Today was spent with feet on the ground, talking to people, spreading the word about Griffy. Teams were at three shopping center locations in Annandale passing out Griffy business cards and talking to people passing by. Some fliering has been done in the area, and plenty more is needed, but today was all about connecting with people in the area. (Besides, there's still too much snow to even get to the signposts to hang fliers on them.)
We reached out to service people working in the area like police, firefighters, FedEx drivers and the like, and students -- from area high schools and colleges too. We talked to people about reaching out to groups and associations they belong to, bulletin boards they know of to post to, and just telling people they know - neighbors, friends, classmates, co-workers, customers, service providers, fellow worshippers, etc about Griffy.
We know that Griffy is somewhere, and we hope he is in an area where people we talked to today live, work or travel through. We are considerably overdue for a sighting, and hope that we have reached people that will see him, or people that tell people who see him, so they will know how to get in touch.
Please leave a comment on the blog, or send and mail, if you can go out on Sunday or Monday to do some outreach for Griffy. We hope to pair people up as it's much easier to work with others to spread the word in the way we did today.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Biz Carding for Griffy This Weekend
With the snow finally starting to melt, it's time to get out and spread the word about Griffy! It seems like all these other dogs that have been lost in the snow are getting found, and Griffy's best shot for joining the others is to spread the word. It's been a pretty long time now since there has been a sighting, and it may be a function of the fact that we never had enough time to really circulate the word.
We are thinking that conditions are not right for a large amount of fliering -- at this time and in this location -- so we want to push the handing out of business cards at several key areas along the track from February 4th. We've often found that speaking directly with people in the area of a sighting or along a track has produced sightings, so we are working on that premise now, in planning this event. Hope you can make it! Business cards will be there, and here's the when and where (4 people are already planning to be there, and many more are needed!):
When: Saturday, Feb 13th at 10:30am
Where: Giant parking lot, 7137 Columbia Pike, Annandale
(This is near where Columbia Pike and 236 meet each other)
Look for another notice of a Sunday event!
We are thinking that conditions are not right for a large amount of fliering -- at this time and in this location -- so we want to push the handing out of business cards at several key areas along the track from February 4th. We've often found that speaking directly with people in the area of a sighting or along a track has produced sightings, so we are working on that premise now, in planning this event. Hope you can make it! Business cards will be there, and here's the when and where (4 people are already planning to be there, and many more are needed!):
When: Saturday, Feb 13th at 10:30am
Where: Giant parking lot, 7137 Columbia Pike, Annandale
(This is near where Columbia Pike and 236 meet each other)
Look for another notice of a Sunday event!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Darn This Snow!
While it's certainly pretty at times, the snow represents little but problems for those of us wanting to help find Griffy! We are pushing aside thoughts of him struggling in these elements, instead imagining he's found some shelter that he can fit his 18 lbs into that we just can't call shelter for us. Perhaps he's under a deck, as we know from his concentrated scent pool on the track that was run last Thursday night. OK, so I'm not coming up with any other ideas besides under a deck, but there must be lots of others.
Yesterday, before the snow got under way, a few volunteers went out and basically drove as much of last Thursday's track, mapped at right, as possible, and spent extra time at a few areas that the tracking dog had indicated as having been places where Griffy had spent additional time in. One was an area behind a small strip shopping center, where the dumpsters look like a doggie haven. The snow had been plowed, so tracks weren't found, but there was plenty of what dogs would call food strewn around -- like bags that could have been torn into by dogs. So we feel this is an area to watch.
Another is a residence, and specifically the area under a deck where he had previously slept (apparently). Paw prints that could have been Griffy's were discernible. So some cheeseburgers were left there in the hopes that he would come out from hiding and get some sustanance. It was disappointing that when Gail checked it later, the burger was still there.
The snow since last night has made it impossible for volunteers outside of Annandale to get there to help, even if work wasn't an issue, and we are looking for internet ways of spreading the word so that people who see Griffy will know who to contact. Griffy did get his 15 minutes of fame on Channel 4 news, which has lead to a little more exposure on at least one Annandale VA blog -- which is great since it takes a village to find a lost do!
Can you post an update about Griffy with a link to the blog on Facebook or Twitter or any message boards that you visit? You might be the one that pushes the word to the next person that sees Griffy!
Yesterday, before the snow got under way, a few volunteers went out and basically drove as much of last Thursday's track, mapped at right, as possible, and spent extra time at a few areas that the tracking dog had indicated as having been places where Griffy had spent additional time in. One was an area behind a small strip shopping center, where the dumpsters look like a doggie haven. The snow had been plowed, so tracks weren't found, but there was plenty of what dogs would call food strewn around -- like bags that could have been torn into by dogs. So we feel this is an area to watch.
Another is a residence, and specifically the area under a deck where he had previously slept (apparently). Paw prints that could have been Griffy's were discernible. So some cheeseburgers were left there in the hopes that he would come out from hiding and get some sustanance. It was disappointing that when Gail checked it later, the burger was still there.
The snow since last night has made it impossible for volunteers outside of Annandale to get there to help, even if work wasn't an issue, and we are looking for internet ways of spreading the word so that people who see Griffy will know who to contact. Griffy did get his 15 minutes of fame on Channel 4 news, which has lead to a little more exposure on at least one Annandale VA blog -- which is great since it takes a village to find a lost do!
Can you post an update about Griffy with a link to the blog on Facebook or Twitter or any message boards that you visit? You might be the one that pushes the word to the next person that sees Griffy!
Monday, February 8, 2010
A Sighting From Last Week
Since the snow has started, we haven't seen anything of Griffy, but we did learn of a sighting that occurred last Wednesday. As I'm trying to map it, I see that I may not have gotten the cross streets correct, so check back for the information on this sighting. But it did occur between the Tuesday night sighting (learned about on Thursday night's track) and the track on Thursday night.
A call was received on Monday that indicated that Griffy may have been seen in the Rose Hill area. The caller hung up when Gail asked for specific information so she could know where to go to check it out.
What we want to do but don't have the available people to do yet is reach out to the neighbors in the streets along the track so we can ask them all to check their property for Griffy or signs that he has been there. With no sightings, we feel that he may have found a place to hole up, and that perhaps the snow has blocked his exit from an area in which he may have been taking shelter. If you are able to make phone calls to speak with Annandale residents living on specific streets, please leave a comment and one of us will contact you to give you information to go on for this.
A call was received on Monday that indicated that Griffy may have been seen in the Rose Hill area. The caller hung up when Gail asked for specific information so she could know where to go to check it out.
What we want to do but don't have the available people to do yet is reach out to the neighbors in the streets along the track so we can ask them all to check their property for Griffy or signs that he has been there. With no sightings, we feel that he may have found a place to hole up, and that perhaps the snow has blocked his exit from an area in which he may have been taking shelter. If you are able to make phone calls to speak with Annandale residents living on specific streets, please leave a comment and one of us will contact you to give you information to go on for this.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
