'Please save this dog!'
By Judy Bowman, Journal correspondent | Posted: Sunday, July 29, 2007
Not everyone attends the fair for the same reasons. Travis Staab drove all the way from California this past week to attend his first Plymouth County Fair. His main goal at the busy fairgrounds: To find a good home for his dog, Shanti, since Staab is planning to join the Navy soon. The Plymouth County Fair continues through tonight. (Photo by Judy Bowman)
LE MARS, Iowa -- "People watching" is always a part of the crowded Plymouth County Fair's Pioneer Village, but on Saturday, a California man decided to give "dog watching" a try.
Travis Staab and his dog Shanti first appeared sitting on a bench near the Pioneer Village's chapel. Travis held a sign: "Free dog ... Moving and can't keep ... Please save this dog!"
Some hard times in California sent Staab and his father back to Remsen, Iowa, where Staab's grandparents, Wendell and Pat, reside. After a cross-country car trip, Shanti was ready to rest at the fair and fight the Iowa humidity.
"Shanti means love. My dad got it out of one of his spiritual books," Travis said of his 1-year-old Alaskan husky-German shepherd cross.
Many fair-goers were oohing and aahing over Shanti's "cool face," including one dark eye and one white, the characteristic of the Husky breed. No matter how good Shanti was being, hours went by and still no home for the dog.
Staab, a graduate of Yosemite High School in Oakhurst, Calif., soon will turn 20 and said he thinks the Navy will be "my best bet for life." The animal lover said he hopes to enter the Navy and work in marine biology. He needs to find Shanti a home.
Shanti, who is from a litter of eight, had a home in California, but when the woman became ill, Travis agreed to take the dog back.
This was Staab's first visit to the Plymouth County Fair, and he was spending most of his time just sitting with his dog and his "free dog" sign. Plenty of water breaks were needed for Shanti, who was not used to Iowa's humidity.
"I love animals. I've cried quite a few times over it," he said of his dog. "As long as they've got someone to love, it seems like it doesn't really matter."
Travis assured fair-goers that Shanti is a gentle dog, thanks to the love he and his father have shown toward her. "We made her into a big teddy bear pretty much."
Staab has been to Iowa three or four times to visit his grandparents at Remsen.
"I've never seen it in the winter," Staab said of Iowa.
It appears that everyone and their dog are at the Plymouth County Fair, where attendance is soaring ahead of last year. Anchoring the busy Pioneer Village where Travis and Shanti started their "dog watching" efforts is the historic Round Barn, now seeing its 25th Plymouth County Fair. The landmark at the fair was moved to the fairgrounds on Sept. 10, 1981. The 1919 Round Barn is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Open class exhibits fill the barn -- everything from flowers and vegetables on the lower level to art and antiques on the upper level.
The actual start of the Pioneer Village was 46 years ago when the country school house was moved to the fairgrounds. The 1885 school house has become a shining star this year since it is the featured building on the fair's belt buckles, which will be for sale today during the fair's auction at 4:30 p.m.
Featured entertainment on the Pioneer Village Stage today, the final day of the village, will be Marissa Harvey, country vocalist, at 2 p.m., and Craig Winquist, Nashville country music and song writer, at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Highlighting the afternoon at 4:30 p.m. will be the auction of chainsaw creations by chainsaw artist A. J. Lutter, along with the sale of belt buckles.
The Browns of Plymouth County will entertain at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close the Pioneer Village for another year.
Travis Staab and his dog Shanti first appeared sitting on a bench near the Pioneer Village's chapel. Travis held a sign: "Free dog ... Moving and can't keep ... Please save this dog!"
Some hard times in California sent Staab and his father back to Remsen, Iowa, where Staab's grandparents, Wendell and Pat, reside. After a cross-country car trip, Shanti was ready to rest at the fair and fight the Iowa humidity.
"Shanti means love. My dad got it out of one of his spiritual books," Travis said of his 1-year-old Alaskan husky-German shepherd cross.
Many fair-goers were oohing and aahing over Shanti's "cool face," including one dark eye and one white, the characteristic of the Husky breed. No matter how good Shanti was being, hours went by and still no home for the dog.
Staab, a graduate of Yosemite High School in Oakhurst, Calif., soon will turn 20 and said he thinks the Navy will be "my best bet for life." The animal lover said he hopes to enter the Navy and work in marine biology. He needs to find Shanti a home.
Shanti, who is from a litter of eight, had a home in California, but when the woman became ill, Travis agreed to take the dog back.
This was Staab's first visit to the Plymouth County Fair, and he was spending most of his time just sitting with his dog and his "free dog" sign. Plenty of water breaks were needed for Shanti, who was not used to Iowa's humidity.
"I love animals. I've cried quite a few times over it," he said of his dog. "As long as they've got someone to love, it seems like it doesn't really matter."
Travis assured fair-goers that Shanti is a gentle dog, thanks to the love he and his father have shown toward her. "We made her into a big teddy bear pretty much."
Staab has been to Iowa three or four times to visit his grandparents at Remsen.
"I've never seen it in the winter," Staab said of Iowa.
It appears that everyone and their dog are at the Plymouth County Fair, where attendance is soaring ahead of last year. Anchoring the busy Pioneer Village where Travis and Shanti started their "dog watching" efforts is the historic Round Barn, now seeing its 25th Plymouth County Fair. The landmark at the fair was moved to the fairgrounds on Sept. 10, 1981. The 1919 Round Barn is now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Open class exhibits fill the barn -- everything from flowers and vegetables on the lower level to art and antiques on the upper level.
The actual start of the Pioneer Village was 46 years ago when the country school house was moved to the fairgrounds. The 1885 school house has become a shining star this year since it is the featured building on the fair's belt buckles, which will be for sale today during the fair's auction at 4:30 p.m.
Featured entertainment on the Pioneer Village Stage today, the final day of the village, will be Marissa Harvey, country vocalist, at 2 p.m., and Craig Winquist, Nashville country music and song writer, at 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Highlighting the afternoon at 4:30 p.m. will be the auction of chainsaw creations by chainsaw artist A. J. Lutter, along with the sale of belt buckles.
The Browns of Plymouth County will entertain at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. to close the Pioneer Village for another year.
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