Saturday afternoon, the community of Dogwood held its annual Dogwood Community Day. This popular event is a free public gathering to connect residents with local health, wellness, and community resources. Police, fire, emergency service men and women are joined by members of the community to learn more about how to live and work and enjoy Dogwood together. Nora the Weimaraner and Rocky the Dalmatian, excited about the event, took one look at the event’s lineup and decided to enter the hot dog eating contest. Ready, set, eat!!!
Dozier the Doberman Pincher and Molly the Retriever cheered on their neighborhood dog friends. Sargeant Phillips from the DPD brought out the hot dogs fresh off the grill. Nora got off to a fast start but Rocky methodically caught up to his good buddy. Both dogs were eating and laughing and having a blast at the contest. A ten hot dogs apiece, Nora looked at Rocky and barked, “enough for me, go ahead Rocky, eat one more and you are the champion.” Rocky, after swallowing a hot dog bun barked back, “I was just going to say the same to you, Nora.” The two dogs decided to end the contest as co-champions of the Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Scout is a community favorite in Dogwood. He is small in stature but makes up for it with his bigger than a mountain personality. When they asked around to the crowd, “who would like to be dunked for charity,” well, Scout volunteered and the crowd went wild. Rookie and Dozier found a seat right next to the dunk tank and heckled their buddy Scout as he sat awaiting his fate. Officer Puccini, a former Dogwood High School softball star, fire ball after ball at the dunk tank bullseye and down went Scout into the water. The crowed cheered and Rookie and Dozier were in heaven watching their friend Scout get “dunked.”
Scout and Officer Puccini were a great team. After dunking Scout a record 5 times in a row, they had set a new charity record for Dogwood Community Day. “Hey you two all-stars, let me get your photo for the Dogwood Dish,” yelled a freelance photographer. “I’ll get you for this Officer, I don’t know how, but I will get you,” joked Scout as the two community heroes smiled for the camera. “Well Scout, your shirt does say ‘dunk me!’ so that’s what I did, sport!” chuckled Officer Puccini back at Scout. Rookie and Dozier wanted to get into the dunk tank next and hoped Officer Puccini’s arm was not going to be available.
Rookie and Dozier walked around Community Day and found a really cool exhibition featuring their buddy, Sherman the German Shepherd and his handler Officer Costa. Sherman is a drug enforcement dog in the K-9 division of Dogwood Police Department and a highly decorated officer. Officer Costa spoke to the crowd about Sherman’s impact on the safety of Dogwood. And ran a training exercise were he hid narcotics in a box on the course, and instructed Sherman to find and identify the box. The crowd, along with Rookie and Dozier, were in complete awe of Sherman’s obedience and ability to find the correct package. Sherman and Officer Costa got one of the biggest applauses on Dogwood Community Day.
Feeling like they wanted to show off their skills to their community, Rookie and Dozier signed up for the Dogwood Police Fitness Challenge. Each dog would be timed running through tunnels, hopping over hurdles, navigating through cones, and seeing if they were up to the department’s standards for fitness. Both dogs performed at an excellent level. Officer Maddux kept tabs of any faults as well as their time on the course. At the finish line, it was too close to call and Officer Maddux called the race a draw, and a win for both dogs. Rookie and Dozier gained a ton of respect for the amount of fitness you need to be a police dog.
It was a wildly successful Dogwood Community Day. Scout and Officer Puccini worked the dunk tank so well they set a new donation record. Nora and Rocky went for an extended walk around the event to help digest all those delicious hot dogs they ate during the hot dog eating contest. Rookie and Dozier made it to just about every exhibit, including the most exciting one featuring their friend, Sherman and his dog handler, Officer Costa. In all, Saturday was a day to remember, as families got a close up look at how police, fire, and emergency personnel work tirelessly to make Dogwood the safest community it can be. Dogs, families, and officers took a beautiful photo at the end of community day, one that will remain in Dogwood’s hearts for years to come.
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