Spiders On Drugs
Speaking of spotting reptiles on the road (I'm warning you, do not click on that link unless you honk for serpents), I "snapped" a picture of this on the way to the Fur Ball:
And speaking of animals, today I was flipping channels (oh, did I mention I stayed home sick today?) and stopped on what I thought was a nature program. I'm a sucker for nature programs so I stuck around long enough to watch this clip (which I was able to find on You Tube easy enough, so perhaps everyone else has seen it and chose not to share). This is one of the funniest "nature" programs I've seen in a long time!
And the Fur Ball was a blast also. This year's theme was the A-Cat-emy Awards and so there was Red Carpet treatment and lots of costumery. Here's Wayside's Chairman of the Board in all of his finery. This guy is a class act and devotes a huge portion of his time to Wayside. He carries off the role of Director quite nicely, don't you think? :-)
We bid on a few silent auction items and "won" a bracelet, a necklace and an autographed calendar called NASCAR Pets (as you might surmise, this was photos of NASCAR drivers with their pets...I bid on this for my husband who I thought would be thrilled with my winnings, but he dissed it when he couldn't find "his" drivers in it but did find Tony Stewart's which caused him to spit...anyone want an autographed NASCAR Pet calendar? Sheesh. Well, it was a donation for the animals, I guess).
The event was a huge success, raising literally hundreds of thousands for the humane society. After all silent and live auction items were sold, the auctioneers asked for volunteers who might have an extra $50,000 in their pocket to give away (with a guaranteed match)! They were persistent and finally, someone raised their hand. Then another. Then they moved down to $25,000, then $15K, then $10K, then finally(!) they got down to $250 and I raised my hand. Which begs a question in my mind. Even at $250, I felt guilty raising my hand because I didn't want my guests (we bought a table for 10 and invited friends and clients) to feel obligated to follow suit (which some did anyway). If I was going to contribute $50,000, I think I would do so privately. I would never, ever, raise my hand in front of a 1,000 people to do such a thing. Not that I could, you understand. But would you (make such a contribution publicly like that)?
Update: In searching for a photo that might better capture the spirit of the Fur Ball, I stumbled upon a fellow KC blogger who was also at the event. I wonder how close we come to meeting other fellow bloggers and not even knowing it.
Labels: The Animals
posted by Gwynne @ 4:19 PM
6 Comments:
Very cool event...and great results.
As for your question, I'd never make a large donation publicly. But that's not me. I'd not be doing it for the name in print or publicity. But I'm a pretty reserved person.
What no picture of you in your costume?!?
I had no idea you got a picture of me in my pink jacket! ~ jb///
Jennifer, maybe that's it. I'm very reserved also. And as an observer, I'm wondering if they regretted their decision in the morning, you know?
Rach, no costume for me. I would have made a very boring subject. ;-)
JB, I happen to know you are not the one in the pink jacket, but you coulc be the one in the black jacket (or the white pants for that matter ;-) and I'd not be the wiser. Were you at the event? Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Gwynne, thanks for the comment and the link in your post. We indeed live on a shrinking ball. Don't you love it?
--Rick the Flocker
I'd like to play devil's advocate with respect to your contribution question.
Don't underestimate the power of being a positive role model when it comes to philanthropy. When "regular people" like you and me step up and make contributions to worthy causes, it's more of a motivator to others than if it's The Donald or Some Other Rich Guy, because, well, they can afford it.
I'm all for modesty, and, of course, there's strong Scriptural backing for your position -- although even that goes back to motivation. But I think we should also consider how we might be perceived as leaders when we do something like that.
End of soapbox.
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