Sarah didn’t want to add to the tension between herself and Jane and Anne. The two of them offered to chair YipYeow Day, which was fine with Sarah, but the mayor insisted on Sarah, ostensibly because the fund-raiser was her idea, and she had an ongoing involvement with the shelter. The real reason, which everyone knew, was that unlike Anne, Sarah had no intention of running against him in the next mayoral election.
Although Anne and Jane didn’t make Sarah as nervous as the idea of cooking, she was leery of planning anything with either of them. Perhaps she was paranoid, but she felt they always came to whatever table she sat at with hidden agendas. Maybe tonight would be different, but she doubted it the same way she didn’t believe a zebra could change its stripes.
Any further negative thoughts were knocked out of her mind by the chiming doorbell. She flung the front door open and found herself standing toe to toe with Jane. So much for the evening not starting off with a bang. “Hi, Jane. Come in.”
Jane didn’t budge from the doorway. “Where’s that cat of yours?”
“Locked in my bedroom while this meeting is going on.”
Sarah thought Jane muttered something like, “Good,” as she entered the house, but Sarah was too busy welcoming the next people coming up the walk toward the snacks to continue their conversation.
Once Sarah was sure everyone had a proper opportunity to ooh and ahh in Marcus’s presence about his beautiful desserts, she shooed people into the living room. The chairs in there easily filled and, while several people stood, the remainder of the overflow squeezed themselves into places on the floor.
Sarah walked to the front of the room, where the shelter’s new executive director, Phyllis Peters, stood by the fireplace.
“I can’t believe how many people are here tonight, Sarah. I don’t know how the shelter or I can thank you for this.”
“Thanks aren’t needed. Let’s hope the fund-raiser is as successful as the turnout for organizing it.”
“Agreed. Oh, there are the Williamses. They adopted the cutest Maltese last week. I better go say hi to them and a few of our other special patrons.”
While Phyllis went to make nice, Sarah took a moment to survey the crowd before calling the meeting to order. There were many people she didn’t know, but she recognized quite a few besides Jane and Anne. Eloise and Mr. Rogers had grabbed her overstuffed fireside chairs. Jacob waved at her from a place on the floor, near Mr. Rogers’s feet, where he sat with Cliff. Across the room from them, she was surprised to see Mr. Bailey and Thomas Howell seated with a few of the mall shop owners and two ministers. Harlan leaned on a wall at the very back of the room near some of her neighbors and the youngish-looking coroner, Dr. Smith. She wondered if he was here because he liked animals or if he was their official police presence in Chief Gerard’s absence.
Sarah swallowed and cleared her throat. Realizing she’d stuck her hands into her pockets, she pulled them out, so she wouldn’t be slouching forward. Still wanting to hold on to something to steady her nerves, she compromised by locking her thumbs into the belt loops of her jeans.
“Thank you all for coming tonight and for being so supportive of the Wheaton Animal Shelter. The mayor is sorry he couldn’t be with us tonight, but I’d like to introduce you to Phyllis Peters, the new executive director of the shelter.”
Phyllis stepped forward and echoed Sarah’s welcoming remarks and the gratitude the shelter had for everything being done on its behalf. Before she gave the floor back to Sarah, she invited everyone to feel free to call her to find out about fostering and adoption opportunities.
“Thank you, Phyllis. I hope your phone rings off the hook tomorrow, but tonight we’re here to talk about YipYeow Day, which we hope will become an annual fund-raising event. The plan, as originally proposed, is to have an animal parade in a few months. Participation will require submission of an entry form and fee. All fees will be one hundred percent donations to the shelter. The parade itself will go around the block the shelter is located on and then people can come inside where there will be a showcase of adoptable animals set up.”
A hand went up, but Sarah ignored it. “As I said, that was our original plan, but it changed during the city council meeting when the council, whose vice president, Anne Hightower, is here tonight, voted that if we hold the function when there is a gap in the city parks’ calendar, a week from this Saturday, they will close four streets for two hours, provide police and sanitation services for the event, and give us free use of the park pavilion area for the afternoon. This will allow us to raise more funds from vendors and sponsors. More importantly, we’ll have more room to showcase adoptable animals from the shelter.”
