3rd Annual Celebrity Auction
Every year, Bryan and I write a lot of celebrities and ask them to send us an autographed item for our auction. Every year, I am amazed at the response. This year is no different. Below is a list of the items available for auction. If you have a question or would like to bid on an item, you can call 217-347-7297. You must bid in person, the last day of the auction on December 17th.
You can view these items, every night until them from 3pm to 6pm at our office, inside the Village Square Mall.
On with the items!!
Trick Pony Gift Pack - Picture, T-shirt, and CD
Wheel of Fortune Gift Pack - T-shirt, Key Chain, Ink Pen, VIP Ticket pass for filming of Wheel of Fortune, $1000 Wheel Piece by Vanna White and Pat Sajak
Lobotomy Gift Pack - - Drum Stick, 2 picks, lyrics and Picture
Jean Auel book The Mammoth Hunters
Robin Williams Leather Bound Script from Father's Day
Lilian Jackson Braun - 2 books, The Cat Who Talked Turkey and The Cat Who Brought Down the House
Gary Larson - The Far Side - Unnatural Selections book
Lynn Johnston - For Better or For Worse - Starting from Scratch book
William F Buckley Jr. book - Nearer, My God
Matthew Stover (Star Wars Episode III Author, picture
Dave Barry Picture and Pirate Poster
Michael Crichton 8X10
Jimmy Carter 8X10
Finding Nemo Picture - Andrew Stanton - writer/director/voice of Crush
John Lassiter - Head of Pixar
The Incredibles Picture - Brad Bird - writer / Director
Paul Rodriquez - Latin All Star Comedy DVD and 5X7
Ashley Judd - 8X10 and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Playbill
Avenue Q - Playbill (Original Cast)
Rue Mclanahan - 8X10, Golden Girls Script, and The Women Playbill
Jack Wagner a 8X10 and Bold and the Beautiful Script
Racquel Welch 8X10
Leah Remini (King of Queens ) 8X10
Carrie Fisher 5X7
Randy Travis t-shirt
Oak Ridge Boys 8X10
Jimmy Buffet 8X10 picture
Kimberly Caldwell (American Idol) 8X10
Bart Conner 8X10
Nadia Comanci 8X10
Molly Holly (WWE) 8X10
Molly Holly (WWE) 8X10
Molly Holly (WWE) small card
Bob Uecker 8X10
Mike McCoy (Packers) ball card
Amber Jacobs (WNBA) ball card
Andy Benes ball card
Michael Buffer (Let's get ready to Rumble!) 8X10
Jim Harbaugh 8X10
Bill Elliot 8X10
Peta Wilson 8X10
Jorja Fox (CSI) - 8X10
John Holloway (Lost) 8X10
Jorge Garcia (Lost) 8X10
Martin Klebba (Pirates of the Caribbean) 8X10
Martin Klebba (Pirates of the Caribbean) 8X10
Randall Duk Kim (Matrix) 8X10
Sam Kelly (Lord of the Rings) 8X10
Jeremy Bullock (Star Wars Boba Fett/Capt. Colton) 8X10
Family Guy 8X10
Tom Selleck 8X10
Lobotomy 8X10
Joe Pesci 8X10
Peter Faulk (Columbo) 8X10
Kathie Lee Gifford 8X10
Amber and Jenna (Survivor) 2 8X10's
Angela Lansbury 5X7
Loni Anderson 5X7
Bryan Cranston (Malcom in the Middle) postcard
James Caan (Las Vegas) 2 8X10's
Framed Cross Stitch
Merry Christmas Pet Fram 3 1/2 X 5
Candle Gift Basket
Quilted Tree Skirt
As they say in Chicago, Bid early, bid often!
we are going to tylertown, missisippi.
We have 2 orphaned Katrina kittens who traveled with us, over 700 miles, to find a permanent home in Illinois. They are 'Missi'and 'Louisi'. They are 3-4 month old sisters and are cute as a button. The kittens will be on our website soon or you can visit them at our office in the mall.
Their adoption fee will be donated to the Animal Protection and Welfare Society (APAWS) of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Some people wonder why we brought back only 2. This was due to the restrictions with quarantines, and such. These 2 were in a Veterinary clinic during the Hurricane. In general only organzations who have the resources to foster a large number of animals are being allowed to take them out of state. They do not want them scattered everywhere because they are still trying to reunite pets with owners. Animal Ark reported that of the dogs they took back to their shelter about half of them have heartworms.
We are going back down South! We are leaving Friday, October 7th. We will be working with other rescue groups in Mississippi. If you have space to spare, please consider adopting a cat or dog. We are going to try to bring back some cats and dogs, but we will have to see what is available and how much space we have.
