Hello all,
   First, a big thanks to the small but dedicated group that helped out spreading mulch this past Saturday.  Although in retrospect, we should have gotten more mulch, what we now have should give us a relatively mud-free park until next spring, when we will get another (larger) load.  From now on, DIG will be purchasing the mulch, and asking for Parks and Rec's help to get it to the park (as we did this time).  Please be willing to help us out, both by volunteering and with donations, for items like this.  We cannot make for a better dog park without your help!      
----------------------------------
Good news on the parking lot and expansion- additional funding to cover the higher than expected low bid has been secured.  The process is now moving forward again, and we can expect to see work beginning sometime around the middle of December.  This was

Hey all,
    Dogtoberfest is going on this Sunday the 19th from 10-4- among the attractions will be our friends the Kansas City Disc Dogs, who will be holding a frisbee contest as well as offering up pointers to turn your dog into a disc dog!  Dogtoberfest is widely regarded as one of the best doggie events all year, and it benefits great causes, including the Lee's Summit and Independence Animal Shelters.  Check it out!
-------------------------------------
SNKC is holding a 'donation drive thru' at their soon to be old facility at 3710 Main this Sunday, too, from 11AM to 3PM.  With the downturn in the economy, their Pet Outreach program is getting many pleas from lower income owners struggling to provide basic necessities for their beloved pets.  This is an especially hard time for SNKC, as they are in the process of moving out of their Main St. facility into a temporary location until their new facility on Troost is completed.  As a result, they need cash as opposed to donated items, as they have very limited storage space at the moment.  First 200 folks donating will get a goodie bag and a coupon for a free cup of coffee from the 151st St. Starbucks.  Please consider stopping by and dropping a few bucks off- it will mean a full tummy, some nice warm hay, or some other essential for a pup in need.
-------------------------------------
As previously mentioned, the bids for the parking lot and expansion came in high.  Parks and Rec is presently trying to secure additional funding to cover the difference.  Once that is done, there is still a fairly drawn out process to go through which could take up to two months before work starts.  We are doing all we can to help P&R get the work done ASAP, and will keep you updated.
------------------------------------
DIG is working out an arrangement to purchase new mulch for the park (and nice mulch, too, not city mulch) which P&R has offered to pick up and deliver.  We will be looking for folks to help spread it, stay tuned!
 
See you at the park!DogtoberfestKCDDSNKC

Hello everyone!
Parks and Rec. is having their second annual dog swim event, Dippin' Dogs, tomorrow (Thur. 9/4) from 4-7PM at the Line Creek pool in the Northland. See the link for more information, including online registration. Should be a lot of fun, and it benefits Parks and Rec and NAWS, a great organization striving to build an animal shelter to serve the Northland.
-----------------------------------------------------
Coffee with the Dogs is coming up this Saturday 9/6, 9-11AM. SNKC will be attending as our non-profit invitee. Note that SNKC continues to have a busy summer bailing dogs out of horrible situations through their Pet Assistance program, and can always use help in the form of premanent/foster homes for rescuees or volunteers willing to exercise dogs temporarily stuck at SNKC waiting for foster/permanent homes. They also always need volunteer help for their usual clinics, and are presently in a race against the clock to raise sufficient money to finish their new facility on Troost. They have a challenge grant that will double any donations, so it is a great time to give!

We will also have a clean-up that morning from 9-12. We need your help to complete the following tasks- please consider coming out and spending a bit of time helping out your favorite park facility! Even 15 or 30 minutes of work is appreciated!!

Clean-up will involve:
1. Picking up poop, small trash/toy pieces.
2. Trimming off lower tree limbs around benches. (will bring one set of anvil shears, more welcome)
3. Respreading some mulch to cover dirt. (bring a rake)
4. Picking up rocks. (bring a kid's wagon to make it more efficient)
------------------------------------------------------
The PIAC funded parking lot and expansion work is now out for bid! This was swim eventhttp://pcnaws.com/default.aspxhttp://www.snkc.net/petassistanceprogram.html

