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For those observant loyal readers ...
You'll notice that we've combined this newsletter
We are remiss in sending out our June newsletter. Many things were happening, but the newsletter wasn't. Our home-cooking for dogs and cats has grown tremendously. We are now providing more then triple the daily amounts of freshly made Sirius Suppers than when we first began (only six months ago). We urge people to phone in their weekly orders so there are no disappointments, and no one goes hungry. :) We also have a weekly menu that features five days of fresh, non-preserved food. We mix up the menu with recipes, to keep nutrition highlighted, but we will always have Chicken, Beef, Lamb (with luck Rabbit), Fish, and Turkey stews available.
We are also looking at shipping within Illinois and local delivery of our made to order take out stews. There is a distributor who has shown an interest in our product. All growth is great, but we don't want it to sacrifice the quality (and healthiness) of our home cooked food. So stay tuned as this unfolds.
June
Many different events
• Our first ever quarterly seminar was held in June. Dr. Barbara E. Royal of the Royal Treatment Vet Spa came out to share her learnings on holistic, animal nutrition. She provided a really informative session (as our attendees still tell us), kept her sense of humor running throughout with the solid base of keeping our dogs and cats healthy. And ALWAYS question authority. :)
• We have been out and about to meet y'all this summer, one weekend in June at the Barrie Park Fesitival. We set up a booth to introduce ourselves and also shared our Frosty Treats for dogs on that hot summer day. Now that the hot weather has progressed, we have expanded our homemade "Frosties" to include the flavors Frosty Indiana (blueberry), Kaya Papaya, Frosty Leo (peanut butter) and Frosty Mo (unsulphured, organic molasses). Yes, dogs really DO like all these flavors!
• We had a month-long fundraiser in June for the Animal Care League. Thanks to the Wisconsin-based Fromm Pet Foods, we were able to sell their 5lb bags for dogs, and 2.5lb bags for cats at some extraordinary prices! What's even better than trying one of the better foods out there, Fromm (and Sirius) donated ALL the money from these sales to Animal Care League in Oak Park. We just received the information on amounts. Thank you to ALL because together we raised $1,124.86 (in one month!) for the ACL!!!!
Lest we seem remiss in helping other organizations, another raffle that we held for a $15 coupon for our store, raised $119 for Catvando an excellent organization in Maywood that traps, neuters and releases cats in the surrounding communities. A very responsible, and much needed, non-profit organization. Did you know that cats will fill a void, if they are not released back to the area? Thanks to Catvando, we learned that to keep a population stable, and NOT growing, releasing them back to their environment once they have been neutered or spayed keeps the population from growing with new cats. They are also had their "First Cat Party" on Sunday July 13th at 1pm.
• Sirius Cooks participated in a Village contest of "which district can have the nicest windows." ... We came in Second-place, our theme (with the other four stores participating on our street) was "First comes love ... Then comes marriage ... then comes a puppy & kitten ... and a baby in a baby carriage." For scrambling in 4-days time, I think we did pretty well. A ribbon ran throughout out windows, we have a computer running with adoptable dogs and cats from Animal Care league, white geraniums ... ah well, we won $500 for advertising the Harrison Arts District of Oak Park. Thank you all, who filled out the comment cards! It gave us a sampling of testimonials for our store ... forget the theme, you all were very gracious and kind in your comments for Sirius Cooks! Congratulations to Erinn on winning a raffle prize.
July
Different happenings
• TIP: At the behest of other stores AND our dear friends, we were closed on Independence Day (July 4th). We are set for our dogs and cats experiencing the fireworks. For those who have four-leggeds who don't like these loud explosions, storms, you might want to try Bach "Rescue Remedy." You can pick it up in the holistic remedy section of Whole Foods. It is a flower essence, with a dropper used for adding the liquid to their water bowls. Shelters use it for lessening anxiety in dogs and cats, for dogs first meeting cats (and vice versa). I'm sure you can Google it online to find more info. Remember to be patient, and if you can, hang out with your dog or cat if they do suffer from fireworks anxiety. They're certainly NOT cowering from the fireworks because they want to, anything you can do to lessen their stress is all good.
• We have many new treats and have increased our Raw Food offerings. We will NOT be carrying Free Range Chicken wraps anymore for those who ask. They, along with Nature's Variety Rabbit foods will be raised in China. Stella & Chewy's (raw, frozen foods) are still all made in Wisconsin. Their lamb is from Colorado, their beef from South Dakota and Chicken from Ohio. There are many great foods out there, we will continue to be extremely picky about what we carry.
We also are even pickier about what goes into our own food for dogs and cats. We use organic when we can find it for the stews (always in our treats), and though Whole Food 365 product line was exposed for some products being grown in China, know that we have always been vigilant about what we feed our own dogs and cats! Yes, we are serious Sirius Cooks to copy a customer's saying.
Sirius Cooks has also been researching and collecting new, great foods and treats. As always, our stock is always changing as the quality of the 3rd party foods changes.
• Harriet and one of our great friends Sara Arkow worked at the Infant Welfare League House Design fundraiser on July12th. Yes, Harriet and Sara are the one's you'll see about town. Ken (Sara's hubby) is with Julie in the store. So the bakers are out on the streets, the geeks are kept contained within our brick and mortar store.
--> Sightings to be:
We will be at the 4th Annual "Bark in Oak Park" being held in Maple Park at the corners of Harlem and Roosevelt Roads in Oak Park on August 2.
We will be at the Down Town Oak Park evening extravaganza on August 14th. Craig, one of the owners of the great restaurant Trattoria 225 will be sharing a booth. And hopefully a freezer so we can sell our Frosty's out there - our own healthy recipe for frozen treats for dogs. :)
Also stay tuned for Sirius Cooks at the Dog Day Afternoon in Downtown Oak Park on October 4th.
We have had many souls passing on these past few months.
We are grateful for getting to know them,
and we only wish all of you well and
know that they'll be romping with all of our other four-leggeds
who passed on before us.
Thank you for your time (in reading this) and your continued support.
Julie & Harriet
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