Good Morning Good News !!!! Friday, April 17, 2015

Oh what a beautiful day !!!! Sunny ... light floaty clouds ... birds singing .... light breeze .... so beautiful !!!!!

I hope you'll join us Saturday at Re-Tail for a very special Cats vs Dogs event ....

Cats vs Dogs is April each year and it's when the winner will take over the ruling position at Rikki's Refuge for the next year. I need your vote ....

I've never had dogs so close on my heals before ....

They've even gotten ahead of me several times lately ...

YIKES ... but then a wonderful person always jumps in and tosses in VOTES on MY behalf !!!! 

so Please 

It's also a very important time - it's our spring fundraiser to keep Rikki's running till summer .... It only takes a $1 a day per animal for us all to eat and be taken care of .... and that's pretty cheap ... but when you think about almost 1300 of us living here ... well .... gulp ... those numbers get big. And it's all MY job to keep us happy, fed and healthy ... and I NEED your help .....

Please , that's ME, Opie your little orange buddy, to keep running the refuge for another year .... you just click right here and toss as many votes as you like in my hat !!!  http://rikkisrefuge.org/feedme?purpose=CATS

MOM !! Do I have to ??

Ok SO if you're a DOG person ... and you want to and see the dogs to overthrow me .... to toss me aside .... to probably eat me .... for me to not be the ruler anymore .... well mom says I have to tell you how to too .....

Somethin about bein FAIR .... yeahhh right .... So here's the DOGGY link http://rikkisrefuge.org/feedme?purpose=DOGS

But please please toss your votes here ... for CATS and for ME .... OPIE .... Cus I love you forever and ever !!!!

I sure hope I'll see YOU Saturday at our special event at RE-TAIL !!!! 

me and Duke will both be there (Duke should be there by 10 am, and I won’t be able to get there till about noon, read on to see where I’ll be in the morning !)  ... so you can meet us and see who's the better ruler ..... Duke will be on a leash .... tell you anything?

We've got so many events to be at and so much excitement this weekend  !!!!  

At our store Re-Tail we're having an all day celebration on Saturday, 10 am - 6 pm ...   It’s our one year anniversary at the store !!!  And it’s big sales going on !!!  20% off all regular merchandise....  

We have a special Rikki’s Boutique in the store (sorry, these items aren’t on sale) and we just got in a whole new car load of Tshirts .... including Tie-Dyed ones !!!!   And Cool New Magnets !!!!! 

Ohhhh and Face Painting !!!!

Bake Sale !!!!!  

With Special Raffles too !!!!

And spectacular Cat and Dog cakes and goodies !!!

This is NOT an event to miss.

Are you coming???

Dog Krazy has donated some dog treats for any of the dogs who come in on Saturday !!

Meet our Spokes-Dog, Duke Thomas Peabody, and Spokes-Cat, Opie!

We're busy, busy, busy pricing and putting out new merchandise!

Everything will be 20% off, so come prepared to shop, shop, shop!

So come on down to Re-Tail Saturday and   Help me, your Orange Pal Opie ... keep my title of Ruler of the Refuge for another year !!!!   

Shelby Rose (in the picture), Iggy, Tangy and others will be reading at Rikki's Rikki's Refuge Kitty Litter-Ature at our Life Center at 10 am !!! 

If you're a small hooman, come on over and read with us. 

We'll read to you and you can read to us !!! 

We have lots of fun books about animals to share !!!   It's a great program for your kids (if you're a big hooman reading this) we'll help your little ones learn to read and to find that life long passion about loving to read ....  reading is an adventure ... it can take you anywhere ....  and all the stats show that kids who read for enjoyment, do much better in life, no matter what they do !!!!

Rikki's Refuge Kitty Litter-Ature Children's Reading Program at the Life Center

Saturday, April 18 at 10:00 am  -- every 3rd Saturday of the month

For more information and to RSVP, email Tours@RikkisRefuge.org

There is a Facebook page for our reading program here:

https://www.facebook.com/RikkisReadingProgram

Rikki's Refuge Life Center

21410 Constitution Hwy (at the corner of Constitution and QuarterHorse)

Rapidan, VA. 22733

Before I can go to Re-Tail on Saturday morning I have to officiate at the Honor Society's Color Run !!!  I'm glad it's dem hoomans runnin and me watchin !!!!   Uncle Paul is taking me there.   It's early in the morning !!

