Recent Blog Posts: The Southwest Voice

Herding Clinic, Saturday August 25, 2007 @ 9:00 a.m.

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:06:41 PDT

Our Herding Clinic is open to the public for introduction, novice and intermediate levels on small livestock (sheep/goats). We hold these clinics on Saturdays starting at 9:00 a.m.

Mr. Beau Clark is the trainer and he has been training dogs and horses for many years due to growing up on their Family Ranch.

The cost is $15.00 per dog and is located at: 4630 Judd Street, Bakersfield, CA, 93314. You can contact me at 661.331.5363

Sincerely, Stacy, Assistant/Secretary/Coordinator

BAKERSFIELD BEACH PARK

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 11:16:30 PDT

Hello all,

Come join us for some lunch and/or dinner and some delicious desserts (preferably all) coming up on Wednesday, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007. The locations and times are as follows:

Rubio's Restaurant on Rosedale Highway (Target shopping center). The hours for our fundraising event are going to be held from 10AM to 10PM. So whether you crave to eat in, take out, host a company luncheon or take your family out for the night, come eat at Rubio's. 20% of what you spend will go towards the BAKERSFIELD BEACH PARK "SKATE PARK" EXPANSION!!!! Make sure to present the attached flyer so that we receive our 20% donation and come join us for some delicious food, some good company and a great cause. I have attached the menu to assist with any meal planning and to get those mouths salivating.

Also, on the same night between the hours of 6 - 9PM the Cold Stone Creamery (same shopping center) has volunteered to host the dessert fundraising portion of the event. Make sure to present the attached flyer (flyer has to be presented to receive our 20% donation) and come join us for some delicious desserts after dinner.

So please print the attached coupons, cut one coupon out for you and distribute them to all your family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, associates, clients and let's jump on board to raise some money for our boys, girls and their skateboards (you can forward this e-mail along with attachments also).

AND/OR

If you would like to make a tax free (501(c)3 foundation) donation to the help fund the Bakersfield Beach Park "Skate Park" Expansion, you could send any and all donations (tax free, of course) to the following address:

BAKERSFIELD FOUNDATION

ATTENTION: FINANCE DIRECTOR

1501 TRUXTUN AVENUE

BAKERSFIELD, CA 93301

(Designate donation to: Beach Park "Skate Park" Expansion)

Sincerely,

The Beach Park Expansion

Fundraising Committee

Need a training pool

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:38:57 PDT

Looking for a place to train Andy. Ot could be a swimming pool. It needs a ledge for him to see as he jumps, not a sloping bank. If you know of a place please let me know about it. Need a place to get him ready for the upcoming World Championships in AZ.

Andy WOW's Reno

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 11:45:53 PDT

Reno- The Super Retriever Series, Splash Dogs Super Fly, competition took place at the Sports Warehouse in Reno, NV. this past weekend. There were two divisions of competition, the Amateur division for dogs jumping 18 feet and under and the Professional division for dogs jumping over 18 feet. Andy was entered in the amateur division. Ducks Unlimited was one of the major sponsors of the event. In addition to the Super Retriever & Super Fly events there were the duck calling events going on at the same time as the jumping competition. Making it very noisey for the dogs jumping.

The event finals were being filmed by the Outdoors TV Channel to be shown later as part of their upcoming TV Show about sporting dogs. Only those dogs that finished in the top 12 were allowed to jump in the finals.

Andy showed his stuff on Saturday, setting a personal best with a jump of 15'6" and followed that up with a jump of 15'3" to qualify 3rd in his division moving on to the finals on Sunday and getting the chance to be on National TV?

On the Sunday Finals it was Andy's 7 month birthday and with the newly formed "Prince Andy Fan Club" singing "Happy Birthday" to him as he sprinted down the dock and with the cameras running Andy was distracted by all the interest and his first jump was "only" 13'1", but he calmed down enough to make his final jump of 15'1" to finish 5th over-all in the Amateur Division. Andy was also clocked by the radar gun at 30mph running down the dock, second fastest of all the dogs in his division.

Andy's next event will be at the "End of Summer Bone-a-Fit: in Auburn, Ca on September 14-16th, then it's on to Oregon where Andy has been asked to show his stuff for the people in the great northwest.

www.princeandyflores.com/
www.myspace.com/princeandyflores

A nearly painless way to give.

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:51:49 PDT

A couple of weeks ago I was checking in at the Citibank Rewards center --- you know, the place where you can use your rewards points to buy little gizmos and gadgets after you’ve hit your zillionth point (or at least it seems that way to me, since the stuff that looks interesting is always about 10,000 more points than I have). In their rewards area they have a section called, “Your wish fulfilled,” where you can request an item or service that you don’t see in their catalog, and it started me thinking.

