Sparkles Mentioned in IFSTA's Speaking of Fire Newsletter

Sparkles is mentioned in the Spring 2009 issue of the International Fire Service Training Association's Speaking of Fire Newsletter (page 12).

Click on the picture of the newsletter cover to read the article.

Updated Event List

April 16th

x

Authors and Coffee

6:30 P.M.

Hastings Hardback Cafe

Russellville, Arkansas

x

April 17th

x

North Little Rock Schools

x

April 18th

Arkansas Literary Festival
1:00 P.M.
Historic Arkansas Museum
Little Rock, Arkansas

April 23rd

National Volunteer Fire Council Booth
2:00-5:00 P.M.
Fire Department Instructor's Conference
Indianapolis, Indiana

April 25th

IFSTA Booth
9:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.
Fire Department Instructor's Conference
Indianapolis, Indiana

June 6-9

NFPA Conference
Chicago, Illinois

August 24-28

Fire Rescue International
Dallas, Texas

September or October

Showcase on the Mall

Event Sponsored by the Congressional Fire Services Institute

Home Safety Council Education Pavilion

Washington, DC

Sparkles on "Jakezilla" Blog

Sparkles and I were so excited to see a post on the "Mommy Blog", "Jakezilla!" Thank you so much Lora and Jake for sharing the fire safety message!

Jake is a "Sproutlet" and we just love to hear from Sproutlets who watch Sparkles and Spanner's fire safety tips on PBS KIDS Sprout on Demand.

Be sure to visit their site HERE and look for a contest coming really soon on their blog!

Package Arrives from First Alert

First Alert, one of our partners in helping keep children and their caregivers fire safe, sent us a huge package! Sparkles, Spanner, Chief and our new fire safety dog (whom we will be having a contest soon to name!) were really excited to check out the new smoke alarms and Tundras.

x

The smoke alarm is a 10-year tamperproof smoke and fire alarm and the battery never needs replacing! And, BONUS, the smoke alarm mutes unwanted alarms! And the tundra, what can I say, I love the Tundra! To learn more about the Tundra, visit my firesafetyeducator.com blog to learn more!

Now why would we need a whole box of smoke alarms and Tundras? I'm glad you asked! Sparkles and I have made it our mission to keep everyone fire safe and to do this, we are trying to reach the masses. Since 2006, First Alert has been helping us reach as many people as possible with our fire safety efforts, so.... this was the perfect project! SO, if you are a blogger(mommy blogger, dog blogger, author blogger or another type of blogger!) and have a large audience, we want to hear from you! Let's put together some fun contests to promote fire safety (for an example of a contest, visit my friend Michelle's My Semblance of Sanity blog)!

xxxxxxxxxxxSparkles checking out the box from First Alert

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxNext it's Chief's turn to see what's inside

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxThanks First Alert!

Thank you to everyone at First Alert for helping keep children and their caregivers fire safe! You are our Sparkles Fire Safety Champions of the Day!

Sparkles Receives Package from Amber-Mae, Faith, Chloe and Melissa from Malaysia!

Amber-Mae, Chloe, Faith and Melissa, we love you! Thank you so much for the awesome drawing of Sparkles and for your Limited Edition DVD, "Stop" (The proceeds from "Stop" help PAWS dogs and cats for adoption). Visit their page HERE. And if you want to see something really cute, check out Amber's visit to the vet. I have never seen such cute pictures!

Sparkles and I love the drawing and have it hanging right where we can see it when we sit at the computer. : )

If you would like to send us your drawing of Sparkles, we will feature here on our blog!

Sparkles Visits Mountain View, Arkansas

Today Sparkles and I went to beautiful Mountain View, Arkansas. We made a fire safety presentation and signed books for the ladies in attendance.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAnswering questions

xxxxxxxxxxSparkles had a great time! The weather was perfect!

Book review from Pamela Maynard

Received this review from freelance writer, Pamela Maynard.

xx

"Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog turns a scary subject into a fun learning experience. Sparkles and Firefighter Dayna show children and adults how to be safe during a fire or suspected fire. The real life photos of Sparkles demonstrating fire safety to children are fun to look at as well as instructional.

My six year-old son loved Sparkles so much that we had to read it to his kindergarten class. His classmates were captivated by Sparkles. They wanted me to read about Sparkles again and again. We even went back and discussed every picture. Their favorite picture was Sparkles in his own bed! The fun pictures kept all eyes and attention on the book. The kindergarteners wanted to know if Sparkles was a real dog and if he could come visit them.

Thanks Firefighter Dayna for sharing your special dog with children all over the world. Fire safety has never been so fun!"

xx

Pamela writes childrens stories from a 7.5 acre happy homestead that she shares with her son, husband, 3 dogs, 3 cats and 8 guinea hens in New Hampshire. Pamela's Poultry Pest Patrol article debuts in May 09 GRIT magazine. The Super Grow Machine, Pamela's first published story, appeared in KIDZ RULE, USA magazine 2008. THE KIDS ARK magazine accepted Pamela's story Leo's Lie for their May 2010 issue.

