Thursday, March 17, 2011

#1 Sparkles Drive is Finished!






After spending nearly 400 hours, #1 Sparkles Drive is now complete, thanks to the wonderful craftmanship of Susan Heikkila of the Ward Fire Department (AR)! #1 Sparkles Drive is a 1/12th scale model of an old fashioned two story firehouse, complete with pole.

According to Susan, this little firehouse is "big on love and craftsmanship." And no wonder! Susan's passion for this project, along with her friend Suzanne Schwabb of Suzanne’s Dollhouses in O’Fallon, MO, was fueled to help Firefighter Dayna and the fire safety dogs and Friends of Sparkles raise funds* for Sparkles’ Pathway, a section of the Walk of Honor® at the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation®.

The walkway will honor Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog and her work with children and fire safety, and will help keep her memory alive in all the hearts that loved and knew her.

This firehouse will be raffled off in July. Stay tuned for upcoming information regarding the raffle.

To learn more about Sparkles’ pathway, visit http://www.sparklesthefiresafetydog.com/sparklesmemorialpathway.html and the National Fallen Firefighter’s Foundation, visit http://www.firehero.org/.
#1 Sparkles Drive Under Construction


Breaking ground
#1 Sparkles Drive permit
Beautiful furniture by Susan!


The firehouse bay area

Sparkles' Dressing Table

Thank you Susan and Suzanne for this amazing gift!





*Please note that this fundraising effort is not sponsored by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. It is sponsored by the Friends of Sparkles to help support the work of NFFF.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Congratulations, Siren!



Congratulations to Siren for passing his AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy test!




Siren took several weeks of training at SMART DOGS Dog Training and grew up before my very eyes to become a well mannered dog! Siren loved attending and loved being around the other dogs. He learned many wonderful things from Mary, owner of SMART DOGS Dog Training, as did I. I'm not sure who learned more!

Below is Siren receiving his certificate from Mary:


Way to go, Siren! You're a good boy!

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog's Fire Safety Tips on Sprout's Webpage

Sparkles' fire safety site on the PBS Kids Sprout webpage. Fun videos, games and activity sheets for the pre-schooler in your life! To go the page, click HERE.

Friday, March 4, 2011

Invitation to Sparkles' Memorial Service

Our sponsor, First Alert

It's official!

First Alert has been supporting our fire safety efforts since 2006. We are excited that they are the official sponsor of our program! If you look on Sparkles' blog, you will notice that we now have First Alert's logo on the page! Thank you to First Alert for sponsoring our fire safety efforts and for helping us keep children and their caregivers fire safe.


Sparkles and Sparkles' Pathway in National Fallen Firefighter Foundation's Survivor Newsletter

The National Fallen Firefighters Foundation publishes a newsletter for survivors of fallen firefighters and others interested in issues that relate to line-of-duty death. The newsletter focuses on survivor issues, benefits, and Foundation programs.

We are very honored that Sparkles and Sparkles' Pathway is featured in their
Winter 2011 issue. To view the article, click on the picture below. Sparkles' story is on page 6.

To learn more about Sparkles' Pathway and how you can help support the work of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, click HERE.