Really, there just isn’t a huge need in my life for another small gizmo right now, nor do I think I’ll ever have enough points to visit some foreign country for free. But, what if I could use the points I’ve earned for a different purpose altogether?

I contacted the wish people and told them my wish would be to cash in my points in exchange for a check made out to the Bakersfield SPCA. I figured it was a win for everyone: They get to cash out my points; the redemption is for a nonprofit, so I’m sure they’ll find some way to write it off; the BSPCA gets some always-needed cash; and I get to give a donation much larger than if I had been left to writing a check. I wasn’t sure if this is what they meant by “wish-fulfillment,” but I figured it didn’t hurt to ask.

A few days later, I had my answer. They were happy to do it. They gave me the dollar amount the check would be, as well as my point balance after they wrote it. Everybody wins.

So, if you find yourself with some extra Citibank rewards points and are looking for a way to give a little to charity, you might want to give this a try. I’m not sure about other companies…but I’ll be looking.

Cheers!

Sadie The Beauty Contest Winner

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 17:29:55 PDT

In March of 2001 The Picture People had a pet contest and Sadie won as an Angel. But don't let the pictures fool you she is no angel!!!!!! Basset Hounds are very temperamental dogs and Sadie is the most temperamental of them all. If she doesn't get her way look out, and watch out because something of yours might get chewed up!!!! But she does look really cute as an Angel.

High School Memories...

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 22:04:10 PDT

In a couple of weeks another school year is upon us and for some reason I started thinking back to when I was in high school....I have so many memories but I keep coming back to my freshman year and this particular memory sticks out in my mind...

When your 14 years old you do not always use the best judgment. I remember my friend decided it would be fun to skip the last two classes of the day. So she decided to use the school payphone to call the attendance office (which was four feet away from the phone booth) and pretend to be her mother and let them know that her daughter was sick and unable to attend sixth and seventh period. Right in the middle of talking to the attendance office thinking she was home free the bell rings signaling the start of sixth period!! So of course they told her to cut the crap and get back to class.

I don't think my friend will ever live that down, and I also doubt anyone who has heard the story has ever forgotten it.

Critter Corner Vol. 2

Fri, 03 Aug 2007 15:00:11 PDT

So, I arrived bright and early last Sunday for the SPCA cat neuter/spay day. My intention for the day was to be there doing one of the easy peasy jobs, like watching the cats in the recovery area as they came out of their anesthesia to make sure all was well before they went home.

Instead, I ended up in the pre-op room, where we (me, another volunteer and two vet techs) took cats out of their carriers and got their weight, temperature, heart rate and respiration. After subjecting the cats to those indignities, we gave them an injection to help them while they were anesthetized and put lubricant into their eyes to keep them moist during surgery. Then we moved them to the surgery rooms (one for boys and one for girls).

This was not the easy peasy job I had planned for. Cats, as any cat owner knows, aren’t the calmest of souls when everything is going their way. Put them in a small carrier, in a strange environment, alongside other strange cats and it’s easy to see how very recently we removed them from their wild lifestyle. Things moved fast and the work was hot and tiring and it wasn’t long before I was a sweaty, fur-covered mess. But on the positive side, time did fly.

One of the most gratifying things to see during the day was the number of younger cats that were coming in for surgery. The first time I volunteered for one of these events, it seemed like we were getting older cat after older cat. Now, don’t get me wrong, any neuter is a good neuter, but it was great to see younger animals being neutered before they could contribute to the overpopulation problem.

At the end of the day, a total of 110 male cats and 17 female cats were neutered and spayed. Time for a huge thank you to the Bakersfield SPCA for fundraising and hosting the event, the veterinarians, vet techs and volunteers who were there to help, all donating time on their day off to do so. It was a great effort by all who were involved, and I can’t wait to do it again.

My Sisters...

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 14:05:25 PDT

On September 2, 1980 my dad took me and my older sister Deanna to the nursery at Memorial Hospital and pointed to a baby in the window and said meet your baby sister Stacie. I looked at the baby in the window and looked at my dad and I said “but I don’t want that baby!” and pointed to another baby in a different window and told him “I want that baby over there!.” But my dad said I couldn’t pick my sister and Stacie was coming home with us. We had a three bedroom house and when my parents brought Stacie home they set up a crib in their room. I used to go in there and talk to her in her crib and tell her stories all the time. When she got a little older my mom asked me and my sister Deanna which one of us wanted to share a room with her and I begged and begged to let it be me! (What was I thinking?!?! She got into all my stuff and knew all of my hiding places) but it worked out fine. It was kind of cool not being the little sister anymore cause then I wasn’t the one being picked on!!! Me and Deanna would team up and used to tell Stacie she was adopted, that she had the mail mans eyes or that she was found in a cabbage patch. (That was back when cabbage patch kids were really popular) so she would run to my mom crying and we would get in trouble.