I really want to thank everyone for their support for our last trip. We really did some good work and everyone down there was so nice and appreciative.
There will probably be a few more emails coming up this week. After seeing what happened down there, we need to look at our Disaster Plan. We'd like some volunteers to help out with that. As they used to say on Johnny Carson, There's More to come.
Here is the press release about our upcoming trip.
***
The Effingham County Humane Society wishes to thank the community for their generosity in helping the victims of Katrina. Effingham and Mattoon volunteers had a successful trip and were able to deliver needed supplies to four animal welfare groups in Louisiana. Local volunteers in Baton Rouge further distributed the donated supplies to the area shelters needing them.
Between local and national animal rescue organizations, a reported 6,000 animals are being cared for from the disaster area.
The Effingham Humane Society is now planning a second trip leaving Friday, October 7. This time the volunteers plan to travel to rural Tylertown, Mississippi, where the Humane Society of Louisiana, ASPCA, North Shore Animal League, Best Friends, and others have basically set up a mash unit for Katrina animal survivors. Volunteers there have been working out of
tents and trailers, as area hotels are full.
The Effingham County Humane Society, hopes to bring back some cats and dogs as well, so they can find new homes in Illinois. On the last trip, two kittens were brought back to Illinois from Louisiana.
The Effingham Humane Society is accepting supplies, which may be may be dropped off at their office located in the Village Square Mall in Effingham.
Monetary donations also can be mailed to: Effingham Co. Humane Society, 53 Village Square Mall, Effingham, IL 62401.
Some of the items currently needed for the emergency animal shelters include:
Tents and tarps
Humane dog and cat traps
Plastic storage containers
Wood shavings for small mammals
Heavy ceramic bowels and ice cream buckets
Litter scoopers and non-clumping cat litter
Heavy-duty garbage bags
Handi-wipes and Antibacterial hand soap
Folding metal dog crates and plastic carriers
Paper towels
cleaning supplies
laundry detergent
bleach
Pet Shampoo
towels and sheets
First aid supplies for pets and people
Office supplies such as printer paper, file folders
Large outdoor battery operated lights
Gloves (disposable and heavy duty work gloves)
Non-perishable food, energy drinks, and bottled water for the hard-working animal rescuers and volunteers
Gift cards for gas and building supplies from Wal-mart, Home Depot, Lowes, and major gas stations
Pet food is not needed at this time.
For more information about donating items, please call (217)347-7297 or visit
www.effingham.petfinder.org. The Humane Society is open Monday through Friday from 3:30pm until 6:30pm.
Katrina Trip
If you ever have to evacuate your home, always take your pets with you. That is what I learned on this trip. The Red Cross may not allow you to enter their shelter, but somewhere else will. It is so sad and heartbreaking.
After Katrina hit, we started getting emails from the ASPCA and Humane Society of the United States, describing what was going on and that there could be 50,000 or more pets abandoned and now homeless and left with no one to take care of them. On petfinder.com, they listed the individual shelters and how they were doing. Some were flooded, some had minor damage, some lost everything including some animals.
I looked on mapquest and saw that it was only 10 hours down, and talked about it with my wife and we decided we should go help. We both had previous Red Cross Disaster training and knew how to work in a shelter environment.
We started looking around and thought we could go to Tylertown, Mississippi and help out there. We were going to take my truck and anything extra that we had at the office, that would help out. Then, in the Mattoon paper, there was an article about another organization going down, Genesis Pet Rescue (
http://genesis.rescuegroups.org/). Tracie called them and got their information. We are going to caravan on down with them.
We had to get supplies, write a press release, send an email, and so much more to do before we left, and it was only Saturday. We only had 6 days to get ready. We went to town and bought supplies, and wrote a press release and sent an email. We were also studying the atlas, trying to figure out where we were going.
Sunday was our last full day at home to do anything. We packed, did laundry, and got our truck ready for the drive. We were in 'trip mode.' We were going to go down there and try to make a difference.
Monday morning, I post our email asking for supplies on our classified list at work. I asked for use of a van and trailer. Matt Lotz of Christ's Church, checked with his Church, and they said we could use it! What a life saver. We checked the paper and the press release wasn't in there. That's ok, we didn't expect it to be. We had also sent it to the local radio stations. We get more detailed information about what the shelters are needing and we send out another email. Also, we were starting to get donations and replies on the email we had sent out.
Tuesday, we received more donations and it was in the paper. We were reading posts from the ASPCA and the Humane Society of the United States. It sounded so awful and HOT. I only wish we could do more. I had a Village Meeting in Watson and had to leave the Office early. Tracie was running ragged, trying to answer all the questions.
