Fiji Up-Date

We have had many people ask about adorable Fiji. VAGA has great news to report. Fiji has found a new home. She is now living with a very nice family in the northern Virginia area. She is doing wonderful and has settled right into her new home.
We had so many caring people ask about her and offer to take her in, it was nothing short of amazing. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts. You all are the best.

Massaponax M&G

VAGA had a big turn out for today's M&G at the Petsmart in Massaponax. We are all very proud of how friendly all our greyhounds presented themselves today. We had a steady stream of curious people who came over to love on the hounds. Many asked questions and took our brochure home with them. Winston made everyone laugh when he decided to fall asleep and "roach" mid-way through the M&G. Oh, how we love this breed!!!!

Celtic Festival

Several volunteers and their dogs came out today for the Celtic Festival. The day started out with beautiful weather but ended with a torrential downpour. It was hot and humid but the dogs worked very, very hard and their donation jackets were overflowing with money. They attracted quite a crowd of people whether they were lying on beds under the tent or walking the grounds of the festival.

The afternoon volunteers weren’t at the tent 10 minutes when a huge storm came upon us. We all huddled under the tent trying to keep it from blowing away. Perry and Halle were amazing with all the thunder, lightning and wind. They snuggled together on a dog bed during the storm. Once everything slowed down, everyone helped to disassemble the area. Unfortunately, many of the volunteers did not have a chance to enjoy the festival due to the weather but we are looking forward to next year's event. Thanks to all the volunteers and the many people who supported this event.

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Senior Girl Needs a Forever Home

Please meet Fiji. She is eight years young and is in need of a new home. Her family is moving and can not take Fiji along. This little girl is going to be devastated. She is a loving, caring, smart, playful girl who loves to give kisses. She even roos. Fiji has been living with one dog and two cats with no problems. Please, can you help this senior girl? We have two weeks to find her a new home or she will have to go into a foster home. Thanks for your help!

June 28th Haul

Great news! We have five greyhounds coming up to Virginia on June 28th. We can not wait to meet this new group of greyhounds. It's our pleasure to introduce you to: Our Buford, Siesta Ria, Mesa Coronet, Rooftop Jibber and Mg's Diana. We thank Joan at the GPA Orlando Kennel for finding us, once again, an awesome group of hounds. Have a safe trip up!

A Round for the Hounds 2008

This was our 3rd Golf Tournament and I am pleased to report that this years event was our most successful yet. With the state of the present economy this could only have been accomplished with a lot of hard work by my dedicated support staff. This group has some of the best volunteers in greyhound adoption, bar none. You all are the best. Be proud of it. I would like to thank our sponsors for their generous support. Many of you have supported us from the beginning, while some of you have just come on board. In either case, we would like you to know that 100% of your contributions go to further our cause in helping this gentle breed. To all the many companies who donated countless items, we thank you for your generosity. You are a very intricate part of our tournament. Your items are the fuel for or raffle and auction tables. Lastly, a note to all the players who came out and supported us. Your open hearts and open check books put this tournament on a scale I could not have imagined 3 years ago. My deepest thanks to you all.

As for the tournament itself.....well you had to be there. To say it was hot would be an understatement. This was dangerous heat. I am thankful that we only had one incident involving medical assistance. That person has fully recovered. Our crew of volunteers tirelessly shuttled water out all day. The players expressed their thanks for that.

The big winners for First Place were: Hondula, Koch, Pease, and Rice with a team score of 60. It took 4 tie breakers to determine that.

Second Place, also with a score of 60: DeMilo, Hepburn, Morrissett, and Prichett.

Third Place, with a score of 61: Anderson, De Tejo, Kidd, and Montemayor.

Longest Drive went to John Clegg. Closest to the pin was Ashley Durbin. Congratulations to all those winners.

The remaining winners are the greyhounds we have not yet met.
Thanks again to everyone involved in making this event the success that it was.

On a personal note, I'd like to thank the Board for putting their faith and trust in me to run free with this thing.

VAGA Girls On The Road Again

The VAGA girls and a couple of greyhounds were on the road again. This time to Mountain Hounds in Gatlinburg Tennessee. There were seminars, shopping, a hound parade through town, shopping, an ice cream social for the hounds, a picnic, a nature hike and more shopping. The VAGA girls even got a hound tatoo. It was a blast for both the dogs and the girls. Jamie celebrated her 6th birthday while in Mountain Hounds and her mommy got her a new collar and some pretty bling. Both Jamie and Chassie were dressed to the hilt and did VAGA proud on the hound walk through town.

Chantilly Petsmart Meet & Greet

Every fourth Sunday of the month we all get together and help spread the word about how wonderful greyhounds can be. It's so much fun to see how quickly people fall in love with this gentle breed.
Look how cute all our hounds look in their donation jackets. They work so hard to raise money to help their buddies still in Orlando that are waiting patiently for their forever homes. Please come join us next month!

Arthritis Walk

Saturday, May 31, 2008

The Arthritis Walk® is the Arthritis Foundation’s annual nationwide event that raises awareness and funds to fight arthritis, the nation’s leading cause of disability. This year they decided to have dogs walk as part of the event. Tom and Diane Ward and Dawn Roelofs joined the Everything and the Dog team to walk in the event. Our team was the number one teaming raising $4,000 for the event. The team wore T-shirts that were purchased by TLC (The Life Centre Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Care Center). The dogs were given blue scarves to wear. Tom and Duke walked 3 miles, while Diane, Dawn, Tina, Lola (Italian GH) and Amy walked the 1 mile. Everyone had a great time and of course Tina, Duke and Amy attracted allot of attention and their humans answered many questions about the greyhound breed.

Grand Opening of Sterling Petco

VAGA was proud to be present at the Sterling Petco grand opening on Saturday, May 31st, from 11 - 2. This store shows promise due to the variety of retailers and restaurants that are drawing people to the plaza. We had the opportunity to meet their District Manager who, along with the store staff, is supportive of greyhound rescue. Those fashionably eye-catching donation jackets were generously filled by the wonderful people we met today. Thanks go out to Casey & Cara with Arrow, Samantha with Halle, Marissa & Kurt with Perry, Diane & Tom with Duke & Amy, Andrea & Rob with Faith, Karl & Dianna with Gina & Ruby, Carolyn and David Joseph (our newest volunteer) with Darwin for coming out such short notice and helping to make our first M&G a success!