News
November 11th, 2008
New VTMA Newsletter
As a result
of discussions at the last board of directors meeting held on Tuesday,
November 11th we are going to be publishing a email newsletter to send
all VTMA members. These will be sent out quarterly.
The first edition of this will be sent out on December 9th. We welcome
member contributions which could include news specific to Vermont, mushing
tips or any other information you feel might be of interest to other members.
Submissions should be sent to president@vtmushers.org
Deadline for contributions for the December edition is December 1st. If
you are not currently on our mailing list but would like to be please
send us a email requesting to be added.
November 18th and 19th, 2006
Dogs Across America
Several members
of the Vermont Mushers Association participated in the second annual Dogs
Across America (D.A.A.). This was Vermont's first time participating.
A number of us met at the Missisquoi Rail Trail in St. Albans to promote
Vermont rail trails and dog powered sports. Turn out was light and the
weather was a little on the warm side. The staging area is problematic
with a road crossing immediately out of the parking lot. This run should
not be attempted with out an extra person to stop traffic. There were
a total of 17 people who signed up state wide and we logged a total of
156 miles. Thank you to everyone that participated. Please consider signing
up for next year’s event! For more information please visit:
http://www.dogsacrossamerica.org
September 17 , 2006
VTMA Goes to The Dogs
Ken Haggett and Lise Laporte set up a table and dog powered sports display next door to Ed Bleckner at the 2006 Shelburne Museum Goes To The Dogs event. We had a great location on the outskirts of the main fray and just inside the entrance to the museum. Everyone that came in or left had to walk right by us. Many of them chose to stop in and chat dogs and dog powered sports. We didn't sign up many new members but it was a warm and sunny day so hanging out and talking dogs wasn't a bad thing to be doing. We put on a short dog scooter demonstration at 2:00 but it was a little crazy trying to scooter with so many people and dogs around. We were told that this event was in the running for one of the top five highest attended events in the history of the Shelburne Museum with 3,500 humans and close to 1,000 canines! Needless to say it was quite an entertaining parade watching all 4,500 of them pass by our table. This was a great event to participate in even is we didn't sign up any new members. We were highly visible and having 3,500 people see us is great for name recognition.
September
10, 2006
Annual meeting
of Vermont Mushers Association at Eden Mountain Lodge. Thank you to all
who attended our annual meeting.
July 8, 2006
[July 4th Parade Update]
Since it proved almost impossible to keep the dogs from greeting every person along the street and take pictures at the same time, or to drive the truck without hitting the politician parading in front and take pictures, (not to mention trying to heave candy at the kids in the crowd) we sent out a plea for pictures in a letter to the editor of The Valley Reporter. We received the picture below from Z Lostone. At the rear is Gail pedaling her Diggler scooter with Weasel keeping a taut line for her. Oakley is just ahead leading Aiko who is pulling the wheeled sled. Ken is at the front on his Diggler scooter with Heron pulling him. At the very left of the picture is the rear end of the trailer and the dog truck. The woman in the red tank and blue shorts is Gail's long-time friend, Dott., who had been happily watching the parade from the sidelines and was pressed into service to help dispense the candy. Thank you, Dott.!
July 5, 2006
The Vermont Mushers Association had a 4th of July float in the Warren, Vermont parade. The Warren parade has been held for 50 years and draws approximately 8-10,000 spectators. When several of the VTMA board of directors heard that WDEV's Buster the Wonder Dog was to be this year's Grand Marshal, they were heard to exclaim, "If Warren's going to the dogs, we need to be there!"
The VTMA float theme was "Poop Power—Dog-Powered Sports Save Gas & The Planet: Scoop Your Own Emissions!" The float was well-received (tossing out dog kisses—made by Hersey's) may have helped, but we won the "Best Domestic Animal" category anyway. In addition to the "dog kisses" we also tossed out dog "poop" (tootsie rolls) and dog cookies (the real thing—really). In the picture above Red Goodman pilots the float at the start. The roof of the dog truck holds a Sacco, a sled, and a bike rigged for bikejoring. The bungee line from the bike runs to a stuffed husky toy attached to the hood of the truck.
The picture below was taken before the start of the parade and shows the trailer complete with "emissions scooping" equipment. Ken Haggett, Oakley, and Gail Breslauer have a last minute "debriefing" on parade logistics. Ken pushed his sled (mounted on a wheeled dolly). Oakley and Gail each rode Diggler scooters. All had a dog hitched to the front. Note Atii Sled Dogs' Weasel who, far from being stressed out, is sleeping on the rock on the right.
Below, after the parade, a very happy Independence Day celebrant gets nose to nose with Peace Pups Kennel's Heron, one of our sport's finest. As a good time was had by all, this year's participants are already thinking about next year's float and hoping that more Vermont mushers will join the parade.
