Next Meeting April 27th

Please plan to attend our next meeting to be held on Monday, April 27th, at 7:00 P.M. We will meet at Pavilion #5 at East Marion Park which is near the dog park site. Leadership Marion is hosting a Cash Bash on May 16th at Westchester Village and half of the proceeds will be going to FIDO, with the other half going to the United Way. Please consider purchasing a ticket - we will have tickets available at the meeting or contact me at kellyjogarcia@yahoo.com.

Hope to see you at the meeting! It should be a nice evening to explore the site as well.

Meeting postponed until April 13th

Due to inclement weather, our next meeting will be held on Monday, April 13th. (Originally scheduled for April 6th). We will begin at 6:30 P.M. with a site walk to see how much progress has been made in clearing the wooded area. The business meeting will follow at 7:00 P.M. at Pavilion #5 which the area closest to the site. We hope to see you there!

Unique park for dogs By: Mallory Panuska

‘Unique park’ for dogs
FIDO members working to secure funding, clean up areaBy Mallory PanuskaTimes West Virginian
FAIRMONT — Marion County dog owners are getting closer to having a local place to take their furry family members for recreation. Members of the Fairmont Interested Dog Owners (FIDO), a group formed recently to create a dog park in county limits, have secured three to four acres of property at East Marion Park for the endeavor. Members of the Marion County Parks and Recreation Commission (MCPARC) also helped the group get this land for the project, which is located behind the softball field at the East Side recreational facility.And now, with spring on the horizon and the weather warming up, FIDO members are making efforts to secure funding and begin cleaning up the area.FIDO frontman David Garcia explained that the park will be shaped like a figure-8 with a mixture of open space and woods. “I think ours is going to be unique in that we have a flat area and a wooded area,” Garcia said. “it’s really going to be a unique park.”Garcia said the group, which is made up of about 20 core members and a total of about 80 others who attend the meetings, borrowed ideas from a dog park in Morgantown.He said the open space will be for the dogs to run around and play fetch and mingle with other dogs, and the wooded space will be for the owners and their pets to walk and hang out in the shade. He said there will be a large portion for big dogs and then a smaller portion dedicated to little dogs so the breeds can be separate. And all around the park there will be signs posted with a set of rules, Garcia said. These rules include making sure the dogs are supervised and under control and also ensuring that if a dog gets out of hand or is not compatible with the other dogs that the owner must apprehend it.Garcia said that he doesn't anticipate too many issues because the park will be neutral territory, and most dogs only get territorial in their own domains.In total, Garcia said the first estimate for the park came in at $21,500, with the main expense being a $16,000 fence that will be put up around the open portion. Last week, Garcia approached the Marion County Commissioners on behalf of FIDO and requested funding help for the fencing. And as dog owners themselves, the commissioners said they were in favor of the concept of creating this type of park.“I’m sold on the whole idea,” Commission President Randy Elliott said. “There are dog owners in this county who go to Morgantown to go to a dog park. It’s a great thing that we don’t have in this county, that now we can have.”Elliott said he and the other two commissioners would look into FIDO’s request and decide what kind of help they can give.Garcia said the group is also hosting an elimination dinner with the United Way on May 16 and is also planning to apply for some other grant funds.In addition to the fencing, Garcia said the group is also looking to purchase signs and benches and also wants to set up a place for the dogs to have fresh water as well as places for waste disposal.If all goes well and the funding comes in, Garcia said he hopes to have the fence up and the park ready for use around June. Garcia said FIDO is planning a work day to clean up some brush and trees at the site in the near future and that anyone who wants to help is encouraged to do so.

FIDO T-shirts!