Pam, thanks for the great review! Firefighter Dayna and Sparkles

Sparkles on the My Semblance of Sanity "Mommy Blog"

This morning, Sparkles is featured on her very first "Mommy Blog", My Semblance of Sanity, by Michelle Brownlow. In addition to being a well known mommy blogger, Michelle is an artist, author and freelance columnist. And if that wasn't enough to keep her busy, she has recently launched THE MOM SHOW on YouTube.

Michelle is helping us reach thousands of moms and their families across the country with the fire safety message. Thanks, Michelle!

Be sure to check out Michelle's blog and you can have a chance to win a "Limited Edition" of the book, Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog. This book is a very special "Limited Edition" and is signed by Firefighter Dayna, Firefighter Michael, and "pawed" by Sparkles! You will also receive a First Alert Smoke Alarm, an audio book (made by three generations of firefighters and Sparkles) and a Rush and Rescue Firetruck.

*Congratulations to Adam and Brennan for winning this very special contest!

Sparkles in the March/April issue of FIDO Friendly Magazine

Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog is in the March/April issue of FIDO Friendly magazine. Click HERE to see a page on the web that mentions the "Features." These features mention Sparkles.
We can't wait until this issue hits the stands in Arkansas!

Sparkles Visits the Greenwood Rotary Club.

Sparkles and I visited the Greenwood Rotary Club in Greenwood, Arkansas. What a great time that we had! Everyone was so friendly and we had the best time sharing our story and fire safety messages.

Special thanks go to Gary and Theresa for setting everything up. We had the best time!

Sparkles Visits Westwood Elementary School in Greenwood

Sparkles had so much fun visiting Westwood Elementary in Greenwood, Arkansas today! When we were walking down the hallway into the gymnasium, the children were chanting, "Sparkles, Sparkles, Sparkles...." It was incredible!

Thank you to the Greenwood Rotary Club for sponsoring this event!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxPhotos courtesy of Theresa Burtchett

Sparkles on the Little Rock Family Magazine Facebook Page

Sparkles and I made new friends from the Little Rock Family magazine! Our new friend, Waynette, contacted us for a story they are running in the April issue about the Arkansas Literary Festival (we'll be at the festival on the 18th of April). She also put the cover of our book, Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog on their Facebook page.

A Picture from Sparkles' Fan, Justin Maynard

We just received this picture from Justin Maynard, and Sparkles was so excited to get this picture! Her tail has been wagging non-stop! Justin's mom wrote on Sparkles' Facebook Page: "A happy reader and fan of Sparkles, Justin Maynard. He wants to meet Sparkles and give him a big puppy hug!" Justin, Sparkles would love to have a big puppy hug and would love to meet you someday! She has her paws crossed!

Sparkles Visits the Rotary Club of Tulsa Meeting

Sparkles and I were invited to attend the Rotary Club of Tulsa meeting. There were almost 500 Rotarians there!

We appreciated the opportunity to personally thank the Rotarians for purchasing 450 copies of Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog for each child at Celia Clinton Elementary. Because of this gesture, two children and their two families knew what to do in an actual fire related situation (to learn more, click HERE).

Below is a portion of the video from the event.

View pictures from the event HERE.

Sparkles Visits Tulsa Animal Welfare Shelter

Today Sparkles visited the Tulsa Animal Welfare Shelter in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Thank you to Millicent Adu-H’Torah for inviting us.



Sparkles spent some time at the shelter after being rescued from a house with 62 other dogs in 2002. Sparkles' "Angels", Lawanna Smith and Nancy Werhene from the Dalmatian Assistance League, took Sparkles into their care. My husband and I adopted Sparkles in May.

Tulsa Pet Magazine Online
KRMG.com

Media Advisory from Tulsa Mayor's Office

Today a media advisory for Sparkles' visit to the Tulsa Animal Shelter tomorrow went out the the Tulsa media.

OFFICE OF THE MAYOR
Kathryn L. Taylor
175 E. 2nd Street
Tulsa, OK 74103

918 · 596 · 7411

Media Advisory

Date: March 2, 2009 #09-82

Contacts: Millicent Adu-H’Torah, (918) 669-6289
Mary Coley, Communications Dept., (918) 596-7270

Sparkles Returns to Tulsa

Tulsa area media are advised that Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog and pet guardian Dayna Hilton will return to Tulsa on Wednesday, March 4 and will be available for interviews at the Tulsa Animal Welfare Shelter, 3031 N. Erie Ave., Tulsa, from 9:30 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. During their visit to Tulsa Animal Welfare on Wednesday, Dayna and Sparkles will demonstrate how they educate children about fire safety.

Sparkles was originally rescued in Tulsa in May of 2003 from a home where 62 other dogs were living. Lawanna Smith and Nancy Werhane of the Dalmation Assistance League of Tulsa (DAL) were responsible for matching Sparkles with Hilton, of Clarksville, Arkansas.

Since her rescue, Sparkles and Firefighter Dayna have made it their mission to educate children and their families about fire safety.

Hilton has written a fire safety book and audio book, Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog, and has made numerous television appearances and media interviews throughout the country.
Recently Sparkles has also been credited with helping save the lives of two Tulsa Celia Clinton Elementary students and their families.

For more information or to schedule an interview on March 4, contact Millicent Adu-H’Torah, 918.669.6289 or call the Shelter at 918.669.6299.

# # #

Information may also be found on the Tulsa Pet Magazine website.