The Humane Society of Greene County hosted the first annual “Wags, Whiskers and Wine Dinner” at the Pennsylvania National Guard Readiness Center Saturday, Sept. 16 at 5:30 p.m. to help raise funds for the shelter.

Coming into Saturday, Duvall hoped to raise money, spread the word as to what the shelter does, and hoped for the people in attendance to enjoy themselves.

“One [goal] is to raise some funds for the shelter, which would go to help take care of the animals that we have,” said Duvall. “Two is to create awareness about what our shelter does, our mission/vision and our history. And three, is just for everybody to have a wonderful time.”

The activities started at 5:30 p.m. with Chinese auction bidding, as well as wine tasting and appetizers. At 6:30 p.m., Master of Ceremonies Craig Wise, welcomed all in attendance and Jim Connors gave the blessing to kick off the nights’ dinner.

An hour later, Wise spoke again, recognizing the “top dog” sponsor, and the band, 2 Bridges Road, performed live music.

For the next hour, items were auctioned off and the 50-50 drawing for the event took place at 9:30 p.m. Items continued to be drawn, before the conclusion of the event at 10:30 p.m.

Vicki Duvall, marketing and communications coordinator, was pleased with the inaugural event. “It was wonderful,” Duvall said. “Everybody had a great time, and we got a lot of compliments. People want us to do it again

next year.”

Duvall estimates that around 125 people attended the event. People attending included sponsors and donors for the humane society, as well as members of the public who bought tickets.

“We hoped to get around 100 people our first year,” Duvall said. “We exceeded that. I think when people take photographs of the event and hear about it from people that went, I think it will be [an] even larger attendance next year.”

Duvall said that people told her that it was an “elegant evening,” and that it was nice to get dressed up and go to the event, as well as help raise money for the shelter.

Although this year’s event has just completed, Duvall is already looking forward to next year’s event.

“We’re just excited to get started planning next year’s event; to make it even a larger attendance,” Duvall said. “Maybe improve in a couple of areas. We’re looking forward to getting started on planning again.”

The Humane Society of Greene County was established in 1986 and became a registered non-profit organization in 1987. Greene County’s first animal shelter opened in 1988.

For more information about the event, or other programs by the Humane Society, patrons can visit www.greenpet.org or call 724-627-9888.