Teaming up for good

It was sunny and 70 degrees for the 17th Annual Linden Hills Woofstock, and the pooches were not to be disappointed. Nor were the fans of The Disappointments, the latest teenage rock group coming from the Linden Hills House of Music. And, if you like good food and good beer, Utepils Brewery was there, along with Rosalia Pizza.

In fact, everything you’d want from a fantastic fido fest was out in force last Saturday in the Village. Dog scarfs, dog pajamas, dog treats, dog rescue organizations, and LOTS of dogs and dog lovers. My wife Diane and I have been putting on this festival for the last three years, and I have to say, it is more pleasure than work when you have so many people teaming up for good.

And it IS a lot of work... Permits for street closures, permits for alcohol, cops for street closures, cops for alcohol, chairs and tables and toilets and garbage cans, permissions from the neighborhood stores and restaurants and bakeries, contributions from the stores and restaurants and bakeries, insurance for beer, insurance for closures, insurance for insurance...!

Plus – someone needs to organize everything!

Here are a couple of my “secrets” for how we threw such a good party this year.

1) We hired an amazing Event Producer, and then we let him do all the work!

2) We reached out to a couple really generous operations: Linden Hills Dentistry and TreHus Builders. When companies like those two step up and make significant financial contributions... Well, let’s just say it takes away the pain and makes you want to do it again.

And then - beyond money and skills -- it takes a village to put on a village sized event like this. It takes PEOPLE to do good in the world, and there are a LOT of good people in the dog world. We hosted 14 non-profits at Woofstock this year, including: North Star Therapy Animals, CES Ani-Meals (meals-on-wheels for pets), two humane societies, and seven individual organizations serving individual breeds, such as Basset Hounds, Boston Terriers, Bulldogs, Dobermans, German Shepherds and Greyhounds.

The Linden Hills Village stores and restaurants also stepped up too. In fact, it’s honestly not always a great day for actual sales in the business district, because everybody has their dog! But that doesn’t stop them from contributing and supporting the event. The Harriet Brasserie gives free scones to all the vendors. Coffee & Tea Ltd brews free coffee for all the vendors. And Jones Coffee provided the final set of music -- capping the series of bands that started with railroad-and-hobo songs from Cannonball Paul!, continued with The Team Larry House Band, which was then followed by the sensational teenage Disappointments. And let us not forget the Annual Woofstock Dog Fashion Show, sponsored by Co-Pilot Outfitters.

Finally, thanks to all our enthusiastic volunteers. We are blessed to have a great community here, with so many people willing to give their time and energy. A special thanks to Co-Pilot and Heartfelt for providing our volunteers with giftbag goodies.

LINDEN HILLS WOOFSTOCK happens every year -- Always the first Saturday after Labor Day. That means next year is September 9th. Put it on your calendar and don’t miss it!