Old Dominion Mine Park in Globe to host Dogtoberfest October 28th

This October Globe will be going to the dogs – and there is quite a bit of excitement about it!

The first ever Dogtoberfest Celebration will take place at the Old Dominion Mine Park (ODMP) on Saturday, October 28th from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., featuring a Bark in the Park walk, costume contests, activity zone, show of skills, small dog races and booths.

Activities will include 1- and 2-mile walks, a sub-woofer (small dog) race for pups under 10 pounds and an activity zone called Muttropolis, with dog brain teasers, paw painting, crafts for owners (such as make your own dog toys and dog clothes) and kids’ crafts. There will also be a Vanity Fur pet portrait studio with Kenneth Chan and a food zone serving hot dogs, chips and drinks provided by Carl and Rebecca Williams of Dream Manor Inn. Booths will offer dog-related services, products, art and resources.

A representative from FEMA will be on hand to talk about disaster care for pets, and the Signal Butte Petsmart is bringing sales clerks, trainers and groomers to explain and offer coupons for their services.  Dog adoption options will be available at the event through both the High Desert Humane Society and Gila County Animal Control office.

“I am really looking forward to the Barks and Recreation show, which will have working dog demonstrations (such as Evo the arson dog, and a drug dog demo), dog entertainers (like the Dancing Dog Duo from Phoenix, and possibly a Disc Dog team), and costume and owner/dog look-alike contests,” says Thea Wilshire, the event organizer.

Wilshire is a member of the Old Dominion Historic Mine Park Committee, which is the group of volunteers who have created the ODMP. The committee is putting on the event, but they have lots of sponsors and collaborators from the community. Some of these include the City of Globe, the Globe Downtown Association, Apache Gold Casino, Tailwaggers Grooming, Western Reprographics, Dream Manor Inn, Supervisor Tim Humphrey, Chrysocolla Inn, Bird Seismic, and Samaritan Veterinary. Key volunteers who are helping Wilshire organize the event include Linda Odonnetto, Charlene Giles and Ellen Kretsch.

The ODMP committee has been developing the park for years as a destination for visitors and locals to bring their families. It’s been a labor of love by those who first saw the vision of turning the site into a park more than 18 years ago. The park now features a self-guided walking tour, a kids’ playground, a disc golf course, and two large community pavilions. According to Wilshire, they still need a bit more money to finish the park, and she looked into ideas for a fundraiser that could help them achieve their goals.

“Pet owners are one of the fastest-growing demographics for people who will spend money and/or travel for their animals,” says Wilshire. “And to my knowledge, the Globe-Miami area has never reached out to pet owners as a tourism group.” The marriage of a dog-centered event and ODMP’s fundraising needs seemed like a perfect fit. “Dogtoberfest” was born.

Wilshire went online and discovered other communities that have done this type of event. She used their activities to start to plan the ODMP event.

Since this is a fundraiser for the park, they are accepting donations and selling tickets for admission. Individual tickets will cost $10, an owner and a dog will be $15, and an owner with two dogs will be $20.  However, Wilshire points out that there is a $3 discount when you pre-purchase your ticket online at EventBrite. [https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dogtoberfest-celebration-tickets-35159505026]

The organizers expect Dogtoberfest to become an annual event, and once the ODMP finishes the major development for the park and no longer needs to fundraise, Wilshire hopes to be able to turn the event over to the High Desert Humane Society or another nonprofit agency that needs an infusion of cash.