Jack and Boomer will be at Hogs N Dogs at the local Waugh Harley dealer in Orange !!!  

Robyn will be giving them a ride over and have Tshirt and other goodies for sale !!   It's from 10 am - 2 pm. 

It’s just down the street from Rikki’s ---  just as you’re getting into the Town of Orange, right there on Constitution Highway. 

Also at Rikki's it's Donation Drop off from Noon - 2 pm every Saturday .... 

please come by with a ....  or click here  or if you HAVE to ....  ....   and bring some of the things we need this week !!!!   We count on YOU !!!   

With out YOU ... there be no refuge !!!! 

And that'd be real bad .... so keep helping so I keep havin a home !!!   Thank you !!!  

Lolly will be officiating Donation Drop Off !!!

It’s at our Life Center - 21410 Constitution Hwy,  Rapidan, VA. 22733

You can always DROP OFF AT RE-TAIL our store in Fredericksburg too, any time during normal business hours, if this is more convenient for you!

RE-TAIL - 3503 Lafayette Blvd, Fredericksburg, VA. 22408

You can also help us out with a direct donation right here !! 

Give a little gift electronically: http://www.RikkisRefuge.org/FeedMe

some things you just can't donate, like da lectricity and all the medicine and the doctor's bills !!!

And you can shop at Opie's Store http://astore.amazon.com/wwwrikkisrefu-20  It's my very own Amazon store !!!!    And every time you buy something for me ....  amazon gives me money to buy more things !!!!   Is that cool or what??

AND if you go to my store, and then click the amazon link, you can go about doing your shopping as usual ....  and Amazon will pay me a commission in Fancy Feast ...  no cost to you ....  and it fill my belly !!!   How cool is that !!!!

MAIL A DONATION: Rikki’s Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange, VA. 22960

AND at noon ---- be there exactly a noon, dem hoomans don't let late hoomans in ....   they'll be interview for a job working for me !!!  Wanna come clean for me and help feed me ... yeahh ... sneak in lots of extra Fancy Feast for me !!!  Yeah !!!!   Do all the good things da hoomans do at the refuge !!!  So if you want a full time job with us .... be there at noon.  Doug will be officiating !!

You must Apply in person, promptly at noon on Saturdays !! 

Full Time positions are for animal sanctuary caretakers that are responsible for the daily feeding of 1300+ animals of 22 species at the refuge. Duties also include daily clean-up (yes, that includes poop scooping!), maintenance/clean-up of refuge structures and facilities, yard work, and hauling/stocking heavy feed bags, cases of food, litter pails, etc. Must follow direction well and be a team player! This is a physically demanding job and requires the ability to work outdoors in all kinds of weather. Everyone must work weekends and holidays!

Interested candidates MUST APPLY IN PERSON on SATURDAYS promptly at NOON at RIKKI’S REFUGE’S LIFE CENTER, 21410 Constitution Hwy (corner of Constitution and QuarterHorse), Rapidan. VA. 22733

Experience with animals is preferred, but we will train the right person!

WE REALLY NEED PEOPLE WHO ARE EXPERIENCED WITH GIVING MEDICATIONS TO VARIOUS ANIMALS!

Rikki’s Refuge in Orange County, Virginia, is a 400 acre, no-kill, all species peaceful sanctuary supported solely by donations of kind and loving individuals. The refuge is home to over 1300 animals of over 22 different species, including but not limited to cats, dogs, sheep, goats, rabbits, pigs, emus, chickens, ducks, geese, a chukar, peacocks, and more. It is owned and operated by Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc. an approved not-for profit Virginia Corporation and IRS tax code 501(c)(3) corporation as determined by the IRS. Federal Tax-ID number 54~1911042. A financial statement is available upon written request from the State Office of Consumer Affairs.

Busy on Saturday -- then come for a Tour on Sunday ....  this Sunday and most Sundays in 2015 !!!

You must have a ticket to get in the gate !!!!  

Be sure you get your ticket in ADVANCE at Tours@RikkisRefuge.org ..... 

You cannot buy tickets at the gate !!

So who’s side are YOU on ?

So I really hope to be seeing you this weekend !!!

