Coming soon: Bark in the Park

Calling all dog lovers and race/walk competitors! Mark May 3 on your calendars and join us at Churchill County Fairgrounds for our annual Strut-Your-Mutt 5K Walk/Run and Bark in the Park, one of our biggest fundraisers of the year. Come and be a part of a day filled with fun activities. The 5K walk/run, which includes our two- and four-legged friends, will start at 9 a.m., and Bark in the Park will “run” from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

To participate, please fill out the registration form available at the shelter during normal business hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Registration forms will also be available at our next Walmart April 19.) You may also download and print the form from our website (www.capsnv.org) by clicking “Event” on the homepage, which will take you directly to the 2014 Bark in the Park page. Then click “5K walk/run registration form” in the second paragraph.

When filling out your registration form, be sure to mark all appropriate boxes, fill in your name and address and sign. Send it to CAPS (P.O. Box 5128, Fallon NV 89407), along with your race fee. You may also bring it to the shelter at 5894 Pasture Road during normal business hours (see above).

Registration fees for the 5K are $15 per person and $50 for four people (dogs walk free and must be leashed). We encourage you to find sponsors to “up” the competition and help raise more funds for the animals in our care. As a bonus, you walk/run for free if you are sponsored! Forms are also available on our website, but click “5K walk/run sponsorship form/levels.” If you cannot participate in the race but would like to get in on the fundraising competition, give us a call (775-423-7500). We will designate a racer for you.

We strongly encourage you to pre-register. This guarantees that you will receive the event T-shirt and a goodies bag full of donations from our sponsors and event vendors. If you plan to register on race day, we’ll be taking registrations from 7 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. sharp. After that time, you will not be allowed to register (no exceptions). Also, you might not receive a shirt and goodie bag if you sign up on race day.

After the 5K winners are announced, the “doors” open for the Bark in the Park, which is free (all dogs must be leashed for this event). Here you will find vendors of all sorts, demonstrations, a doggie-washing station, a raffle and, yes, the doggie contests, which everybody loves. Water will be provided around the park should your buddy get thirsty.

Would you like your four-legged BFF to be in our 2015 Happy Endings calendar? Well, this is the place to have that photo taken. Kim Lamb, photographer extraordinaire, will be waiting for you and your buddy. The sitting fee is only $20, and you’ll receive a 5-in. × 7-in. photo, which will be sent to you at a later date.

Would you like to be a vendor at the event? The fee is $25 or free if you are a nonprofit organization, rescue or shelter. Whether you are an artist, a local veterinarian, a dog groomer, a dog trainer, a food vendor of any kind, give us a call. A vendor application is also at our website.

Would you like to be a sponsor? We have a range of sponsorship opportunities starting at $100 and going up from there. (Sponsorships must be submitted no later than April 9.) Go to our website, as noted above, for more information. All sponsors get a free space at the event in addition to the other perks listed for each level.

As a final note to this week’s article, please stop by Flower Tree Nursery to buy raffle tickets ($1 each or six for $5) for a gorgeous floribunda crabapple tree valued at $81.99! All proceeds from this raffle benefit the dogs and cats in our care. Tickets can also be purchased at the shelter during normal business hours (see above) and on our next Walmart Saturday (April 19). The drawing will be held on May 1 at Flower Tree, and you don’t have to be present to win.

This week’s article was contributed by Betty Duncan, a member of the CAPS board of directors.