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Help Volunteers for Animals Win the Shelter+ Challenge - VOTE!

By Elizabeth Downie

 

This information. and much more, can be found at The Animal Rescue Site.

To vote for Volunteers for Animals, please click HERE!

 

Hi!  I'm writing to tell you about The Animal Rescue Site $300,000 Shelter+ Challenge of 2012 - together with Petfinder.  The Animal Rescue Site is awarding $300,000 in grants to eligible Petfinder.com member rescue organizations to help animals.  The grand prize in each voting round is a $5,000 grant, and there are many other prizes!  Visit The Animal Rescue Site to vote every day and learn more.  You don't have to register, and voting is FREE!  Support your favorite shelter and vote today! 

How long is the Challenge, and how can we increase our chances?
This voting round begins on January 9, 2012, and ends at midnight (PT) on March 18, 2012. There will be other voting rounds throughout the year - more chances for your organization to win! The more friends you can rally to vote for your favorite rescue organization, the better its chances of winning. Every vote, every day counts - shelters can pull ahead even during the last few days with enough support. Get people involved! Your favorite rescue organization is counting on you!

What kind of grant could my shelter win?
Seventy (70) grants will be awarded for a total of $75,000 to eligible Petfinder.com members during the very first voting round of the 2012 Challenge. The grand prize will go to the eligible Petfinder.com organization with the highest accumulative votes for the duration of the Challenge as specified in the rules.

The Prizes Are:
Grand Prize:  One $5,000 grant!
Dark Horse Grand Prize:  One $2,000 grant!
Dark Horse Runners Up:  Five $1,000 grants.
State Winners:  Fifty-one $1,000 state grants
  (50 U.S. states and Washington D.C.)
Canadian Winners:  One $1,000 grant will be awarded.
International Winner:  One $1,000 grant will be awarded.
Weekly Winners:  Ten $1,000 grants will be awarded, one for each week of this voting round of the Shelter+ Challenge.

Genesee County businesses challenged to walk to end Alzheimer’s

By Jennifer Gallardo

The Alzheimer’s Association, Western New York Chapter, is challenging all local businesses to start a Walk to End Alzheimer’s team. Show your support of the more than 55,000 Western New Yorkers who are currently living with Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia.

People affected by Alzheimer’s are surrounding you – they are your coworkers, clients, neighbors and friends. Form a walk team today, and you’ll be entered into the Memory Cup challenge, which is a competition between all of the corporate and health services to see who can raise the most team funds throughout Western New York for Walk to End Alzheimer’s.

Walk to End Alzheimer’s will be held at the Genesee County Nursing Home in Batavia on Saturday, Sept. 17. Additional Walks to End Alzheimer’s will take place on Sept. 17 in Medina, Sept. 24 in Buffalo and Oct. 1 in Chautauqua and Lewiston. For walk details or to register your team, visit www.AlzWalkWNY.com.

For assistance in organizing your company’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s team and fundraising ideas, contact our chapter office at 1.800.272.3900.

Conversations with Calliope- Weaving Dreams

By Joseph Langen

 

 (George M. Cohan with Pigeon)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Exhausted from my search.
CALLIOPE: Search of what?
JOE: The Internet and bookstores to decide what to do about my website.
CALLIOPE: Why do you have to do something about it?
JOE: My website host will no longer support Front Page, the program I used to develop and update my website aft the end of June.
CALLIOPE: Have you come to a decision?
JOE: Yes, Your Honor.
CALLIOPE: How does the jury find?
JOE: In favor of Dreamweaver. I considered paying someone to do what I needed (too expensive for my taste), using a free program (too limited), using a combination of program and hosting (I like my current service provider), Microsoft's Expression (unintelligible for me).
CALLIOPE: So Dreamweaver is the least of the evils?
JOE: That's one way to put it. It is also the gold standard of web development. I downloaded a trial and decided it was manageable with some practice.
CALLIOPE: So you have a month to learn the program?
JOE: I don't expect to become an expert in a month, but I'm ready for the journey. Talk with you on Monday.

 

 

Conversations with Calliope- The challenge of Technology

By Joseph Langen

 



(Joey and the Robot)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. I was wondering where you found the title “Notes to Myself” for yesterday's blog.
JOE: I was hoping you might know. I went to post it on my site and there was the title.
CALLIOPE: Can't help you.
JOE:Hmmm. Mysteries still abound.
CALLIOPE: Apparently. Did yesterday's outing restore your creativity?
JOE: I made stopped at Barnes and Noble on the way home from helping my friend with his pool to do some research on web development programs.
CALLIOPE: I thought you used Front Page.
JOE: It will no longer be honored by my web host after the end of June.
CALLIOPE: What are your options?
JOE: Get a new program, become proficient in HTML or pay someone to do it.
CALLIOPE: How are you inclined?
JOE: Microsoft has a program, Expression, which looks like it has possibilities.
CALLIOPE: Gilda Radner was right, There's always something.
JOE: No doubt. Anyway, I did some painting when I finally arrived home. I'm trying an abstract expression style.
CALLIOPE: How did it turn out?
JOE: That's not the point. I had fund doing it. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- Bully Pulpit