Hey everybody,
Sorry I continue to talk about pool stuff, but we continue to have problems. In response to getting a few pool volunteers lined up, the hoses returned last Saturday. Now, both the sprayer which was on the end of the hose as well as the faucet key have disappeared. If anybody has any idea who took them/what happened, please respond to the list. We will probably get another key and try again- if it gets taken again, we will have to try something else.
---------------------------------------------------------
One of the coolest events of the summer is coming up next weekend (8/15-17), the Ethnic Enrichment Festival! See the attached link for more info-
http://www.kcmo.org/parks/special_events/08EthnicFest.pdf
----------------------------------------------------------
Spay Neuter Kansas City (SNKC- snkc.net) has been hurting for volunteers recently, and could use your help. If you have been looking for an easy, effective way to do your part to help solve the pet overpopulation problem, this is a great way to do it. As a very regular volunteer, I can attest that the plea for help is very justified. See below on how to RSVP- no experience is necessary, most jobs are very easy and stress free, and even a couple of hours help is appreciated!

This Sunday's MASH clinic is a special mini clinic with the University of
Missouri
> > Veterinary Program and we are still in need of your help. If you can help
with
> > pre or post op, dog or cat recovery, autoclaving or administration, please
contact
> > us immediatly. Your volunteer support is greatly appreciated.
> >
> > Spay & Neuter Kansas City
> > Sunday August 10th
> > MASH Clinic
> > 3710 Main Street
> > Kansas City, MO 64111
> > 7am to 5pm
> > Please copy RSVP and email to SNKC [spayandneuterkc@aol.com]
> > Yes, I can help at MASH on August 8th, 2008
> > Name:
> > Phone:
> > Time in:
> > Time out:
> > Area of interest:

thanks, see everybody at the park!

Hello all,
Hollywoof was a great time and a great success! The off-leash area was packed, with many apparently new users, and we had no issues. The fashion show was fabulous, with cool, pretty, and fun themed outfits (for both dogs and owners!), appropriate music, and a funny, clever script describing it all. 'Best in Show' was as funny as ever, and it was a lovely, cool night to be sitting outside. No mosquitos, either, that I remember. Hopefully we can do it again next year, and some of the folks that missed this time can attend. Spay Neuter Kansas City also had a good night, making a good amount from cash donations as well as collecting a good-sized pile of dog food. Thanks again to all the sponsors- first and foremostly Parks and Recreation for putting the whole thing together (and tidying up the area nicely beforehand), City Pets for doing the fashion show, Park Reserve Condominiums for paying for the movie, plus the Friends of Penn Valley Park and KCWE 29. And thanks to our volunteers- Tim, Holly, and Gina who were essential to us being able to have a table!
------------------------------------------------------
We continue to have pool issues, so the key for turning on the water has been removed from it's old location. Thursday (the same day Parks and Rec was all over the park cleaning it up) someone left the water running- the pool was overflowing when a responsible individual arrived and turned it off. I cannot comprehend why someone would make the effort to turn the water on, and not have the common sense or decency to turn it off. The pool is a much enjoyed feature for many responsible users, so it won't go away- however, only pool volunteers will be given access to the key. If you would like to be a pool volunteer (you simply need to be responsible for making sure the following rules are followed- all are easy, minimal effort deals), please email me and I will give you the necessary information. The amount of time that the pool be directly proportional to how many volunteers step up.

POOL RULES

Hey all,
We were able to scare up enough volunteers to feel comfortable re-enabling pool usage, so we have replaced the hose and gotten a key-type handle for the fountain connection. We are working on getting a new pool (without a leak!) to the park. Please help the volunteers by assisting with enforcement of the pool rules when you can, especially if your pup is a pool user. Most important is to make sure the hose is off the grass by the end of each Tuesday. We purchased high quality, pricey hose to last longer- please help us to make sure it doesn't get mowed! The pool rules are below

Hey all, quick note-
For the time being, the pool is closed. This is because one of the hoses burst, and needs to be replaced, plus the fact that the water has been left running, apparently for days at a time, on at least three occasions recently. We don't want to enable water wastage and resulting mud by providing hoses for the pool.

We will replace the hose and get the pool up and running again if we can get a decent number of individuals (pool lovers seem logical) to commit to making sure that the pool rules below get followed. The biggie is #4- people need to be willing to drag the hose off the grass each Tuesday evening. Please respond ASAP if you are willing to commit- please let me know in your response if you are regularly at the park Tuesday evenings.

Thanks, we realize the pool is popular (although not with everyone), and want to be able to bring it back as soon as possible!