I loved being the middle child, because I was old enough to hang out with Deanna and her friends and go to the mall and check out boys, and when Deanna got a car her friends used to do my hair and make-up and let me cruise Chester with them on Friday and Saturday nights. Deanna was cool and never cared that I tagged along with her and her friends. I was also young enough still to go outside and play tag with Stacie and her friends so I got the best of both worlds. I loved it because I was a little sister and I had someone to look up to. I loved being a little sister and I remember I always wanted to do everything my big sister did. If she was having a bad day I would try to do everything I could to cheer her up. I remember when I was two and Deanna was 4 my mom took us to the carwash. We were sitting in the car while my mom was washing it (she was 8 months pregnant with my sister Stacie) and Deanna was sad because she wanted to go home and play. So I decided to jump in the front seat of the car and drive us home if mom didn’t want to take us home I would!! So I got in the front seat and started the car and it started coasting down the hill. (And my poor 8 month pregnant mom had to jump in the car and stop it.) But that was just me I always wanted to help my sister!!! As much as I loved being a little sister I loved being a big sister more. Being a big sister meant I had someone that looked up to me and wanted to do all the things that I got to do. Which I thought was so cool.

My sisters are my best friends when we were little and one of us got into trouble the other two would go and comfort the one who got into trouble. But most of the time it was the three of us scheming and getting into trouble together. We have always been there for each other be it happy news sad news whatever. I just know my sisters got my back and I got theirs. I am so glad on September 2, 1980 I couldn’t pick out my baby sister, because I got the sisters I was meant to have and I wouldn’t trade them in for anything in the world!

Critter corner

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 13:55:37 PDT

The weekend’s just around the corner, and with it comes the Bakersfield SPCA cat neuter clinic, taking place on Sunday, July 29.

Now, if your little buddy doesn’t already have an appointment then he’s most likely out of luck for this round, because those spots are gone faster than shady parking places in July.

Want another clinic offered soon? Then how about stopping by and dropping off a couple of bucks towards funding the next one? These clinics may be low cost, but they certainly aren’t free. It takes around $6,000 or so just to host one.

So, if you’re fortunate enough to have your pets altered, drop a couple dollars help to help someone else do the same. Dislike cats? Donate a little so you can enjoy a few less of them being born in your neighborhood. The clinic will be held at the Bakersfield SPCA, 3000 Gibson Street, just off of the Rosedale Highway.

I’ll try and post some snaps of the event next week for everyone to see. That is, if I can remember to put my camera in my bag after rising at 5 a.m. on a Sunday (no less).

Finally, interested in some little tidbits about pet life, including product reviews? Be one of the first to check out my brand new blog, http://pawprintcitytimes.blogspot.com/

‘til next time,

Pawprint

Weekend

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:28:43 PDT

The softball teams haven't been letting me know what up. So nothing softball to write about today.

I guess now that I have found a new sport I should change the photo on my profile? Problem is I can't find something that will cover both dog jumping and softball. Had a relaxing weekend, didn't do anything but kick back. I am still planning on heading to Reno 10-11-12 for the Dock Jumping Challenge with Andy. They have been going slowly with his training, letting him dictate what he wants to do. Next year will take training seriously to see just what Andy can do. Thinking of getting another Lab as a training partner for him. Give him some competition during practices. People say dog;s don't know or understand things, but rest assured Andy knows what he is doing. I watch him during competition and he wants to beat all the others. He loves to show off on the dock. He is "Show Time." Guess that's all for now, will let all know how the Reno Jump goes. Have a great day all,,,

Bakersfield Bobby Sox 14U Team

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:01:17 PDT

45th Annual Bobby Sox Tournament of Champions in La Mirada, CA was history in the making for Bakersfield. The team went into the Tournament a 3rd place seat. With their hearts and minds on playing softball, they came out as the National Champions.

The first game, Saturday morning, July 21, 2007, against Wahiawa, HI, was a win with a 12 to 2 score, the second game, Saturday afternoon, July 21, 2007, against Heartwell, CA was another win with a score of 7 to 5, third game, Sunday morning, July 22, 2007, against Fairfield, CA, you can imagine...yes, a win with a score of 7 to 4. The girls were on fire, not letting up, they were there to play ball and make a name for Bakersfield. The fans were just as pumped up as the girls, hootin' and haulerin' throughout the entire time. After the games the girls went to Downtown Disney to relax and celebrate.

