"Woof!" (translation: "We want our own downtown park!")
Just over the pedestrian bridge spanning the Mad River as it converges with its sister rivers in Downtown Dayton, and past the beautiful Deeds Point where statues of a couple of famous Dayton brothers look over the downtown skyline, exists an abandoned park that is getting a new life with the help of some dedicated downtown dog owners with a mission of creating downtown dog park. The group was started by David Hurwitz, Uli Fiedler, Karen Stephens, Darryl Demure (aka Ms. Demure from Bazzaroworld), and Aaron Sorrell – Director of Planning and Community Development for the City of Dayton.
While this team of dog enthusiasts is fairly new and not yet an official non-profit organization, their goal is to obtain their 501 (c)(3) status very soon with money they hope to raise at a benefit on Thursday August 16th at Club Aquarius. They’ve already made quite a bit of progress in cleaning up the lot and even installing a fence with a double-gate (a must in any dog park), and they have bigger plans that include transforming the existing building that sits on the lot into a hot dog and/or mocha stand. If they win a $500,000 prize through the 2012 Beneful Dream Dog Park Contest, that could soon be a reality!
To keep up with progress, you can follow their Facebook group page called Dayton Unleashed. And if you have a dog and live in the downtown area (or even if you don’t), be sure to come out on Thursday night for an entertaining event with Ms. Demure at Club Aquarius. This is a group that is doing great things and deserves support from the community!
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