Oh, Snap!

Here I am in my dressiest dress, holding a flute of champagne, standing in front of a big work of art by Phil Hansen, at the Radisson Downtown Hotel, at a charity ball.

The charity is MN SNAP, Minnesota Spay Neuter Assistance Program. They have a mobile animal hospital that travels all over the state to offer spay and neuter services to shelters, rescue organizations and the companion animals of low-income people. Their prices range from sixty dollars down to nothing.

The gala was the First Annual Furry Tail Ball. It was a dinner/dance/fund raiser with a live auction. Items offered at the auction ranged from a chance to throw out the first ball at a Twins game through a Phil Hansen original art work to an offer to be written into a Monica Ferris mystery novel as a character. The last went for $1100!

It was exciting to be there, at the second black-tie affair of my life, rubbing shoulders with the elite of the Twin Cities. Waiters wove through the crowd offering champagne and red and white wines. Phil Hansen’s art was on display. He does portraits of famous people in media that reflect their lives. For example he did Bruce Lee in a karate stance by dipping the edges of his hands in black paint and “chopping” the canvas. The piece that was offered in the auction was of a sweet-looking mixed-breed dog made of 10,000 tiny black-and-white images of animals representing a tenth of the 90,000 companion animals put to sleep in Minnesota every year. They are hoping to raise enough money to set up a second mobile unit. Their ultimate goal is to stop the killing of surplus pets.

Many years ago I tried – and failed – to start a charity to do what MN SNAP is doing. I lacked the money, expertise and organizational ability to pull it off. But now it’s been done properly, and I have a charity I will support whole-heartedly. Visit MNSNAP.org for more information about this important charity.