CHAPTER ONE
Date: April 22
Time: 4 P.M.
Event: Caring Club, first meeting
President: Lizzie Peterson
Notes by: Lizzie Peterson
Others in attendance: Charles and Betsy Peterson, Maria, Ms. Dobbins, Julie (shelter employee), Sammy.
Ms. Dobbins and Lizzie opened the meeting with an explanation of what the Caring Club is all about. Our mission is to learn about the best ways to care for and help our animal friends, to educate the public about animals and pets, and to do good deeds for our community. History of the club: Lizzie read about another Caring Club in some other town and asked Ms. Dobbins if they could start one at Caring Paws AnimalShelter, where Lizzie volunteers. (Lizzie is president because the whole thing was her idea.)
Lizzie’s younger brother Charles has joined, and their mother, Betsy, will also attend meetings as often as possible, as long as she doesn’t have to watch their younger brother, Adam, also known as the Bean, who might be too squirmy to sit still through a whole Caring Club meeting. The Petersons are all very familiar with the problems pets face, since they are a foster* family for puppies.
Maria is Lizzie’s best friend and also an animal lover, although she loves horses best of all. Sammy is Charles’s best friend, who lives next door.
Meeting continued with a brainstorming session about things the Caring Club could do. For example:
—Write informative letters to the editor of the newspaper about pets and how to care for them properly. (Like not leaving them in your car when it’s warm out.)
—Be kind to every dog and cat (and horse) we meet.
*Definition of fostering: taking care of puppies who need homes, just until the perfect forever family is found for each one.
—Teach our own pets (for example, the Petersons’ puppy, Buddy, the cutest, sweetest dog ever) how to be good canine citizens with nice manners.
—Have a bake sale or a dog wash (like a car wash, only with dogs) or something else to raise funds for Caring Paws.
—Take our well-behaved dogs to schools and workplaces to show off their manners and maybe also some tricks they can do, like —
4:30 P.M. : Meeting suddenly adjourned. Explanation later.
It was just as well that Lizzie decided to give up on taking notes, since no matter how fast she scribbled, it would have taken her way too long to write down every thing that happened that spring afternoon in the middle of the first Caring Club meeting.
What happened was this. First there was a knock on the door. “Ms. Dobbins?” Andrew, the boy who worked at the front desk of the animal shelter, poked his head in. His cheeks were flushed pink and he stumbled over his words.“I — I think you might want to come see what just arrived.”
Ms. Dobbins stood up. “Thank you, Andrew,” she said.
There was something in Andrew’s face that made everybody else stand up, too, and follow Ms. Dobbins out to the parking lot in front of the shelter. There Lizzie saw a big shiny black car, pulled up at an angle to the front door. The car’s windows were rolled down just a bit. Lizzie couldn’t believe what she was seeing, so she stepped forward to take a closer look. That car was full of puppies! Puppy noses stuck out of every window, sniffing and snuffling and snorting. Puppy paws pressed against the glass. Lizzie saw brown puppies, white puppies, and black puppies; fluffy puppies and sleek puppies; big puppies and tiny puppies. Lizzie had never seen so many puppies in one place!
The car door opened, and a tall, gangly man unfolded himself from the front seat, holdingback three puppies that tried to climb out after him. He wore worn, faded overalls, with a clean white shirt underneath. He wasn’t handsome — in fact, he was kind of funny-looking — but there was something about him that Lizzie liked right away.
He tipped his red baseball cap and smiled at Ms. Dobbins. “Hello, ma’am,” he said.
“Mr. Beauregard?” Ms. Dobbins stared at the car, and at
Date: April 22
Time: 4 P.M.
Event: Caring Club, first meeting
President: Lizzie Peterson
Notes by: Lizzie Peterson
Others in attendance: Charles and Betsy Peterson, Maria, Ms. Dobbins, Julie (shelter employee), Sammy.
Ms. Dobbins and Lizzie opened the meeting with an explanation of what the Caring Club is all about. Our mission is to learn about the best ways to care for and help our animal friends, to educate the public about animals and pets, and to do good deeds for our community. History of the club: Lizzie read about another Caring Club in some other town and asked Ms. Dobbins if they could start one at Caring Paws AnimalShelter, where Lizzie volunteers. (Lizzie is president because the whole thing was her idea.)
Lizzie’s younger brother Charles has joined, and their mother, Betsy, will also attend meetings as often as possible, as long as she doesn’t have to watch their younger brother, Adam, also known as the Bean, who might be too squirmy to sit still through a whole Caring Club meeting. The Petersons are all very familiar with the problems pets face, since they are a foster* family for puppies.
Maria is Lizzie’s best friend and also an animal lover, although she loves horses best of all. Sammy is Charles’s best friend, who lives next door.
Meeting continued with a brainstorming session about things the Caring Club could do. For example:
—Write informative letters to the editor of the newspaper about pets and how to care for them properly. (Like not leaving them in your car when it’s warm out.)
—Be kind to every dog and cat (and horse) we meet.
*Definition of fostering: taking care of puppies who need homes, just until the perfect forever family is found for each one.
—Teach our own pets (for example, the Petersons’ puppy, Buddy, the cutest, sweetest dog ever) how to be good canine citizens with nice manners.
—Have a bake sale or a dog wash (like a car wash, only with dogs) or something else to raise funds for Caring Paws.
—Take our well-behaved dogs to schools and workplaces to show off their manners and maybe also some tricks they can do, like —
4:30 P.M. : Meeting suddenly adjourned. Explanation later.
It was just as well that Lizzie decided to give up on taking notes, since no matter how fast she scribbled, it would have taken her way too long to write down every thing that happened that spring afternoon in the middle of the first Caring Club meeting.
What happened was this. First there was a knock on the door. “Ms. Dobbins?” Andrew, the boy who worked at the front desk of the animal shelter, poked his head in. His cheeks were flushed pink and he stumbled over his words.“I — I think you might want to come see what just arrived.”
Ms. Dobbins stood up. “Thank you, Andrew,” she said.
There was something in Andrew’s face that made everybody else stand up, too, and follow Ms. Dobbins out to the parking lot in front of the shelter. There Lizzie saw a big shiny black car, pulled up at an angle to the front door. The car’s windows were rolled down just a bit. Lizzie couldn’t believe what she was seeing, so she stepped forward to take a closer look. That car was full of puppies! Puppy noses stuck out of every window, sniffing and snuffling and snorting. Puppy paws pressed against the glass. Lizzie saw brown puppies, white puppies, and black puppies; fluffy puppies and sleek puppies; big puppies and tiny puppies. Lizzie had never seen so many puppies in one place!
The car door opened, and a tall, gangly man unfolded himself from the front seat, holdingback three puppies that tried to climb out after him. He wore worn, faded overalls, with a clean white shirt underneath. He wasn’t handsome — in fact, he was kind of funny-looking — but there was something about him that Lizzie liked right away.
He tipped his red baseball cap and smiled at Ms. Dobbins. “Hello, ma’am,” he said.
“Mr. Beauregard?” Ms. Dobbins stared at the car, and at
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