The Mayor of Georgetown celebrated his 6th birthday over the weekend. He might seem young, but he’s really 42 in dog years.
Parker the Snowdog has been the honorary mayor of Georgetown for the past two years. The pup has a handsome following on Instagram and uses his fame for good. Oct. 1st’s birthday party, Parker Palooza, raised money for the Easterseals Rocky Mountain Village camp, where Parker spends time in the summer as a therapy dog.
Parker Palooza offered many attractions for dogs and their humans, including pictures with the Denver Broncos mascot, dog goodie-bags, a visit from the Wienermobile and plenty of good food and drink. The party even gave out 100 free fishing poles to kids in attendance, who got to try them out at the pond on site.
Mayor Parker made the rounds to visit his constituents, and got to visit with a large number of fellow Bernese Mountain Dogs. Never one to shy away from a photo-op, Parker donned his custom Broncos jersey and posed with Miles the mascot and anyone else who wanted a picture. Parker’s dad/best friend, Dustin Schaefer, escorted the mayor around and made sure he was always photo ready.
The Easterseals Rocky Mountain Village is a fully accessible camp where people with disabilities can get a true camp experience. The camp serves thousands of people over the course of the year.
Bill Joe Averitt is the current camp director. He explained that the camp is a week-long sleep away camp in the summer open to people aged 6-99 with any type of disability. The main focus of the camp is making the outdoors accessible.
“We removed all barriers,” he said.
Averitt said that the spots for the camp are highly coveted, and often fill up in minutes. He’s seen first hand what this camp can do for people with disabilities.
“My favorite part is seeing them try new things,” he said. “Leave with more self confidence, more friends.”
Heather Seger is the development coordinator for Easterseals Rocky Mountain Village camp. She was running an informational booth about the organization and enjoying the party festivities. She explained that all the money raised at the party would go towards sending disabled people to the summer camp.
“A lot of people don’t even know the camp exists,” she said.
One party-goer, Jenny Siegle, knows all about the camp. She went to the camp multiple times back in the '90s.
Born in Colorado, Seigle’s first real time away from her family was going to the Rocky Mountain Village summer camp. At the camp, she was able to hike, swim, fish, zipline and more because the camp has been designed to accommodate all kinds of disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs like Seigle.
“This was my first time being able to venture out on my own,” Siegle said. “[It was] such a nice experience for me.”
Seigle remembers climbing her first tree at camp, hanging out with other people with disabilities and making lifelong memories.
Parker is still raising money to help send his friends with disabilities to camp; check out his Facebook fundraiser to donate.
