Announcing: The 2015 Fall Show!

Exciting news: our fall flyer is up! 

Our fall sale will be held on Saturday, November 21 at 2233 Vienna-Dozier Road in Pfafftown, NC. Gates will open at 10:00 AM, and admission is one dollar for adults (kids are free).  Please bring your own shopping bags, and like the ladies on our flier, carpool if you can! Brookstown United Methodist Church, located on the corner ofYadkinville Road and Lewisville-Vienna Road, has generously agreed to let us use their parking lot again this year. The church is about ¼ mile from the show site. There will be a shuttle bus to take you to and from the event. The shuttle will be FREE! (However, we’re pretty sure the driver would gladly accept tips.) If you choose to park at the church, please park in marked spaces only (not on the grass).
 

One you get to the sale, we'll have food and drinks while they last. And once again, you can dance to the music by Wicker and Jones as you shop or snack!

We'll also be raising money for Warrior Service Dogs. As you may know from previous sales, Warrior Service Dogs is a nonprofit based in Asheville, NC dedicated to linking trained rescue dogs to veterans suffering with the challenges of PTSD. During the fall show, we'll collect cash donations and items like moist dog treats, dog crates of all sizes, leashes, collars, collapsible dog bowls, and more for this fabulous organization.

And last but not least, for 2015, the Whimsical Women are adding an easy and exciting service opportunity to the Fall Show. Have you ever thrown out or recycled a prescription pill bottle? Landfills do not need our empty plastic prescription pill containers, but someone in Africa could use them to keep their medicine clean and out of the reach of small children.  The Malawi Project does just that.

Your part is easy: just remove the labels from your empty prescription pill bottles (no large bottles please) and bring them to our collection box at the Fall Show. We'll take care of the rest.  With these containers, rural pharmacies and hospitals can dispense medicines in pill bottles instead of torn pieces of paper. Small over-the-counter pill bottles can also be donated.

Since this is an on-going program, please also consider taking a picture with your phone of the address below so you can continue to participate after the show.  

The Malawi Project

3314 Van Tassel Drive

Indianapolis, IN 46240

Stay tuned for more information and sneak peeks, coming soon!

A Message from Molly Mae Potter, Veteran, United States Air Force

It’s been four years, one month, and five days since I returned home from my deployment to Afghanistan.  Since landing back in the USA from my deployment there hasn’t been a single day, and rarely a single hour awake, that I don’t think about something or someone or some memory from that deployment.  

I served in the military as an Air Force officer for six years, but for the rest of my life I will be a veteran of the US armed services whose life was dramatically altered from an intense, frightening war experience.  I returned home a broken soul who suffered from undiagnosed PTSD for many years.  I was finally diagnosed, properly treated, and cared for by my family, friends, military command--and my dog, Bella.  While the support of my family and friends was unparalleled, the love and support of my service dog Bella is what really rescued me in the end.

As more and more veterans are receiving treatment for PTSD, the need for trained service dogs to support the veterans through their treatment process is also on the rise. Once again this year at the Whimsical Woman show, we are going to support a local North Carolina organization dedicated training rescue dogs to support, love, and care for veterans struggling with PTSD. 

Founded by two local Iraq veterans, Warrior Service Dogs is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Asheville, North Carolina that is dedicated to linking trained rescue dogs to veterans suffering with the challenges of PTSD. The organization is the only of its kind that actually links the dog with the veteran and that supports dog and veteran through the service dog training process from start to finish. Once the dog and veteran are linked together, the veteran will work with the trainers of Warrior Service Dogs to train the dog to support the veteran’s needs. 

One might ask how a dog can provide support for someone with PTSD? While the specific struggles with PTSD varies from individual to individual, dogs can be trained to specifically help a person with disabilities manage their recovery process as well as provide therapeutic support along the way. Besides the unwavering love Bella provides in my life each day, Bella also wakes me up from PTSD-induced nightmares at night.

Last year Whimsical Women helped raise $3000 to support Warrior Service Dogs.  Since last November, the money raised during the Fall 2013 show has gone directly to supporting eight local veterans with eight new rescue dogs trained to support these disabled veterans and help them get back on their feet.  Your outpour of support has directly translated to positively impacting and honoring members of our community that have served our country in uniform.  With such an amazing show of support from last year’s show, we have invited Warrior Service Dogs back to Whimsical Women's 2014 show to help raise awareness of veterans’ needs and the positive impact of the love and support that a service dog can have in a local veteran’s life. 