At the last FIDO meeting, we discussed ordering t-shirts which could be worn during work days at the park and to fund raisers supporting the group. We have been working with Acorn Graphics in Fairmont to design the shirts. Here are the details:
- Shirts will be the color Sand - which is a light tan color
- Size available are youth sizes and adult sizes up to 3XL
- On the front, we propose the 4x4 FIDO logo on the left chest (where a pocket would be but the shirts don't have pockets)
- On the back, we propose a 12x12 design (which is standard size) which would have a big paw print in the middle, the FIDO webpage underneath the paw, and the phrase "More Than a Walk in the Park" in an arch over the top of the paw print. The phrase on the back is certainly up for suggestions so if you have any, please feel free to email the group or myself (wendy.spurling@gmail.com) with your ideas. If we are able to put together an order for 30-35 shirts, the cost should be around $8.00 a shirt (ballpark), or a little more if we order less shirts. We're just going to focus on t-shirts for right now, but hats and other items may be close behind if this goes well. If you are interested in ordering a FIDO t-shirt, please let me know what size and how many of each size so we can get a count for the April 6 meeting. We would like to have the t-shirts for the Cash Bash fund raiser on May 16, so we would like to place the order immediately after our next FIDO meeting, so please have your orders to me by April 6 either via email (wendy.spurling@gmail.com) or phone (412-719-9305).
Thank you!!
- Wendy Jo Spurling

"FIDO goes before Marion County commission to bark for dog park funds BY: Jim Bissett for the Dominion Post

Happy panting and tireless Frisbee-fetching, yes. Leashes, no. Those will be the only rules Marion County's canine population will have to abide by in the county's first-ever dog park, which is scheduled to open this summer. The group that will oversee the operation, Fairmont Interested Dog Owners (FIDO) came out during an evening session of the Marion County Commission on Wednesday to bark for park funds. The park's area takes in three acres in a northern quadrant of East Marion Park, which is just off the city's East Side. David Garcia, the group's president, asked commissioners for $8,000, which is about half the total cost for the fencing that will allow dogs to roam off-leash. The park will be part of the Marion County Parks and Recreation Commission's (MCPARC) network, Garcia said. "We're pretty excited about it," he said. "So many dogs are tied up in the yard, so this is a place where they can really run." As in running in social circles, said Garcia, the proud owner of a golden retriever named Brewster. "The dogs will be able to socialize and get some exercise," he said. "And when you get a bunch of dog owners around, you've got an instant bond." Counting fences and new signs, Garcia said, the technical cost of the park will be $21,500. Operating it under MCPARC means the group won't have to apply for nonprofit status. The park will be a mix of hilly, wooded trails and flat expanses free of trees, he said, and the area FIDO marked had been unused previously. Having a park catering to a canine clientele in the county means owners will no longer have to drive to Morgantown and other locales in order to see Spot run, Garcia said. The county will fetch an answer for FIDO next week, Commission President Randy Elliott said, adding that he and his fellow commissioners are all dog owners. "I don't have to tell you you're preaching to the choir with us," he said to Garcia. FIDO also wants to get the city of Fairmont involved, which might not be barking up the wrong tree, since Deputy Mayor Bill Burdick (the proud owner of Katie, a black lab) is also a member. For information on the organization and the park, visit www.fairmontinteresteddogowners.blogspot.com. Commissioners, meanwhile, are on a short leash this week. They'll meet Friday morning to sign off on he county's roughly $10 million operating budget for fiscal year 2009-'10.

FIDO on WBOY News

Check out this link to a news story and clip about the dog park. We had lots of help that day and have made great progress!

http://www.wboy.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=54950

We need your help!

As we are already halfway through March, we are really needing to get the site area cleared. David and Steve walked the site this past Saturday to determine what needed to be done. They began work clearing the area with help from a great bunch of MCPARC volunteers. Now we really need help from our FIDO members.

Please look ahead on your March and early April calendars - every Saturday morning that it doesn't rain will be an opportunity to help. The outlook is good for a nice day this Saturday, March 21st - we will begin at 9AM. Also, David and I will be at the park tomorrow, Wednesday night, beginning at 5:30 P.M. until dark. If you can come for a couple of hours or only one, please plan to help out. We have put in a lot of hours in planning for our dog park; let's be sure to put in the sweat equity as well.

The only thing you have to have when coming out to help at the site is a thick pair of gloves. If you own a chainsaw, weedeater with blades, or scythe please bring it along.

If you could let me know when you plan to help, it would be great to know who to expect. Thanks for considering putting in a little time for our dogs.