Wednesday, more donations of supplies and money. The outpouring is amazing and we are appreciative of the support that people have shown us.
Thursday we got the van and trailer. We got it loaded, and luckily, due to good packing, we did not have to take the trailer. It was a long drive and I would rather go without it. We received a substantial donation from one of our volunteers and I can't thank her enough. I took off work on Friday.
Friday, Tracie, got up at 6 in the morning, and went out in the van to organize and load our personal supplies. I got up at 8 and started in. We started preparing the cats and dogs at our house to be taken care of by our family. We are fortunate to have my parents living so close that they can take care of our animals. We were planning on boarding 1 dog, who needed shots anyways. We go to the office at about 3, I think, and open it up. I went to the bank and a few other stores to get supplies. We close the office at 6 and head on out. We stop at our house and check on everyone and go to where we are supposed to meet with the other people on our caravan.
They arrive at 7 or so, and we are off. We stop in Mt. Vernon and everything is going fine. On the road for a few more hours and fill up with fuel and coffee and move on. We go through Cairo, and then on to Memphis. There was construction there and it was crazy, plus it was 2 in the morning or so. Made it through Memphis and across the river. I'm not sure if we crossed the river and then Memphis, or if it was the other way around. Then we went through Jackson, the capitol of Mississippi. It was a much bigger city then I had anticipated.
Then down and over to Natchez to meet our first rescue group. It was the Central Louisiana Humane Society. They are going to distribute supplies to shelters in northern Louisiana. These groups are small and are in dire need of supplies, since everything they have is being used for all of the extra animals they are taking care of. They were grateful and wished us luck.
Then it was off to Baton Rouge and our introduction to mating insects called Lovebugs. These bugs were everywhere and there were tons of them. They covered the front of the cars and the front of the windshield. I was glad to have them, cause we were down there helping.
We arrived in Baton Rouge and the Traffic was crazy. This town has basically doubled in size in the last week. After driving around a bit, we arrive at our first drop off point. It is a volunteered house (Florence.) She is with a local agency, APAWS (Animal Protective and Welfare Society -
http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/LA12.html) who is going to distribute the items to where they are needed most.
Then to a parrot rescue to drop off a few supplies. We had some bird food, and a parrot playground. Hopefully, they will be able to use them.
From there, we went to a pet sitting business to drop off nearly 3000 pounds of food, compliments of Pedigree in Mattoon.
I'm not sure if that is the order or not, I can't remember.
Then back to the first spot to drop off the rest. These supplies were urgently needed. These shelters had nothing left, as it all went to the local rescue efforts, at the big facilities setup. All this time, we are not sure if we are going to be able to rescue any pets. We then went to grab a bite to eat and while and then back to Florence's house where a dog is waiting for Genesis Pet Rescue. Then, we are offered to transfer 2 kittens to our care. These were 2 kittens which were relinquished into a veterinarian's office. So, besides the supplies, now, we are able to take 2 kittens in.
We aptly named them 'Missi'ssippi and 'Louis'ianna. One is black and white and the other is a grey tiger stripe. They have some oriental breed in them. We are so excited about them. Now it is getting dark and it is time to look for a Motel room.
We travel from Baton Rouge across to get on I-55. We don't see any real signs of damage, except some huge trees down and some knocked down signage. We are actually only a few miles from the coast.
We begin our journey north. I'm tired, Tracie is tired and traffic is insane. Coming south, into the N. Orleans, the traffic is even worse. Emergency trucks, firetrucks, utility trucks, army trucks, half of them with flashing lights and all going to do what they can. We see this huge vehicle in the road in front of us. 5 foot tall tires and at least 6 wheels. It's and army Hmett truck (
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/land/hmett.htm). It was huge.
Tracie is on the phone trying to call motels..and when she mentions Mississippi, they laugh. We finally find one after stopping at 2 exits and he had rooms. So, we brought our kittens in, and slept.
We were up at 8 the next morning and ran into a lady from Alley Cat Allies (
www.alleycat.org). We gave her our leftover gaterade, water, cooler, medical supplies, etc.) She is headed to Tylertown to pick up some traps. It was great to meet someone from a national organization and be able to help out a little. We ended up leaving at about 11am. We stopped several times on the way home and made it there about 9pm. It was a long drive and a long weekend, but I'm ready to go back.
Thanks to everyone who made this trip possible, all the donors of supplies and money, the local veterinarians, MBS in Altamont, Christ's Church for the use of their van, volunteers who helped at the office and helped load the van, and to our families for their prayers and for taking care of our animals, while we took care of someone else's.