Tell me how I’m doing as Leader of the Refuge !!! 

Love,

   Opie

the Official Spokes Cat at Rikki's Refuge and his support team, Timmy and Sylvestra

and I sure hope you'll vote for ME and MY KIND before the end of April -- vote as often as you like -- so I can remain the Ruler of the Refuge for another year !!!  Thank you !!!!

Good Morning Good News !!!! Saturday, April 4, 2015

Today’s edition is brought to you by the Cows of Bovine Boulevard at Rikki’s Refuge  !!!    So I turn puter over to them now, Opie.

As you know, April is Cats vs Dogs at Rikki’s Refuge.  Many of you ask why us cows or the sheep or the rabbits never get the chance to run as Ruler of the Refuge.  

Well .... we simply would not get involved in such politics.  What nasty business !!!   All this arguing and fussing about who’s gonna rule !! 

No thank you ....  we just want our peace and quiet.  We’ve all been saved from fates that would make you cringe. 

Now we’re happy eating grass, laying in the sun, and knowing no one will ever ever eat us.  

Before I tell you our opinion and who we’re all voting for ....  let me catch you up to date ....

The very first vote - in the way of a donation, yes sireee this is a put your money where your mouth is kind of vote - came in for Duke of Doggy Downs !!!  Sure did, and from Cindy, and it was a big one folks.

So big it had the Little Orange guy crawling in his skin ....  you know how cats are ... they can’t stand not being in charge. 

Luckily for Opie, the next donation came in --- matching the first --- and voting for him !!!

So right now ... Cats and Dogs are in equal standing !!!!    That doesn’t happen often .... and YOU can break that tie ....   Make a click to take your pick !!!

Now LISTEN UP .....

We cows urge you to vote for the Little Yellow Dude ... Opie ... as in CATS ...  yes we do ...  And we’ll tell you why. 

The cats never want to chase us and bite at our heals.

Opie and Vincent kept us stocked with hay all winter long ...  yup ....  they gave up eating at times ... so we could much out.  Pretty decent of the little fellows. 

Lots of kitties come in and visit with us and snuggle with us .....  those dawggies kind a scare us ....   I know some of them are ok .... but we like them on the OTHER side of our fence !!!!

So we urge you to take our advice and

Now Look Here

I want to tell you about a wonderful young lady

Look what Bridget Kemp did !!!!    Thank you, thank you, thank you!  

Bridget turned 10 years old on March 28.

For her birthday, she asked for donations for Rikki's INSTEAD of gifts.

There was sooooo moooooouch it would not all fit in the shopping cart when she came to Re-Tail to drop off her donations !!!!

HIGH FIVE TO BRIDGET

Ya know .. it’s kind a hard for us to do it the hand way ... so we give kisses for HIGH FIVE !!!

Seriously my friends, casting your VOTE in the Cats vs Dogs contest is VERY VERY important ....   You see at Christmas time we get lots of donations and that helps to get us thru the winter ... 

Though I think I heard the hay man complaining that he still wants to get paid for the last couple loads of hay that came ....   and we were telling Doug the other day that the grass is growing nice ... but not fast enough yet and we’re getting hungry and he’s gonna have to get one more truck full of hay for us ...

Did you know one truck of hay ...  that feeds us all for a week ....  all us hay eatin critters at Rikki’s ... us cows and the horses and donkeys and sheep and goats and even rabbits and guinea pigs .... it costs $800 a week ....  yup .....  

And that Orange Opie helps us to earn the money to buy that hay ....

And that’s why we say .....

HAY HAY HAY ....  VOTE FOR THE CATS TODAY

But seriously ....   the Christmas money is long gone now ....  and we need to ask you to be generous in April to raise enough money to feed us and take care of us for the next few months ....   We never ask for much ahead of time ....  and we only want our basic needs ... that’s all ...  no fancy cars for us ... no fancy barns ....  no vacations ...just the basics ... enough to eat and enough to keep us happy and comfortable.

And so I beg you to give us hoofed critters a hand this month and help us out !!!

It doesn’t matter how much .....   if you can’t afford a dollar or two .... bring us a bag of carrots ... ok ok Opie ...  and some Fancy Feast so we can share with the cats ....   geesh as nice as that Orange Dude is he can be a pain in the tush sometimes !!!!