Game number five, the last one before the chanpionship, Monday afternoon, July 23, 2007, against East Anaheim, CA, one of the toughest team in the league...with their heads held high after getting a beating from EA in the qualifying tournament, Bakersfield played ball! The game started with a 2-0 EA lead in the first inning, Bakersfield held EA for 2 innings, Bakersfield brought in 2 runs in the 5th inning which tied up the game. Next inning and a half, there were no runs scored from either team. Bakersfield got their home team last ups , there were 2 on base, and the ball was hit into left center, bringing home the winning run. The final score was 4 to 3, Bakersfield.

Their next game...the Championship game was scheduled for 9 am on Tuesday, July 24, 2007. The team showed up only to find out they were visting team against East Anaheim. They beat 'em once...they can do it again was the general cenus for the Bakersfield All-Stars. After a 6 inning game, the Stars walked away with a win of 17-5 taking with them the title of BOBBY SOX NATIONAL CHAMPIONS!

Bakersfield All-Stars (14U) team was coached by John Fitz-Patrick, Gaylyn Thompson and Jesse Morua, and managed by Mimi Rodriguez. Lets not forget the special support of the parents who stood by and let the coaching staff and the girls lead Bakersfield into a victory which has been sought after for 25 years.

Bakersfield Stars: Natalie Rodriguez, Brianna Breese, Maria Cruz, Kim Ellis, Stacia Fitz-Patrick, Ryanna Morua, Angel Ogas, Amorita Sanchez, Brianna Symonds, Bryn Thompson and Morgan Webster

CONGRATULATIONS STARS...WELL DESERVING VICTORY!

Drums, dancing and fry bread

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 08:27:36 PDT

On Saturday, July 14, my friend Susan and I took our sons to the Cal State Bakersfield Indigenous Native American Club's Luta Sah-can-skaw Circle on the CSUB campus. The event was held to provide cultural awareness with dancing, native arts and crafts, native foods and family fun. Free bottles of water were handed out - just what we needed to combat the heat of the day!

After browsing through the booths and running into friends, we settled down in the shade to partake of fry bread. It was a first for me and a fabulous experience! When the drumming and dancing began, we gravitated towards the area listening to cadences of drumming and singing while dancers moved around their circuit.

We're looking forward to the next Native American Club event.

Dog Diving Groups

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 14:53:07 PDT

Watching the Purina incredible dog challenge on ESPN today and was wondering how they were saying those dogs were jumping so far? I did some checking and found out that Purina measures where the front paws hit the water while the Splash Dogs and Dock Dogs groups measures electronicly from where the base of the tail enters the water. That can be as much as 4 feet for some dogs? So, Prince Andy's jump of 15' 4" would have been 18-20 feet if measured Purina's way.

Also found out that there are at least 3 groups that do dog diving, "Splash Dogs" here in the west, "Dock Dogs" in the eastern part of the county and Purina puts on it's own show for avertising in selected sites. Each has it's own rules.

Prince Andy

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 12:11:41 PDT

Vallejo--The Sonoma County Fair Splash Dog Challenge was a success for local flying puppy "Prince Andy". On Friday Andy qualified for the "Open" Division by finishing 2nd in the Junior class with a jump of 14' 7". On Saturday, 6 month old, Andy jumped 15' 3" to qualify for the "Open" Division Finals on Sunday against the best adult dogs in Northern California. Only the top 20 dogs qualify for the "Open Finals".

The event director and splash dog founder, Tony Reed, commited to the people watching that he "had never seen such a young puppy that loved jumping and had no fear of the water like Andy". Altho Andy is not jumping as far as the adult dogs in the "Open" class "YET" he loves the challenge. When he see's the dock, the other dogs and the people cheering, he wants to show off, he wants to jump! He knows when it's show time.

On Sunday Andy seemed to know he was on center stage and he was sky high for the event, we couldn't get him to calm down, but he still finished in 10 place over all with a jump of 14' 4" against some of the biggest jumpers in Northern California and Naveda.

Next up is the Super Retriever Series in Reno, NV August 8 - 12, 2007.

Prince Andy on his "open" jump of 14' 7" to finish 10th over all.
Picture #1 catch the "wubba"

Picture #2 Closing in on the "Wubba"

Picture #3 catching up to the "Wabba"

Picture #4 The "wubba" is mine!