Bark For Art!!

I’ll be hosting this on Saturday night – meet me there!

The Chastain Dog Park Committee is happy to announce its partnership in sponsoring the annual Bark for Art fundraiser this coming weekend at Mason Murer Art Gallery. Join Us!

Sixth Annual Bark for Art, benefiting the Atlanta Lab Rescue

Saturday, May 15, 2010
7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.

Mason Murer Fine Art Gallery
199 Armour Drive
Atlanta, GA 30342

Bark for Art : Sixth Annual Benefit at Mason Murer Fine Art Gallery

Dagmar Midcap

Join Host Dagmar Midcap for an evening of fun, an array of culinary treats, live entertainment and a silent auction filled with paintings, photography and lots of other wonderful surprises (like spa treatments, signed sports memorabilia, event tickets, wine tasting party, fine jewelry and many more fun items). All proceeds from this event go to the rescue, care and finding forever families for homeless and abused dogs throughout Georgia.

ATLANTA LAB RESCUE is an all volunteer, non-profit (501-c3) organization, whose volunteers have years of rescue experience. Our mission is to identify and rescue Labrador Retrievers and Lab Mixes from overwhelmed shelters and abusive situations and place them in secure, loving homes. We average 40-50 dogs in the program at any given time and in our first 3 years, we have rescued over 750 dogs

Learn more about the event:

Imagine a gallery that is 24,000 feet and filled with a fabulous array of fine art. Imagine an assortment of culinary treats by Endive paired with a selection of boutique wines. Imagine live entertainment and a silent auction filled with paintings, photography and other wonderful surprises like trips for two and fine jewelry. Imagine that all of this benefits homeless and abused dogs throughout Georgia…Imagine BARK FOR ART.
Back for the 6th year, BARK FOR ART is a great way to spend an evening while contributing to very worthy cause. Mark your calendar for Saturday, May 15th, 7-10 p.m.
Tickets are $50 at the door or $45 through PayPal online at www.atlantalabrescue.com, and include food, beverages and entertainment.

Call to Artist: Art work Donations and Handcrafted pet items

Auction Items
We have some really great and exciting items in the auction and more are still coming in! Click here to see an updated list.
If you haven’t turned in donated items/certificates that you’ve collected please do so by Thursday, May 13, 2010 (tomorrow).
Don’t forget to include the donation form if you have not already emailed it in (see attached). We need the form to be able to add the item to the website, send an acknowledgment and for set-up.
Donations and forms can be dropped off at Becky’s office located in the midtown-west area at:

1422 Woodmont Lane
Unit #2
Atlanta , GA 30318
Ph: 404-351-5818

Ticket Sales

One of the easiest ways to do this is through Facebook and Twitter. Atlanta Lab Rescue has a fan page that you can share on your FB profile. We have also created an BFA invite on our FB page that you can forward to your friends. Stating this week we will be Tweeting teasers about the event that you can re-tweet to your followers.
Here are the links:

ALR FB Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Atlanta-Lab-Rescue/129588598847

FB Invite to BFA: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Atlanta-Lab-Rescue/129588598847#!/event.php?eid=112709855427762&index=1

Follow ALR on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ATLLabRescue

Chastain Dog Park – Petition show of Support:

Dog Park on tap for Chastain Park
By Laura Braddick

NeighborNewspapers.com

Chastain Park in Buckhead, Atlanta’s largest greenspace, could soon have its own dog park. Residents of the Chastain Park neighborhood have begun a grassroots campaign for the project that is picking up momentum and support. ”It never made sense to me that we have this huge park here with plenty of untapped greenspace, but we don’t have a dog park,” said Randall Fox, vice president and co-founder of the Atlanta Foundation for Public Spaces.

Fox and his partner, Patrick Dennis, began the initiative to rally support for a dog park, which was not included on the Chastain Park master plan adopted in 2008.
After researching the community surveys taken before the master plan was drawn, Fox said he found that a dog park was ranked sixth among the neighbor’s desired amenities to add to the park. In November, he began gathering support to initiate the city of Atlanta’s procedure for building a dog park.
“We have had an overwhelming amount of support,” said Fox. “I’ve gone through 100 yard signs in less than 30 days and I’m averaging eight petitions per day in e-mails.”
While gathering petitions to prove neighborhood support, Fox and the committee are working on the first step of the process, which is locating a site. Then proposed locations must be monitored for six months before finalizing any construction plans.

“We have to see the boundaries of the lease holders first,” he said. “We don’t want to infringe on anybody’s greenspace.”
The two-acre dog park would be a fenced-in parcel covered mainly by mulch with a gate for truck access and a separate area for small and large dogs. Fox said the dog park campaign has already received more than enough pledges of monetary support to pay for the estimated $5,000 to $10,000 cost of the project. He said the dog park could be completed within a year.

To handle not only the launch of the dog park but the long-term maintenance, Fox has formed the Friends of Neighbors of Chastain Dog Park to provide fundraising and volunteer support for park upkeep.
Fox and the initiative have already received support from the Atlanta Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs as well as the Chastain Park Civic Association.
“We brought it to a vote to support and encourage the dog park,” said Jim King, president of the Chastain Park Civic Association. “There’s a whole constituency of people with an obvious demand.”

Sign the Petition – Show Support

Whether you have a dog or not, we need and appreciate your support. In fact, the City considers it important for non-dog-owners to voice their support.
We think that everyone benefits from a dog park at Chastain, as a dog park will free up space for joggers, walkers, baby strollers, etc.
Please sign the petition — (do it right now while you’re thinking about it!)

Facts:

Did you know that Chastain Park is known as the largest park in the City of Atlanta?
Did you know that based on the Master plan survey:
Dog park ranked #6 for Desired Additions to the park by Respondents Zip code. (table #14)*
Did you know that based on the Master plan survey:
Dog Park ranked #6 for Desired Improvements to the park.(table #15)*
Yet, a Dog Park was not identified on the overall Master Plan for improvements or additions to the park.
Our goal is not to take green space, but to make it available for use. Currently, pet owners are often forced to walk pets along two of the busiest roads in the Chastain neighborhood.
By creating the Chastain Dog Park, we not only provide a safe haven for our friends and family — we do it for our children and our pets

Chastain Dog Park: Be sure and join us on Facebook.
Share with your Friends and Family and Colleagues alike, we could use all the support available.
Sincerely,

Randall Fox
Chastain Dog Park Committee
Atlanta Foundation for Public Spaces
404-845-0793