When the room burst into applause, Sarah stopped speaking. She continued when the applause died. “Of course, Wheaton, the mayor, and the city council will be identified in our literature and signage as sponsors, but I’m glad to announce that since that council meeting, Wheaton Tractor and Southwind Restaurants, Inc., which, by the way, through Chef Marcus, provided your treats for tonight, also signed on as named sponsors. In addition, before his death, council president Lance Knowlton informed me his bank would be a cash sponsor.”
This time the young man who’d raised his hand before shouted out his question. “For how much?”
Sarah quickly glanced in Mr. Bailey’s direction before concentrating on the full group again. “Although Mr. Knowlton mentioned a very generous sum, our sponsor committee needs to confirm that amount with the bank.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Mr. Bailey was on his feet. “We believe the more corporate sponsors obtained for YipYeow Day, the more successful this fund-raiser will be. Because of that, we would like to make a seed contribution of a thousand dollars.”
“How wonderful,” Sarah said, disappointed the bank wasn’t coming in at the original five thousand dollars Lance had mentioned.
Bailey held up his hands to quiet the politely applauding group. “But that’s not all we want to do. The bank will match up to an additional five thousand dollars of contributions made to the shelter in memory of our beloved Lance Knowlton.”
Sarah was thrilled. In the end, the bank would be donating even more than Lance promised. Before she could properly thank the bank and Bailey, Harlan interrupted her. “I’ll meet the thousand seed contribution and my law firm, Endicott and Associates, also will match up to five thousand dollars in donations. This event is important to our animals, so I hope you’ll accept the bank’s and my challenge.”
“I can’t believe this! Thank you!”
Harlan blushed. “Considering the importance of this project, I think we should create a committee dedicated to seeking corporate contributions. We can target Wheaton businesses and perhaps reach out to some of the larger Birmingham businesses.”
Anne Hightower objected. “We’ve never sought designated business contributions for the shelter. Designated gifts from businesses may reduce their donations elsewhere.”
“But Ms. Hightower,” someone Sarah didn’t recognize said, “some businesses won’t give to the same thing year in, year out, so we should get in their cycles now.”
“Well, I, for one, feel uncomfortable soliciting from businesses.”
Jacob jumped to his feet. “I can understand that. I don’t think anyone who is or might be running for office should do business solicitations. It might be considered a conflict with their campaigns. Because I don’t have that problem, I’ll be glad to chair the business solicitation committee and make some of the bigger asks myself.”
Sarah, observing the giant grin he bestowed upon his sister and her “if looks could kill” glaring response, struggled not to laugh.
“But there may be confusion because of our shared name,” Anne said.
“Believe me, dear sister, we may both be Hightowers, but no one will ever confuse us.”
Before the war between the siblings escalated, Sarah intervened. “This is wonderful. The success of YipYeow Day is guaranteed with this kind of star
t. Which brings me to why we’re here tonight.” She held up a poster that depicted the closed streets, parade route, and pavilion setup. “In order to make this work, we need to form several committees, including sponsorship, vendors, and publicity. Are there other thoughts and ideas you’d like to share?”
Hands flew up, and Sarah recognized them in turn. Bailey offered to handle the treasury aspects of the event, including setting up a no-fee checking account for YipYeow Day. The woman who, with her husband, owned the copy shop said they’d print all tickets and signs for free. Cliff offered to build a raised platform for the speaker and to showcase the animals needing a home.
Although Sarah was tempted to ignore Jane’s raised hand or to recognize her as “Bimbo,” she called on her by her given name.
“I’ll be glad to set up a food table. I’m sure I can come up with some pet-related recipes.”
“That sounds lovely,” Anne interrupted, “but you better coordinate with Chef Marcus. He’s going to have a Southwind food table of human and animal treats.”
