Puppy Love - New Milford Dog Park Opens

Puppy Love – Community INteraction


My family has always been invovled in the communities in which we live.  From running for office to our churches to local civic groups.   Since moving to New Milford, CT, I have tried to emerse myself in the community.  One of the projects I have been deeply involved in bring a fenced dog park to the town. 

We were really fortunate to have Kimberly-Clark donate the land for the park next to their plant. For the past year, we have been selling t-shirts, magnets, skate-a-thons, movie nights, trivia nights and “tag” sales (yard sales everywhere else in the country) and a host of other fundraising activities to try to fund a fence around the 1 acre of land. In the spring, we had a bittersweet announcement a former principal of one of the schools, Fran Terry and her family would be our angels and donate the balance of the fence in memory of her husband, Norman Terry. WOW!

On Saturday, August 28th… Over 50 New Milford four legged residents and their humans dedicated and opened “Candlewoof Park at Kimberly-Clark”. It has been the “woof” of the town. Now as a Board Member and a citizen, I have been bringing my dogs to the park to play with existing and new friends. I have to admit getting choked up last week after work when stopping by to give the pups a quick romp. There had to be 25 dogs and their owners. Bark about multi-cultural diversity! There was every type of breed from a toy poodle that had a thing for my Golden to a Mastiff. Their owners were smiling and INgaged in their dogs as well as meeting each other.

Social community exists online and off. Tips and stories were being shared and commented on as the dogs did their own version of social networking… I shed a happy tear. All the hard work was worth it. Hopefully, being part of this wonderful venture has helped me get closer to the quote:

“My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am. “