A first timers impression of a GRRMF reunion

How could one not be excited with the announcement of the GRRMF Reunion in St Cloud? I know we were. I thought for real, lots and lots and lots of Goldens. What a GRAND day it truly was! I must say I was a little anxious thinking that it was probably going to be a little crazy with happy dogs going wild barking and running around with each other but I was certainly wrong.  The dogs were very well behaved. Many people brought chairs and blankets along with picnic lunches and set up under the beautiful large oak trees overlooking the beautiful lake at the park. It was a very relaxed atmosphere, with lots of fun sprinkled throughout the day.

One of my fun day favorites was the doggie Olympics! Fun games for dogs and their handlers to participate  in; popcorn catching contest, sit and stay and then Be a retriever. Oh, and did you know there were two sets of age groups for each event which the senior pups often did better than the young pups!  The dogs even won medals for each event- gold, silver and bronze. Our Rennie, medaled in two games!

I loved that there was a blessing of the dogs too at the reunion- both for the sweet pups that crossed over the rainbow bridge which are no longer with us and those in attendance. The dogs were individually blessed over and received a patron saint medal to wear. It was a lovely extra touch.

Another thing that was so nice was the local Sea Cadets (high school military cadets) that were there to help in anyway needed. They helped set up, tear down, carry things to cars, help with games and even walk our dogs if needed. Nice seeing the young people volunteering in the community.

Additionally, there were pet pictures available, bingo, 50/50 raffle and raffle ticket drawings for many wonderful dog related baskets and items. All to help raise funds for GRRMF to be able to continue doing what they love doing- rescuing, caring for and rehoming sweet Goldens!

Not only were we ( my husband Tim and I) able to share with others the fun and fabulous things we do with all the wonderful Hearts of Gold Therapy Teams but we were able to share how they too could become apart of the HoG teams. We could talk about HoG forever! Just another reason we love being apart of the GRRMF family!

It truly was a lovely day! The weather was perfect, the dogs were so well behaved and we loved just hanging out and meeting so many other Golden lovers!

We can’t wait for next year’s event, this was our first time attending but certainly won’t be our last!