Sarah did a double take. Anne, who was Emily and Marcus’s chief nemesis at council meetings, was now standing up for Marcus and his plans for an official food table at the event. Perhaps this was a sign that the rest of the permits would come through by a week from Saturday so Marcus could officially open the Southwind Pub and hold the reception as planned. She certainly hoped Anne’s change of heart and treatment of Marcus, like he was her new best friend, meant that.
“This is all wonderful,” Sarah said. “Before we break for refreshments, is there anything else anyone wants to say?”
One of the two ministers sitting across the room raised his hand. When Sarah recognized him, he stood. “I’m Pastor Paul Dobbins from the Little Brown Church on West Jefferson Street. On behalf of LBC, I think I have another way which might help raise more revenue for both the city and the shelter.”
All eyes, including Sarah’s, turned toward Pastor Dobbins. She couldn’t imagine how the YipYeow parade would financially benefit the city, considering the manpower and services it was donating.
“As part of my community outreach work, I’d be glad to host a nondenominational Blessing of the Beasts service at LBC. That kind of service was a big hit in the parish I was in before my recent assignment to LBC.”
“How does it work?” Anne Hightower asked.
“Very simply. Everyone brings their pets to the church or wherever we decide to hold the service. After I present some general but applicable biblical and literature readings and remarks, I say a blessing over all the animals the community wants blessed. It doesn’t matter if it is a dog, cat, hamster, bunny, or rat—all are God’s children. The only problem is that the weekend YipYeow Day is scheduled, I can only do it on Sunday morning.”
Anne Hightower stood. “That wouldn’t be a problem.”
Sarah opened her mouth, but it was a few seconds before she could stammer out any words. “Actually, it might be. When Mr. Knowlton and the mayor discussed what we wanted to do before we brought the final proposal to the council meeting, they found the pavilion and walkways were only available on that Saturday. Wedding and reunion parties have completely booked the Sundays and other Saturdays for the next few months. The mayor also indicated the city’s offer was contingent on having the event on Saturday to avoid paying a Sunday overtime premium.”
“That settles that,” Anne said. “but I don’t think we should pass on Pastor Dobbins’s generous offer. We can hold the Blessing of the Beasts at LBC on Sunday, charging a token additional fee to those registering for YipYeow Day and making it free to those who adopt an animal on Saturday.”
“But security—”
“Not a problem. LBC is a small church, so I don’t see a problem obtaining a few private security guards for the Sunday service. In fact, I’ll commit Hightower Realty to underwriting a primary sponsorship covering whatever the security detail cost is.”
“That’s very generous of you. I hate to play devil’s advocate, but—”
“But you will, Sarah.”
Sarah shrugged. “I can’t help it. We need to realize it will mean more planning and committee work to have what amounts to two events, even if we advertise them as one.”
Next to her, Sarah heard a rustling as Eloise rose from her chair. “I think Sarah is making some good points we need to consider. After all, this is our first time doing this and our resources are limited. Looking around this room, except for a few people who couldn’t come tonight, we’re it when it comes to worker bees. We’ll be stretched thin trying to do everything for two days, especially if we market this and pull in people from Birmingham and other neighboring communities. I think we should hold the Blessing of the Beasts as something we add next year if this year’s YipYeow Day is a success.”
“Eloise and Sarah, I appreciate your opinions, but there are definite advantages to a two-day event.” Anne held up her fingers so everyone in the room could count with her.
“First, if we attract people who spend the night, our hotels, restaurants, and city will reap the benefit of the money they spend on meals, lodging, and miscellaneous things. Second, the potential of overnight visitors using hotel rooms means we can employ the resources of the Convention Bureau for things like registration, name tags, and even some giveaways on both days. This means those of you in this room won’t have to do the mundane things associated with an event. Personally, I don’t see how we can lose.”
Anne turned to address the greatest part of the audience. “What do you think?”
One of Sarah’s neighbors yelled, “I think we should do it. I know I’d bring my dog to both.”
“What about the rest of you?” Anne said. “Let’s have a show of hands who think we should make this a two-day festival?”
