★(¯´*•.¸ ★* Bennett & Lyle Update! *★¸.•*´¯)★ Our URRKN Love Train has rolled through Mount Pleasant, Iowa with Conductor Terry Ross at the controls. Bennett & Lyle will be meeting with Conductor Connie Phillis who has the honor of escorting them through Cedar Rapids, Iowa and the rest of the way home. Thanks so much to Terry for picking up extra legs of this transport! Choo Choo, Kitties. Home is on the horizon! #URRKN The city of Mount Pleasant is the county seat of Henry County, Iowa, and was first incorporated in 1842. In the Union Block Building in 1869, Arabella A. Mansfield became the first woman in the United States to be awarded a license to practice law. She had passed the bar exam with high scores and won a court case for entry to the bar. Mount Pleasant is also home to the Midwest Old Thresher’s Reunion which attracts over 100,000 visitors annually during a five-day period ending on Labor Day. While Bennett & Lyle continue their journey you might enjoy a little history about how the amazing Rustic Hollow Sanctuary came to be: “History of C&W Founders: CarmenLinda Conklin & Wanda L. Orric C & W Shelter simply evolved over the years. It was never our intention, nor did we wake up one day and say, “I think we’ll start an animal sanctuary today.” I taught music education for some years. In 1980, we moved to Iowa and built a log home on my home farm-we came to care for my parents who were elderly. In 1981, my father had a massive stroke and I went into the business of ‘in-home health care’ for both of my parents for the next 11 years. During that time… ‘because we lived on a farm,’ we were sought out to take stray cats, injured cats, cats of all kinds…so it was in 1985 when we decided we needed to become responsible pet caregivers. We started the slow process of neutering/spaying/vaccinating each cat, and giving them proper shelter. In 1989, we started the process of remodeling The Kat Barn which now has central air/heat, linoleum, air exchanger and lots of ‘creature comforts.’ Several volunteers took an interest and those with carpentry skills helped us improve the building by adding bunks/shelves and outdoor enclosed screen ‘catios’. Then the 2-story ‘over a century old’ farm house was next in line for remodeling to become a real ‘cat house,’ The Kitty Kottage. Volunteers added screened walls, another outdoor screened in ‘catio’, not to mention window boxes on the upper level as well. The log home, (The Rustic Inne) where founders CarmenLinda and Wanda are allowed to live with the over 25 felines who need more special care or are at their end of life time with a terminal illness. Plus a ‘sick bay’ (yes, we’re Trekkie fans) for cats needing hospice care and more intense isolation and medical care. And, in the summer of 2004, a fourth building, Apollo’s House, was brought in to house FIV felines and offer laundry and overnight accommodations for volunteers. A fifth building was constructed in the fall of 2007 by a supporter who wanted a place just for her felines to live after her passing.-Sandy’s Kitty Haven (The Sandra McIntire Building)…And..in 2009, a sixth building began to emerge…this to be completed in 2010 and it is to have a storage area, infirmary and of course, more felines. AND from there…the sanctuary continues to grow and expand and receive more recognition in our efforts to fill the gap for those felines who are deemed ‘unadoptable’ for so many different reasons. The possibilities are endless and dreams do come true…I foresee an apartment for overnight guests ( in 2010 for certain) …and who knows..maybe even a Bed & Breakfast, complete with a cat in each bedroom…….Time will tell……” rustichollowshelter.org/history-of-cw-rustic-hollow-shelter/
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 17:17:49 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015