Thanks Parade Participants!

Thanks to everyone (and doggies) who came out to support the Dog Park Coalition by walking in the West Hartford Memorial Day Parade. It was a great turnout and everyone seemed to have a good time. The dogs looked great in their green bandanas! We fielded TONS of questions and the crowd seemed very interested and supportive. We handed out hundreds of cards (possibly more than a thousand!) with the website address and as of 8:00 Monday evening, there were 841 hits on the website JUST TODAY! Thanks also to Mandy for the great photos from today.

We also received a new batch of green Dog Park T-shirts in sizes S, M, L & XL. These are available for a $10 purchase at Studio 970 Photography (860-521-9701).

Our next big event is Celebrate West Hartford June 14-15. Stop by our booth to say hello!

The West Hartford Dog Park Coalition wants you to come show your support at the upcoming Memorial Day Parade!

flickr photo credit: c1sbc

Please join us on Monday, May 26th @ 9:45am at the corner of Farmington Avenue and Newport Avenue.

If you have a green Coalition shirt, please wear it. If not, please wear any green shirt (kelly green if possible). We are hoping to have more shirts available for purchase at the parade. Well-behaved dogs are welcome, although certainly not required. If your dog does march, please use a leash no longer than 6 feet, bring your own bag and water.

With the positive feedback we received at the recent Town Council meeting, we really want to keep up the momentum! Invite your family members, friends, and neighbors to join us for an enjoyable morning.

Please RSVP to Caroline at barkeater@sbcglobal.net so we have some sense of how many participants to expect.

"It's a matter of when, not if." - Mayor Scott Slifka

Last night the West Hartford Town Council heard, and saw, our plea for a dog park in West Hartford. The meeting was well attended as our green shirts filled the room (numerous remarks were made by Mayor Slifka about the shirts!). Several of our members spoke as to the importance of the dog park. Other residents attending for other purposes also mentioned their support while addressing the council. Mayor Slifka's remarks: "It's a matter of when, not if." It was a good night for the West Hartford Dog Park Coalition! See the Hartford Courant article for their recap and be sure to fill out the poll while you're there!

Also, check out Rachel Gottlieb's courtant.com blog--she also has a great entry covering last night's town council meeting. I love how she comments on the council referring to the "good karma" in the room last night with our group coming out in full force. :)

25,000 Hits!!!

After having the new website live for only 5 1/2 weeks (since April 2), we are up to 25,000 hits already! Thanks to everyone for your continuing interest and support--we hope this project will become a reality soon.

We need you Tuesday!!!

As discussed at our last Community meeting, our goal was to present our dog park proposal to the appropriate Town Council Committee, but, if we were not able to get on a Committee agenda, we would present our proposal to the Town Council by May 13th.

Next Tuesday, May 13th, the Dog Park is on the agenda for the Town Council meeting which starts at 7:30pm. We encourage all those supporting the project to attend (and wear your dog park shirts). We currently only have a few shirts remaining, but if the demand is sufficient, we can order some more.

We will plan to bring the available shirts to Tuesdays meeting to distribute on a first-come-first serve basis. They are $10 each. The shirts are a bright kelly green color (see the photo below), so if you have a general green top to wear, you could represent your support by wearing that.

Thank you!


Directions to Town Hall are below:

Directions to West Hartford Town Hall
50 South Main Street, West Hartford, Connecticut

From the north and south: Take Interstate 91 to Interstate 84 and follow the directions below.

From the east and west: Take Interstate 84 to exit 43 (Park Road / West Hartford Center)

Turn left at the bottom of the ramp onto Park Road.

At second light, turn right onto South Main Street. Proceed through traffic light at the Boulevard.

Turn right into the parking lot entrance off South Main Street.

Take a ticket at the gate and park anywhere in the parking lot or garage. There is 30-minute reserved parking for town hall business closest to the building. Bring your ticket with you so it can be validated at the Town Hall or Police Department office in which you do business.

The rain held off...

There were about two sprinkles in the sky as the second West Hartford Dog Park dog walk began. We met this week at Elizabeth Park and strolled throughout the footpaths, first up by the tennis courts and then around near the rose garden. Though it was a bit chilly, it seemed as though everyone and their dogs had good fun and good conversation. We hope to see you at future walks! (Photo credit: Kevin Asp)