you did!
Hopefully our wonderful volunteer coordinator for the show, Allison, can fill in anyone I am missing!
Special thank you to the folks who did all the postering for the show: Valerie, Laura Clark, Mara Avery, Leah, Jeannette, Liz Clark, and Amy A. And a big thank you to Leah for designing the ad that became our beautiful show poster!
I am so very very grateful to all the people who worked so hard in the weeks and months before the show to bring in our sponsors and our prizes: sponsor Barn Pros - by REDMOND!/Valerie sponsor Linda Werner and Associates - by Averyacres/Mara sponsor Amici Italian Eatery - by MyMercedes/Kim sponsor Parrot Heads of Puget Sound - by Coconut/Jeannette sponsor Bennett Bigelow & Leedom - by jodycat/Met sponsor Trop's Chocolates - by Lynn M sponsor Natural Horse Savvy - by Kalisa sponsor Efficient Arena - by REDMOND!/Valerie sponsor Tracy Setzer - by REDMOND!/Valerie sponsor Noble Panels & Gates - by Jenny
Prizes & Concession Items donated by: • Tim’s Cascade Chips (thanks to Jeannette!) • Top Foods (thanks to Amy A!) • Costco (thanks to Amy A!) • Olson-Mills (thanks to brave Leah!) • The Gift Horse (thanks to Amy A!) • Lake Stevens Cenex (thanks to Mara) • Horses Inc. and editor Maya Osseiran • Graham Hay Market (thanks to Lynn M!) • Practical Kit Co. (thanks to Jeannette!) • Emerald Downs (thanks to Amy A!) • Vineyard Salon, Woodinville (thanks to Valerie!) • DeJongs Sawdust & Shavings (thanks to Amy A!) • Valerie Wood • Laurie Taylor • Leah Anderson • Jeannette Parrett • Crystal Byers • Joy Arsenault (thanks to Amy A!)
Important note: There were many more prizes and items donated, and I'd like to ask Trillium and Rabbithounds to either post a comprehensive thank you list here, or PM it to me so I can add it to this post! This thank you list is not yet complete, just needs a little help!!!
We all have so much to be proud of, and once again, thank you to EVERYONE who made this show a success! Get some well deserved rest and we'll see you again next year!
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Post by oneidea on Aug 25, 2008 12:13:25 GMT -5
Bonnie, you deserve a huge THANK YOU too... you did a great job in the announcement booth!! Kudos to you and the whole team up there!!!
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Post by leahlady on Aug 25, 2008 12:24:54 GMT -5
I just want to thank my boyfriend - he donned a purple shirt and spent his whole day running errands, scooping poop, holding horses, and even riding!
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Post by lynnm on Aug 25, 2008 13:00:30 GMT -5
I want to join in the thank yous too! You all made me and my chocolate company feel very welcome and I was thrilled to see how well this show went. Jaybird you were amazing! Yes, Jaybird, the artwork will still be for sale. In fact, I want to extend an offer that not only the pencil/graphite and ink drawings posted in the other thread are still available, but I am more than willing to draw any of the SAFE horses past and present that anyone would like to have with all proceeds going to SAFE. I work from photos that currently exist or can take my own if needed. Send me a PM and we can work out the details.
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Post by coconut on Aug 25, 2008 13:04:29 GMT -5
I agree with everything Jaybird said and would like to thank her too! BONNIE was awesome at fielding my silly show questions in the weeks prior to the show in between all of the gazillions of other things she was doing and still bringing a dose of humor to it all. YOU, Jaybird, were amazing & should be VERY VERY Proud of yourself! I'm always an organizer myself and rarely get to participate in things so this time I SOOOOO appreciate what everyone did to make this event so wonderful and seamless from my perspective so that I was able to tackle something I had always dreamed of doing.. THANK YOU
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Post by oneidea on Aug 25, 2008 13:23:05 GMT -5
Yes, Jaybird, the artwork will still be for sale. In fact, I want to extend an offer that not only the pencil/graphite and ink drawings posted in the other thread are still available, but I am more than willing to draw any of the SAFE horses past and present that anyone would like to have with all proceeds going to SAFE. I work from photos that currently exist or can take my own if needed. Send me a PM and we can work out the details. That's good to know... my daughter was so disappointed that she didn't get to come by the booth and see them in person!
