Good morning, Miss-Lou!

Don’t you just love Saturday mornings in September? There is football in the air, and everyone is busy outside enjoying nicer weather. Speaking of being outside, have we got an event for you!

The 24th annual Bark in the Park, benefitting the Natchez-Adams County Humane Society is at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Grand Village of the Natchez Indians. We are so excited about this event again this year!

Southside Market is once again helping us kick off this event with their ribeye steak cookout from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday. For $12, you will get a perfectly prepared steak, baked potato and roll, and all proceeds will go the shelter. The more they sell, the more we benefit, so please start your weekend a little early by stopping by there on Thursday.

Then join us on Saturday morning. The cost is only $5 for anyone over the age of 5; under the age of 5 is $1. We’ll have contests for the dogs, concessions for the people, raffles and giveaways, T-shirts for sale, maybe a surprise or two and generally fun for all! We also plan to have a few of our adoptable residents out there so come and take a look if you need a new family member.

An added attraction this year will be The Clarion-Ledger’s own editorial cartoonist, Marshall Ramsey, on hand to sign his book “Banjo’s Dream: A Little Brown Dog’s A-Z Book of Inspiration,” with a portion of the proceeds going to the shelter. If you’ve ever heard Marshall speak,you know he is a hoot to listen to, and his cartoons are definitely a reflection of his inimitable wit! We are so excited that he has agreed to spend a few hours out there with us. His books alone will be worth the price of admission.

But your $5 admission fee will get you so much more than that. Rosco of First Natchez Radio Group will be our emcee and helping with the contests. He brings fun to everything he does! Our judges, who can most definitely be bribed, will be called on to determine Best Smile, Cutest Puppy, Most Handsome, Most Beautiful, Best Owner Look-alike, Best Dressed, Best Tail Wag, Best Singer, Best Trick and finally Mr. and Miss NACHS. Each contest is $2 per dog per entry and all dogs are welcome! The only restrictions are the puppies must be between 6 weeks to 6 months for Cutest Puppy and Mr. and Miss NACHS must have been adopted from our local shelter.

Once again, we’ve gotten wonderful sponsors to support our event and help cover most of our costs, so all monies collected on Saturday will go straight to the shelter. We hope you will support the local businesses that support us. All in all, it looks to be a great day, and I’m looking forward to seeing all of you there, puppy dogs in hand!

Or at least on a leash.

 

Deanne Tanklsey is a board member of the Natchez-Adams County Humane Society.