We’d planned to work for a living

and not have to mooooooch off of you .....  

After all YOU rescued us and saved our lives.  We were born to mom’s who weren’t allowed to give us milk.  They took our mom’s away and we cried.  They said there’s only one use for baby boys born on a dairy farm .....  and it’s something horrible called veal .... 

It makes me really sick to even think about what that means  .....  if you don’t know, I’ll let you look it up on the puter .... it’s a horrible fate for baby boys ....  far worse then just death .... trust me ....

And so you saved us !!!  And we came to Rikki’s Refuge to live for ever and ever and to be happy and to never get eaten.  And we thank you !!!  Oh we thank you so much !!!

And we wanted to get a job ....  but soon we found that the only “jobs” hoomans offer cows ... are ... well ....  really unspeakable evils things ....  Horrible things .....   No one should be forced to have a job like that .....    

And so thankfully Opie told you about us .....  and you’ve been taking care of us ever since !!!!!

You’ve given us the GOOD LIFE

and we’d like to give you something back.  Every day we send our love and gratitude to you. 

We invite you to come sit under the trees with us during a tour this spring .... just drop a note to Tours@RikkisRefuge.org to schedule a visit to meet us .....  please don’t forget to bring carrots and apples !!!!

COME TO OUR ANNUAL CATS vs DOGS EVENT

More FUN This Year Than Ever Before !!!

Re-Tail’s ONE Year Anniversary / Cats vs Dogs

Bake Sale / Storewide 20% Savings / Raffles

Opie & Duke Giving Kisses for Votes

And So Much More !!!

All taking place at our Fredericksburg store, Re-Tail, on April 18th

Haven’t visited our store yet?     Stop in and see why Re-Tail IS the new buzz word in town !!!!     Visit the Adoption Room!     Find a new friend!

Please PLEASE join us for this day of excitement and fun !!!

Special Cat and Dog cupcakes and cookies

Very special Cat Cake and Dog Cake being raffled

Come on in and have a blast

Meet the Candidates and cast your vote !!!!

We won’t be allowed to go to Re-Tail for this event

something about city ordinances or something ....  we sure hope to see you at Rikki’s Refuge some time soon !!!

Come ....  Let us tell YOU somethin  .....

We are really urging you to vote for the cats ....  It’s not just cuz Opie said we had to tell you that.  It’s cus he really works so hard to keep things going at Rikki’s Refuge.

I bet you have no idea what a struggle it is for him.  Getting all the work done, everybody fed and everybody cleaned up.  And we aminals ... we make a lot of mess ... I mean that’s what we do, you know?  We poop all over the place .... it’s just the way it is.  But da hoomans don’t think that’s good and so Opie has to haul out about 600 pounds of poop every day ... yeah ... EVERY DAY ....

And the amount of food for all of us !!!  Oh my ...  Opie has to coordinate trucks coming in and out .... and he goes off begging for donations of nums ......

And he has to beg for donations of green paper to pay for doctors and medicines and oh my ...  I see the light on in his office long after all the rest of us have gone to bed .....   and again early in the morning .....   Opie just never let’s any of us do with out .....

And between all that work .....  Opie drives the goat cart to take us to the doctor .... and to visit fans ....  and people in nursing homes and to schools and ....

Gee ... I don’t know how that poor little guy does it all ....

Now Duke, he’s a nice guy ....  he is ... he’s really nice ....   but I seez him layin in the sun ...  playing with Boomer .....   I don’t see him at the puter much.  I know he’s blind and all ....  and so it’s hard for him to use the brail puter ....  but really ....  we just have to give our vote to the CATS in order to be sure we get fed for the next year.

So won’t you please vote for Opie?

But if you really can’t .... or if you want to donate to Duke to make him not feel love too ... that’s ok.

The important thing is that you do your civic responsibility and VOTE !!!!    Just remember .... if YOU don’t VOTE .... it’s against the law to complain about who wins !!!!

BYE FOR NOW FROM THE BOYS OF BOVINE BOULEVARD !!!!

I sure hope I’m gonna see you at our special Cats vs Dogs - One Year Anniversary of Re-Tail Event on April 18^th !!!!

And I really really hope you’ll vote for me   (your click is your vote)

But if you hate me .....   please vote for Duke

Love,

   Opie