Several beloved pets have unfortunately “crossed the bar”, including #23 – Daisy Mae, #25 – Taffy and #26 – Zack. Pet #24 – Abbie passed away in November, 2010. All pets leave behind wonderful memories and will be greatly missed by their owners, families and friends. Shortly after Abbie “crossed the bar”, member Karen adopted a three-month-old beagle. Karen provided the following touching and interesting bio on Mascot # 28 – Betsie:
I got Betsie a week after I lost my Abbie. It was tough to be alone in my house without a dog. I found an ad online. They had puppies that were 7 weeks old. There was snow on the ground and her mom, sisters and brother were in an outside kennel. When we got near them, the owner yelled “Hey Puppies!” and they came running to the gate. It was so cute! It was a difficult decision on which one to choose… the other pups wandered away from us, but Betsie stayed. She chose me. Talk about irony…. Betsie’s mother’s name was Abbie. It was meant to be.
Yes, Betsie was named after the Point Betsie Lighthouse. Not too many lighthouses around with girl names (Abbie was named after Abbie Burgess, lighthouse heroine). She visited Point Betsie (and 10 other lights) in June of 2011. She did do the Lighthouse Challenge that September. It seemed like a lot of the people working at the lights were waiting to see her! She had her picture taken many times! In June of last year, we took a trip to parts of Michigan and Wisconsin. So far she has been to 38 lighthouses. I’m hoping to plan another trip with her to some lighthouses this year.
Betsie is a great traveler and loves walks. We took her to southern Ohio this spring to walk many of the parks. She was always ready to get out of the car! She doesn’t really have a favorite food. Beagles will eat most anything. I keep “people” food away from her since it is very easy for beagles to get overweight. She does like green beans and carrots mixed in with her dry food. She loves being outside and is constantly chasing the birds off the birdbath. She has a water bowl outside but she prefers to drink the birdbath!
If you haven’t seen the Point Betsie Lighthouse, it’s in the Michigan lower peninsula five miles north of Frankfort near the town of Crystal Lake and overlooks Lake Michigan. I remember seeing Karen and Betsie at Fort Washington during the 2011 MD Lighthouse Challenge. Volunteers, park rangers and challengers all enjoyed their visit and hope they’ll return in 2013.
Betsie at Whitefish Point
Photos courtesy of Karen.
