Come to the Doggie Fun Fest and Cherry Bomb Ball!

You know, I can give you 5,000 reasons why you should check out the Doggie Fun Show and Cherry Bomb Ball, a dual-event benefit for the Independent Animal Rescue. But the main thing is this: Look at that face! Seriously, look at that awesome sweet face! That, folks, is Miss Cherry, a sweet pup who is now able to walk again thanks to IAR. That's an organization that does great work and deserves some serious love. Sunday's Doggie Fun Show at Phydeaux and Oct. 21's Cherry Bomb Ball at Kings are both going to be awesome love fests for this very worthy organization.

If you know anything about local music, you know Caitlyn Cary and Skillet Gilmore. They were Cherry's foster parents/eventual adoptees. They live in my neighborhood, and I often saw them walking Cherry in a stroller, of all things, after her injury. And if you read this blog on a regular basis you know I lost my buddy, Mr. C, in March after 14 and 1/2 years together. I now have a new buddy, Sir Alex, who is doing well, and barking up a storm, in his new home. Thus I'm already partial to anything that helps dogs, but this benefit truly is going to be super amazing. Here are the details.

Doggie Fun Show: Sunday's event (Oct. 16) will take place from 4-6 p.m. at Phydeaux, a really cool, well-stocked pet supply store in Seaboard Station. I get most of my supplies from here so I can personally vouch for this place. Dog owners can enter their pups in a variety of contests, including Best Kisser, Best Costume, and Cutest Ugly dog. Yours truly will be there taking photos, so if you want to come out and tell me how badly my writing sucks, please do so! Just make sure you donate to IAR first. If you would like to enter your pooch, registration is $5 in advance, $7 day of event. And if that's not enough, Big Boss will be there too!

Cherry Bomb Ball Best in Show and Live Music: The winners from the Oct. 16 event will gather at 7 p.m. at Kings for the final judging and great live music from Schooner, The Tender Fruit, Birds & Arrows and Small Ponds. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 of show.

I truly hope to see everyone out at both of these events. Independent Animal Rescue does amazing work, not just for Cherry, but for animals in need throughout the Triangle. They're a great organization, and I'm very proud to be helping them in whatever way I can.