POOL RULES
1. Pool should always be in the middle of the center mulched area. Prevents mowing issues, and reduces mud from dumping.
2. Fill pool no more than halfway to make dumping easier and preserve water.
2. Hose should ONLY be on while pool/bowls/water containers are being filled. If the sprayer or hose is leaking, it should be turned off at the fountain (needle-nose pliers inside bulletin board).
3. Please dump pool infrequently (if pool is kept in middle of mulch, water will get dirty much more slowly), and when dumping, do so slowly so as to not wash mulch away. A shovel is at the park permanently in the tree to be used to respread mulch to cover any resulting mud spots.
4. Please help us to keep the hose from getting mowed by dragging the hose down to the north entry gate area Tuesday evenings.

Hello all,
First, thanks again to all who helped with the mulch spreading. Some of you put in as much as 4 hours of fairly strenuous labor, and everyone who helped, even for 15 minutes, should be proud of your contribution to the park. Thanks to you (and Parks and Rec for bringing the mulch), we should have a largely mud-free, all-weather park for quite some time. Your help is appreciated! And all, please be ready to help with spreading another load of mulch in the late fall to get us through the winter. If we can get lots of helpers, it makes it much quicker and easier for all involved.
--------------------------------------------
About five weeks ago the DIG Board of Directors sent an email to the Parks Board expressing our concerns about the lack of progress on completing the parking and expansion plans funded through our 2007 PIAC request (a copy is attached). Although it took them a bit to get back to us, the Board, through Parks Director Mark McHenry, responded with a letter setting a firm timeline for the improvements to be completed this year. I have attached the text of the letter below. This information was shared with our two Fourth District Council Representatives, Jan Marcason (who responded very promptly when we asked for help) and Beth Gottstein, and the mayor. We will be paying close attention to see that these timelines are met, and will ask for your help, in the form of emails, calls and letters to the Park Board and city officials, if they are not being met. We need to continue to be polite, but also keep strong pressure exerted to make sure the needed work gets completed. A statement was made recently (some time before the letter setting the work timeline) by Commissioner Aggie Stackhaus in the course of a Dog Park Task Force update to the Park Board that (paraphrasing here) we 'shouldn't count on the PIAC money for the off-leash area improvements being there- we have other priorities'. Although we are confident that attitude does not represent the whole Park Board (for one, shifting PIAC money in that way is at least dishonest, if not illegal), and definately doesn't represent the attitude of the majority of the staff, we need to make no assumptions that things will proceed simply because we have firm deadlines. Be ready to write letters or help out with the improvements (we will need to stretch the $155,000), or both, depending on how things go. If we stay on it, and are willing to help out, the park will be much improved quite soon!

Text of the reply to our letter-
Dear Paul,
First let me tell you we appreciate your recent note regarding the status of the improvements to the off leash areas (sic) in Penn Valley Park. We appreciate your groups involvement in the oversight and support of this very popular facility.

The popularity of the park makes it all the more important to get the improvements completed. The impact that the number of users (both dogs and people) have on the physical environment is very evident. Although parking does exist at 'the Hiker' and the Just Off Broadway Theatre, it appears to be somewhat inadequate or inconvienent to some.

We will be completing the new design on June 30th, complete contract documents and specifications by July 8th, and receive and open bids on August 6, 2008.

Let me know Paul, if there is anything else we can do. We will stay on this project and keep you posted.

Sincerely,
Mark L. McHenry, Director
Parks and Recreation

cc: Board of Parks commissioners
Steve Lampone
Richard Coleman
Jimmi Lossing

Unfortunately, due to the likelihood of rain and/or storms this evening, movie night has been postponed to July 10th. Although it is possible the weather will clear up, the hill where folks would sit is very wet, and we don't want what will be a really good time to be wasted due to weather.

If you had food for SNKC's pet assistance program for tonight, please drop it off at their offices at 3710 Main. A hungry dog will thank you. And if you want a good reason to stop by, they are having a big Flea Market 9-4 this Sat. the 14th. They are still taking donations- gently used clothing, furniture, toys, cookware, small working appliances & household items. All donations are tax deductible!

Thanks all, see you at an even better movie night four weeks from today!

The dog in the last story has been reunited with her owners. Thanks to all who helped!