Right now, Warrior Service Dogs need your support with donations of:

-Moist dog treats for training

-Leashes

-Collars

-Small orange cones for training

-Gift cards to Wal-Mart and Lowe’s Home Improvement

-Collapsible dog bowls

-Dog crates of different sizes

-Cash donations to help with veterinary bills, service vest gear, and dog registration

Warrior Service Dogs will be at located at the entrance of Whimsical Women. Please be sure to stop by and thank them for their support to veterans, and while you are at it thank their handlers for their support to our country!
 

Wag more, bark less!

Molly Mae Potter, Veteran, United States Air Force

It's official!

Our fall flier 2014 is up! 

As always, our fall sale will be held at 2233 Vienna-Dozier Road in Pfafftown, NC. Gates will open at 10:00 AM, and admission is one dollar for adults (kids are free).  Please bring your own shopping bags, and like the ladies on our flier, carpool if you can!

We'll have food and drinks while they last, and this year, we're excited to offer music by Wicker and Jones!

Wicker and Jones have been playing their blend of Piedmont blues, vintage jazz, ragtime, and gospel in the Piedmont and beyond for over 20 years. Danny Wicker, the king of the Piedmont guitar, has developed a powerful finger and slide technique that hearkens back to the golden age of Southeastern acoustic blues of the 20's and 30's. Mel Jones brings original blues compositions, a rhythmic harmonica, percussion, and a storyteller's soul to the duo. Together Danny and Mel have released two CDs and have twice won the Charlotte Blues Society's competition to advance to the International Blues Challenge in Memphis.

And one again this year, we'll be raising money for Warrior Service Dogs. Warrior Service Dogs is a nonprofit based in Asheville, NC dedicated to linking trained rescue dogs to veterans suffering with the challenges of PTSD. During the fall show, we'll collect cash donations and items like moist dog treats, dog crates of all sizes, leashes, collars, collapsible dog bowls, and more for this fabulous organization. And we'll feature more information about Warrior Service Dogs on our blog soon!

We're getting excited! See you soon!

Support Warrior Service Dogs at this year's Fall Sale

Dear Whimsical Women Community,

For the past two years, the annual fall Whimsical Women Art Show has supported Bras-N-Boots with thousands of donated items that were shipped to service women deployed around the globe.   Your impressive show of support proves that the women servicing overseas in harm’s way are not forgotten.  While Bras-N-Boots is still an active organization, this year it was brought to my attention that there is another large void in supporting our war veterans. 

This time, the support need is closer to home.  Each year thousands of service women and men return home from war without visible wounds, and struggle each and every day with Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  After my deployment to Afghanistan in 2010, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, I personally struggled with the perils of combat long after I left the war-zone.  While the support of my family and friends was unparalleled, the love and support of my service dog, Bella, is what really rescued me in the end.  This year at Whimsical Woman, we are going to support a local North Carolina organization dedicated training rescue dogs to support, love, and care for veterans struggling with PTSD. 

Warrior Service Dogs is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization based in Asheville, North Carolina that is dedicated to linking trained rescue dogs to veterans suffering with the challenges of PTSD.  The organization is the only of its kind that actually links the dog with the veteran and that supports dog and veteran through the service dog training process from start to finish.  Once the dog and veteran are linked together, the veteran will work with the trainers of Warrior Service Dogs to train the dog to be able to support the veteran’s needs. One might ask how a dog can provide support for someone with PTSD?  While the specific struggles with PTSD varies from individual to individual, dogs can be trained to specifically help a person with disabilities manage their recovery process as well as provide therapeutic support along the way.  Besides the unwavering love Bella provides in my life each day, Bella also wakes me up from PTSD-induced nightmares at night. 

As more and more veterans are receiving treatment for PTSD, the need for trained service dogs to support the veterans through their treatment process is also on the rise. This year at Whimsical Women, let’s support our local veterans, rescue animals, and raise awareness of the challenges with PTSD by helping Warrior Service Dogs.  They have a full time schedule working to train dogs, helping veterans through their PTSD treatment, and raising awareness of the importance of service dogs- any bit of support they can get is much appreciated. 

Right now, Warrior Service Dogs need your support with donations of:

-Moist dog treats for training

-Leashes

-Collars

-Small orange cones for training

-Gift cards to Wal-Mart and Lowe’s Home Improvement

-Collapsible dog bowls

-Dog crates of different sizes

-Cash donations to help with veterinary bills, service vest gear, and dog registration

Warrior Service Dogs will be at located at the entrance of Whimsical Women.  Please be sure to stop by and thank them for their support to veterans, and while you are at it thank their handlers for their support to our country!

Wag more, bark less!

Molly Mae Potter, Capt, United States Air Force