In The News

Students, stock brokers, artists and animal lovers of all kind have created more than 35 birdhouses for the silent auction at this year’s annual benefit dinner for the Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley, to be held July 16.
 
“Every year I am astounded at the creativity in this valley,” said birdhouse coordinator Sheila Liermann.
 
“This year has been particularly fun as Michael Walsh’s class at the Wood River High School Construction Academy built several traditional and functional birdhouses. These birdhouses were distributed to people all over the county to be painted, decorated and enhanced. One is finished with a 5B license plate and another with bark from Hawaii. No two birdhouses are alike and you’d never know everyone started with the same style.”
 
Twelve-year-old Collette Block affixed marbles all over a traditional birdhouse, named Marble Mansion. Local ski-clan patriarch Roger Crist created a birdhouse from driftwood he collected at Stinson Beach, Calif.
 
John Beehler, known for his finely crafted turned bowls made from exotic woods, created a birdhouse entitled Knotville, a reference to the knotty wood he used to create a functional, yet fun birdhouse. Famous for her dogwood twig birdhouses, Cindy Hamlin donated one from her new series. Finally, artist and middle-school teacher Bob Dix donated a fish-shaped birdhouse he whimsically calls Redfish Condo.  

Tickets for the benefit, the Dog Days of Summer, are still available. Additional information is on the Internet at www.animalshelterwrv.org.
 
Birdhouses can be purchased only at the dinner. Raffle tickets for a $10,000 gift certificate from Atkinsons’ Market are available at a variety of locations, and the winner does not have to be present.
 
The Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley, the first “no kill” shelter in Idaho, promotes companion animal welfare by providing temporary shelter for homeless animals, adopting them to qualified homes and reducing animal abuse, neglect and overpopulation through community education and spay/neuter services. More than 90 percent of its funding comes from private donations.
 
In 2009 more than 1,500 animals received services from the shelter. This includes 350 animals that were adopted, 252 lost animals that were reunited with their owners, 255 shelter animals spayed/neutered, and 387 privately owned animals that were spayed or neutered at no cost to their owners. On an average day, the shelter cares for 45 dogs and 45 cats.
 
Additional information is available by calling 208-788-4351 or on the Internet at www.animalshelterwrv.org.