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Post by cardicorgi on Aug 25, 2008 13:52:41 GMT -5
I agree whole-heartedly with Bonnie and everyone else - everyone was so amazing, so positive, and helped the show run darn smoothly. Thank you to our show sponsors for making it possible, and it was so excellent to meet so many people who post here, in person! I want to add a couple personal thanks - Mike/Farmboy and his son, who happily sped off to get lunch for our judge (and I'm sure did other tasks I don't know about, besides helping load up Bonnie's truck after the show); he also graciously allowed his home to be invaded by 3 of us - thanks Mike! Also, Jaime/Schwung, as always, for unfettered enthusiasm, hard work, and hospitality! Thanks for covering for me in the office so I could slip away for a few minutes! I want to add my personal thanks to those of you whom I saw around my somewhat limited location (no offense to anyone I've missed!) Valerie - thank you for putting together the wonderful photo album for Dr. Hannah, and the excellent frame and photos for Bonnie - and for helping so much even though you weren't expecting to. I'm so glad you came to the show! Amy - I know how much work you did getting the donated food, and running the concessions with gusto - THANK YOU. Every time I looked over, it seemed that you had the Lake WA SC member there in stitches! Met - thank you for pinch-hitting in the concession stand - I hope you got to enjoy some of the show, too!! Emily - you were so enthusiastic and hard-working - THANK YOU. Your presence was entirely an unexpected and excellent surprise. I also saw you carrying heavy things to help load up after the show, in addition to manure patrol - and thank you for being so adaptable (ha ha exactly what one would expect from an eventer !) It was great to meet you and I hope to see you again soon (will keep you posted about any Jim Graham clinics I hear about!) Wendy and Craig - thank you for stepping up to scoop manure at a moment's notice - the park ranger said that, as a result, the showgrounds were the cleanest she'd seen of just about any event held on the grounds! Thanks for lending your hands and bodies! Crystal - you are a rock star for so many reasons. It was fun to spend some time with you, too! Laurie and Kurt - that you drove up and back the same day with the goats, and did such a fantastic job with the prize-drawing and gate-keeper duties - big kudos and a hug to you both. Nicole - I only saw you in a blur as you ran back/forth - thank you for your hard work. Cathy - thank you for wearing so many hats on Saturday. Great job, as usual. Allison and Bonnie - you guys did a stellar job. Did you know that Bonnie made a program that helped her track points and all of the entrants? She's a genius! Allison, you cracked me up on the PA. Next time, I promise to tell you if your conversations can be heard over the PA. ;D (what I heard, though, was often really darn funny). Merle - thank you so much for the goody bags - I wish you could have seen the grins on the faces of our youngest exhibitors, especially, as they received the bags when they registered. They were a huge hit! Tinkerslady - thank you for your kind words, and for donating that bottle of wine. I'd intended to share it with all the volunteers at the end of the show, but didn't have a wine key - so I gave it to Jaime (on your behalf). (Next year, dear SAFE volunteers, I hope to have cold adult beverages on hand, or a plan, for after the show). Also - thank you to the now not-anonymous person, Jean Steenerson, who donated their HorsesInc. ad (won in the prize drawing) to SAFE!! We will certainly be able to use that constructively!
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Post by coconut on Aug 25, 2008 14:22:42 GMT -5
Ah....I forgot to mention that my FABULOUS Assistant, Jean Steenerson came all the way from Covington to support SAFE and even held Coconut for me a few times while I was getting changed and looking for tack in the trailer. SHE won the HorsesInc. ad & very graciously donated it to SAFE. She also won the absolutely beautiful black/silver Saddle set in the raffle. It turns out she's always wanted one! It's going in her sewing room and her husband is going to build a stand for her. She considers it an art piece and is down right THRILLED with it. I have to admit...Les brought it home and it was displayed in my house overnight and I had wild thoughts about offering to buy it from her but it's probably too big for lil' Coconut and when I found out how excited she was about winning it I didn't even dare offer. I'm SOOOO Happy for her & VERY proud to call her my friend! She's the best! ps: I did ask if she was going to fill that saddle with a horse and she has no plans at this time to do so....uh huh... I'm sure we were all there at some point
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Post by jaybird on Aug 25, 2008 15:43:17 GMT -5
Preliminary financial reports are looking very good.....even though we had fewer competitors this year, I think we are going to end up making more money on this year's show!!
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shekaberry
SAFE Volunteer
SAFE Volunteer Coordinator
Posts: 1,521
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Post by shekaberry on Aug 25, 2008 16:47:36 GMT -5
I must second Bonnie's first and second posts. Everyone worked exceptionally well together and the show ran smoothly. Our Judge, who donated her services, was very impressed with SAFE as a whole and was very appreciative of her attentive and professional ring stewards (thank you Wendy and Cat!!), The organized and efficient in-gate Man (Kurt - you ROCK!) and the friendly ribbon Diva (THank you Lynn!).
I continue to be impressed by the unity that this group has and the common goal of saving the horses. Everyone was just amazing and I had a really good time. I hope everyone else did too.
