Stephen Memorial Animal Shelter celebrates service to the community of Mahaska – Oskaloosa News

Oskaloosa, Iowa – Under the shade of a few tall trees at the Southern Iowa Fairgrounds, the Stephen Memorial Animal Shelter celebrated 45 years of service in Mahaska County.

Terry Gott, the current director of the shelter, took the opportunity to also say goodbye to the place he has been a part of for over a decade now.

Fun for families included a dunk tank, petting zoo, Lazer Alley bouncy houses, Snow Biz, games, and a bake sale.

There were also pizzas, burgers, hot dogs and music under the new shelter in the southeast corner of the fairgrounds.

One of those in the dunk tank was Mahaska County Supervisor Mark Groenendyk. He volunteered for an hour-long shift to help raise funds for the organization.

“That’s good. It’s all fun,” Groenendyk said of being in the hot seat, or the platform, as individuals paid a fee for the soft balls for the purpose of dunking it. delighted to see people come out and move around. ”

Around this time, a new person comes forward to throw some soft balls and Groenendyk gives friendly jokes.

Gott started out as a kennel worker and worked his way up to animal control. “It was funny. I can’t say I regret what I do because I love what I do, but it’s time for me to quit and bring some new blood in this.

“I thank everyone for their support,” added Gott, whose last day is scheduled for Oct. 29.

Shanna Smith was appointed to replace Gott and served as Deputy Director.

Gott says that at this point the shelter is full of animals looking for new homes. Additionally, the animal shelter was under stress as many stray dogs were brought in and the owners failed to claim their animals.

Stephen Memorial has a new form of operation and is now self-funded. So, in addition to the fees paid for the animals, Stephen Memorial also does contract work for the county government entities that perform animal control to support them.

“The transition has gone better than we expected,” Gott said of the reorganization process. “He bit his nails for the first month.

Groenendyk, putting the platform back in place and trying to stay warm after getting soaked a few times, joked that he would likely have pneumonia the first part of the week and got back into the dunk tank hot seat.