Saline Fair Launches Dog Of The Year Contest

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The Saline Community Fair launched its inaugural best dog competition, September 3. The winner was Kona, the German Shepherd and blue heeler mix belonging to Saline Area Schools fifth grade teacher Kaylee Harmon. The rescue dog is a certified therapy dog who Harmon enjoys bringing into to school to help her students.

“She is super affectionate. For being a rescue, I think that she homes in on that really well. She loves the attention, loves people, and kids are her favorite. She loves to be in the classroom, get attention from them,” Harmon said.

People were able to vote multiple times in the online vote, according to organizers, so it was hardly a scientific election. But people were able to vote online for a “people’s choice award” dog as well, which was won by massive, and happy looking 150 pound Newfoundlander belonging to Adarsh and Brenda Ganesan. They named him Paddington as a reference to Paddington Bear.

Brenda Gansesan, left & her husband Adarsh Ganesan, right. Paddington comes up to their knees, even laying down.

“They posted this on the Saline Post, asking for applicants. And since we love our dog, we decided to apply. We got an email weeks later saying he was in the top five,” Brenda Ganesan said.

Paul Poburski originally bought his five year old German wire hair Moose as a hunting dog. But he said that his two sons, Elliott and Austin, have taken him over along with his wife Cherish, to become simply the family dog. Cherish said their dog was “Happy to lucky” by temperament.

Cherish Poburski, left & her husband Paul, right, with their dog Moose.

“We went to Dairy Queen and saw the add. My boys were like ‘You need to enter him!’ So I entered him with no hopes,” but he won fourth place, Paul Poburski said. “I’m very happy. I think the boys are more happy.”

The owner of one of the dogs that came in in the top five could not make it to the final award ceremony. The dogs owners were awarded prizes of gift cards for their owners at Tractor Supply.

Kaitlyn Higgins, who brought her three year old dog Cody to fifth place, said that she found out about the competition partially through her job there. She will be majoring in environmental economics and agriculture management at Michigan State University this year.

Kaitlyn Higgins, with her dog Cody.

“He’s super lazy. Most of the time he just lays on our couch,” Higgins said. “He has his own little spot. Nobody sits there, in his spot. But when he does hang out around people he likes to just lay by their feet and give them company.”

The contest was one of dozens of things happening every day at the Saline Community Fair, which had to skip a year in 2020, because of the Coronavirus. Medical professionals fighting Covid-19 were in attendance elsewhere in the fair as well.

Registered Nurse Ashley Alcala and Medical Assistant Taylor Rodriguez are located in the merchants’ vendors section of the fair, providing information about the science of the vaccines as well as on the spot vaccinations. While this was their first day at the Saline Fair, have been to similar fairs in an information outreach program and said they had been answering questions about possible boosters for people who have been vaccinated all day.

Covid-19 vaccinations available at the Saline Community Fair.

“We’re giving out vaccinations. We have Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson,” Alcala said.

Taylor Rodriguez, left & Ashley Alcala, right.

Elsewhere in the vendors hall were Jennifer Reeves of Dundee and Victoria Woodruff of Maybee. They were representing Tastefully Simple, a brand with over 180 individual food meal kits and ingredients, for the first time at the Saline Community Fair.

Jennifer Reeves, left & Victoria Woodruff, right.

“This is our first year. It’s going pretty good. It’s definitely a different [outcome] then we’re used to, but we’re enjoying it. It’s a good little community fair and it’s perfect,” Reeves said.

Wares available from Tastefully Simple.
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