When only Sarah, Eloise, and two others didn’t raise their hands, Anne declared the motion passed but hastened to add that, of course, it wasn’t a real motion, simply the volunteers’ overwhelming opinion. At that, Jane raised her hand. Sarah and Anne simultaneously called on her.
“I know the Convention Bureau will ease the burden on our volunteers, but I think Sarah is right when she said planning our first YipYeow event as a two-day festival is too much for one person.”
Sarah couldn’t believe her ears. Was Jane siding with her?
“Rather than overburdening Sarah, considering she has a real job, too, I think we should leave her in charge of only the Saturday event. I’ll gladly volunteer to work with Pastor Dobbins to arrange and publicize the Sunday Blessing of the Beasts. Would that be okay with you, Pastor?” Jane batted her eyes at him.
“Most definitely. And if all of you wouldn’t object, I’d love to get my wife, Yvonne, who couldn’t be here tonight, to work with us. This kind of event and its overnight aspect is her specialty. Full disclosure, for those of you who don’t know, she recently accepted a job as the assistant director of the Wheaton Convention Bureau. I’m sure, with Yvonne’s guidance, as Ms. Hightower explained it far better than I can, this is exactly the type of thing the Convention Bureau exists to help with.”
Sarah felt sick to her stomach as Anne demurely accepted Pastor Dobbins’s praise by glancing at the floor.
After a few seconds, Anne raised her head and again assumed control of the meeting. “Well, folks, sounds like we have a plan. Before we go any further, let’s give Sarah a big hand for pulling this together.” After the clapping concluded, she continued, “Now, it’s up to all of us. I know, whether it’s marketing, ticket sales, or some other task we need you to help with, you’ll be willing to do whatever it takes to make YipYeow Day, or should I say Weekend, a success. I think Sarah said the committee sign-up sheets are in the dining room right next to those delicious Southwind desserts.”
“One moment, please.”
The voice belonged to Thomas Howell. With every eye on him, including Sarah’s, he walked to the front of the room and positioned himself behind his uncle’s chair, his hands resting on its high b
ack. “I know those desserts are calling, but before you take advantage of them, I have another idea I’d like to share with all of you.”
Sarah stared at him. She had no idea what he was going to propose. A quick glance at Anne’s and Jane’s blank faces told her they didn’t, either.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Thomas Howell, the owner of Birmingham’s Howellian Hotel and George Rogers’s nephew.” He placed one hand on his uncle’s shoulder.
Sarah couldn’t clearly see Mr. Rogers’s face, but she bet it wasn’t a happy one.
“Having spent a lot of quality time in Wheaton, its charities and people mean a lot to me. My work demands I live in Birmingham, but because of the time I spent here with my late mother, aunt, and, of course, my dear uncle, I’ve always thought of Wheaton as being my Alabama home. I’m very familiar with what a worthy cause and agency the Wheaton Animal Shelter is, but I’m preaching to the choir telling that to you. You volunteers are the glue that’s going to make this project work.”
Sarah wasn’t sure what he was going to say next, but she didn’t feel she could cut him off.
Palm up, he raised the hand not on his uncle’s shoulder and paused, giving the audience more time to focus on his next words. “I’m going to sign up to help with one of the Saturday committees, but I have an idea for something else I can do to benefit the shelter.”
Sarah didn’t know if she should be excited or apprehensive. “Oh?”
“I always believe in saying ‘thank you’ for the hard work people do.” He waved his raised hand to encompass the room. “In a very short period, you, your families, and your friends will give a lot of time and energy behind the scenes and at the YipYeow events. I’d like to say thank you by my throwing, with no slight to the hotel’s dog photo exhibit, but because of my mother’s love for cats, a nod to our cat exhibit, Catapalooza Night at the Howellian ballroom the Saturday night of the event. Catapalooza will be both a formal community fund-raiser geared at those who love animals in Birmingham and serve as a special thank-you to all of you.”
Two Bites Too Many Page 14