By Joseph Langen

 

(Monastery Pulpit)
JOE: Good afternoon Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good afternoon Joe. I trust you had a nice trip to New York.
JOE: Indeed it did. Memorable in many ways.
CALLIOPE: Tell me about one.
JOE: I visited a monk at Immaculate Conception Monastery in Queens where I once lived. It brought back many memories and helped me settle some things in my mind.
CALLIOPE: Such as?
JOE: Reading and writing for one thing. There were books I was forbidden to read (Kant, Descartes, etc) which I read anyway. I saw the locked room where they were then kept.
CALLIOPE: What memories did that bring back?
JOE: My own somewhat incendiary writings from the time which eventually got me sent out of the monastery. It was the first time my writing made a difference to anyone.
CALLIOPE: Quite a start. How about now?
JOE: I don't write anything quite so inflammatory. Now I just offer my readers a chance to look at their lives in a more subtle way. The brashness of youth!
CALLIOPE: Amazing isn't it. Where did the experience leave you?
JOE: Wondering about what topics I should address these days and in what manner.
CALLIOPE: Sounds like a useful thought.
JOE: We shall see. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- Writing and Life Priorities

By Joseph Langen

(Oatka Geese)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. You mentioned Joan Chittister's book yesterday. Any further thoughts about what she has to say?
JOE: I haven't finished reading The Gift of Years yet but so far I have read about her thoughts on the challenges and fears of growing old and look forward to reading her thoughts about the opportunities.
CALLIOPE: What do you think got you interested in this topic?
JOE: I just celebrated ( I was going to say "had") my sixty-sixth birthday. It seems like it crept up on me. Joan would say that people perceive us as old even if we don't feel old.
CALLIOPE: Do you feel old?
JOE: Not really. I have some difficulty with arthritis which I never had when I was younger.
CALLIOPE: So you're doing okay physically?
JOE: I can't complain.
CALLIOPE: What about psychologically?
JOE: I feel released from family and work responsibilities and able to set my own direction without anyone else getting upset about it. That's a freeing feeling.
CALLIOPE: What are you going to do with it?
JOE: I was thinking this morning that none of us knows how much life remains. There's no point fretting about it. Many people don't live as long as I have already.
CALLIOPE: So what challenge remains for you?
JOE: Right now, to use my writing to continue unfolding life's mysteries for myself and helping readers make the best of their lives for their benefit and that of others they encounter. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- Teen Project

By Joseph Langen

 

(Teens at Cancer Walk)

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JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. I hope you enjoyed your birthday.
JOE: I did. Many well-wishers sent their regards. Carol and I got out on our cross country skis and her niece Erin came for dinner last night. All in all a delightful day.
CALLIOPE: Any more thoughts on the teen book?
JOE: I was mulling over a title earlier this morning. I would like to include the ideas of idealism and anxieties, both of which seem prominent in teen thinking.
CALLIOPE: Did you come up with a title?
JOE: Not yet. The idea is still percolating.
CALLIOPE: What did you learn from your visit with Erin?
JOE: She is a senior in college and about ready to face the real world. It reminded me of being her age and having the same mixture of idealism and fear I just mentioned.
CALLIOPE: Sound's like you're on the right track.
JOE: I think so. I plan to do some more exploration of the topic of writing for teens.
CALLIOPE: Any specifics?
JOE: I am perusing some teen sites and will also look at some books popular with teen to explore themes of interest to them.
CALLIOPE: Sounds like a good approach.
JOE: I'm glad you agree. On to the day's work.

Conversations with Calliope- Birthdays

By Joseph Langen

 

(Bridge over Oatka Creek)

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JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. Happy Birthday.
JOE: Thank you for remembering.
CALLIOPE: What's it like to be a year older?
JOE: I'm happy to still be alive. As time goes by I appreciate each new year much more than I did when I was very young. Once I lived as if I would be here forever. Now I am realizing that I won't be.
CALLIOPE: Does that frighten you?
JOE: I am starting to come to terms with it. I enjoy life and will miss it I think.
CALLIOPE: What plans do you have for the immediate future?
JOE: Working on my teen book.
CALLIOPE: Did you make any progress yesterday?
JOE: I found some good materials on writing for teens and some thoughts on how to approach such a project.
CALLIOPE: Anything else you need?
JOE: I am still looking for more teen input. It occurred to me this morning that I have many writing and business contacts online. I could contact them to see if they have teens who might be interested in contributing to my project.
CALLIOPE: What's the next step?
JOE: Being clear about which I should be the one to write it, what I would like to say, how teens can contribute and why they should. That will keep me busy for a while. Talk with you tomorrow.
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