Plans for the Gardiner Dog Park behind our Town Hall are well underway. Parks and Recreation Commission member Nancy Cass has been working with the Town Board and DEC to gain the necessary permissions, and the only obstacle now is the water-soaked ground. Nancy, with the help of Michele Zigrossi and Kim Burger (owner and manager of The Natural Pet Center), raised $1,079 in donations for the dog park, and ten local businesses contributed to four raffle baskets which included two handcrafted dog dining stations, movie tickets, pizza, champagne and wine, meal certificates for The Mohonk Mountain House and a gift card for the Tuthill House at the Mill restaurant. The lucky winners were Eric Kwac, Karen Skillman, John O’Mara and Richard Condon. The Natural Pet Center has been the biggest supporter of the dog park and has not only been selling homemade dog biscuits and frisbees in their store (proceeds go directly to the Dog Park) but has also donated all of the fencing for it.
The project has been adopted by Girl Scout Cadette Troups 60288 and 60383 for their Silver Award, the highest award that can be received at their level. These girls will put 50 hours of time into planning, researching and implementing their chosen task. Their work will include baking dog biscuits to be sold at points in town, clearing brush, building flower boxes for the fence, planting trees and building a shade structure with benches for dog owners.
You can find the Gardiner Dog Park on Facebook, along with announcements of upcoming events, lost dogs and dogs available for adoption. Locate the site by searching for Facebook Gardiner Dog Park. Look for the Grand Opening next spring!