We had a great Volunteer Training yesterday and 17 new volunteers attended–our largest group yet in one session!  The group was split in two for training purposes.  PAWED President Charlene Welty and Kelly Adams did a Power Point presentation for the volunteers while Board members Kerry McBride and Tracey Lindberg took the other half for dog handling training.  An hour later and they switched groups so everyone attended both training sessions.

Charlene and Kelly use the brand new PAWED projector and screen system and it was a techno show!  The PAWED DVD opened the training then they switched to the PowerPoint presentation, which Charlene developed for the General Volunteer training, based on PAWEDs Training Manual.  And the final piece of the training, and possibly the most confusing to volunteers, was to go over the Google Calendar system for volunteer scheduling–projected onto the screen and demonstrated with the laptop connecting to the internet via a Wi Fi connection Kelly provided with her laptop.  Boy, did that make things a lot easier and it looked very professional.  All in all an excellent day with great new volunteers!

PAWED’s  2nd Annual Holiday Party and Auction was held on December 3rd at the Cameron Park Community Center. A delicious potluck dinner and delectable holiday drinks were enjoyed by more than 60 PAWED members and their family and friends. Through the generous donations of auction items and the sale of some handmade craft items (100% of the proceeds went to PAWED) and a great audience of “shoppers” we raised $2622 after expenses to support the Spay/Neuter Program.

The PAWED Board allocated $2,000 for the “Home for the Holidays” half-off adoption fees for Cat and Kitten adoptions at the El Dorado County Animal Shelter.   Through the month of December PAWED is subsidizing 50% of all Cat and Kitten adoptions due to the high number of felines looking for their forever home.

On 11-15-11 at the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors meeting the Western Slope Animal Shelter project was moved forward when the Board approved the road and approved the amendment to the architect’s agreement so he can proceed to redesign the exterior of the building from tilt up to stud frame –at a price tag of $161,000 plus contingency fees. 

The Board also asked the El Dorado Department of Transportation (DOT) to return on Dec. 20 and give a full accounting of their expenses on this project for the last 5 years. Several PAWED members were in attendance which always has a positive impact on the Board and their discussions. 

Supervisor Jack Sweeney stated “we have to build this –we have no choice”.  The PAWED Board applauds this move forward and thanks the Board for their vote on this critical issue.