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Post by huskiesnhorses on Aug 25, 2008 16:48:39 GMT -5
I would like to thank Bonnie and Allison for doing an AWESOME job putting this show together. THAT is alot of work.
Thank you to Barn Pros for being our top sponsor again. There is some talk of them helping us promote next year soooo - maybe there is a three-peat blue ribbon out there for me in fundraising.
Thank you to my realtor Tracy Setzer who always comes through for the animals and every time I hit her up for money!! You are an awesome friend!
Thank you to Efficient Arena - all the way down there in Oregon and have hearts of gold and a soft spot for the horsies.
Thank you to each and every one of my family and co-workers who ponied up to sponsor classes - you humble me. You really do.
Thank you to Lisa Dobbin - the scheduling diva - finding rides for horses and doing what she does best - being the NUMBER ONE supporter of the horses and people alike - Lisa - YOU ROCK! And I am SO glad you made it to the show!
Thank you to Kelsey Dobbin- my co-pilot - she is awesome in the shotgun seat and such a giving person - thank you for everything thing you do!
Thank you to Dr. Hannah - for finding time in her schedule to yet again give back to the horses by riding Haley and doing such a great job with her.
Thank you to Jenny for being such a warm and sincere person - you really helped me.
Thank you to Jaime for accepting my apology over a personal matter.
And finally, thank you to Haley for one of the funniest moments of the day - during the trail course, she studied carefully how Hannah "ducked" under the car wash ribbons and mimicked her exactly - and then at the mailbox - Haley very carefully studied the mail for good offers (for a home maybe?) - I couldn't have been more proud.
Thank you ALL for a wonderful day. I'm glad it's over and yet, strangely looking forward to the next one.
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Post by trillium on Aug 25, 2008 20:48:00 GMT -5
I want to thank everyone who donated or sought out donations for this years prize drawings. Most of them were already on the table when I arrived so there are a few that I do not know who the donation came from, so help me out if I have made a mistake or overlooked someone or something. I want to thank Les and Amy for helping me move the tents to a more central location. After all, I wanted to see the horses too. Thanks go out to these people: Redmond- The Black Saddle, Bridle and Pad (everyone wanted to win this!) The Brown Saddle The Brown Tooled Saddle The English Saddle The $100 Gift Certificate from Vineyard Salon in Woodinville The Brown headstall The Black and silver bit The Black and tan saddle pad Rabbithounds- The Beautiful Horse Quilt made by her mom The Lovely Handmade Cards in a basket Coconut- A Picnic basket with two bottles of wine A Purple bucket with cards, a calender, mailbox cover and other stuff I could not see because she wrapped it up so beautifully. A Really Great Equine First Aid Kit made by her company, Practical Kit Co. All put together in a great box. Trillium- A Large Purple Bucket with a purple hay carrier, purple hoof pick, purple mini massager, and two purple bath poofs. Lynnm- A bag of LMF Gold feed from Graham Hay Market A Cute Little Rocking Horse Lizstabbert- VSI Equine 1st Aid kit Leahlady- Best Friends(Daly and Sarge) Print Horses Incorporated- $175 value 1 year ad in the Pro-Services directory (2 of these) $50 value 1 month ad They also brought about 6 books which we added to the drawings. Whitewolf- Calendars to which I added a mini massager with each one. (Those mini massagers were a hit, I gave out free back rubs) Additionally there were some prizes there that I did not know for sure who donated them. The Cute little Rocking Horse which I think came from Lynnm(yup, it was her.) A Brown headstall, black bit and black saddle pad that I think may of come from Redmond. (Modified to give credit for these items to Redmond, our super donatation lady.) Please correct me if I am wrong about any of this. I hope I did not miss anyone.Thanks again to Les for his superb salesmanship. Snagging the people who even slowed down for a look at our prizes. A big hug and thank you to my husband Kurt, who rarely complains about my horsey passion. I just want to add, it is not to early to start thinking about next year. When out shopping if you see a good bargain or something that would make a great filler for one of our baskets, pick it up and put it aside for next year. I believe we made over $600 in our Prize Drawings. All of this goes to help support SAFE and their mission to help horses in need. Also there were several people who asked about SAFE shirts. Maybe next year we could have some for sale too. (I liked the purple polo shirts you guys were wearing too). Thanks for everything. Laurie
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Post by leahlady on Aug 25, 2008 21:09:45 GMT -5
Just a little correction... **I** donated the Dally & Sarge print.
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Post by trillium on Aug 25, 2008 21:32:12 GMT -5
Just a little correction... **I** donated the Dally & Sarge print. OOPS-All fixed. And thank you. There were many compliments on that photo.
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