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Dear Friends and Patrons:
EMERGENCY!
We have to move, in a hurry.
PLEASE find a way to help us, with a DONATION of MONEY - or TIME!
The Golden Carrot has to move. There are good and bad aspects to this.
The new location (if we can get it) is much more horse suitable and much more
accessible and quite close to Dr. McConnell, and with financial assistance and the
miracles of our mortgage broker Stu Schlegel, we will own it. The bad part is well have to
move quickly, when every penny we can scrounge up is spent on down and closing costs.
In order to provide the horses with good weather proof stalls (Anza gets MUCH
more rain, snow and wind than Aguanga), and fence in the horse areas, Mike and I will
have to be working hard on top of our jobs and the usual chores. I have made requests to
every lumber store I can find for possible deals and donations. My farrier has offered his 3
horse trailer, and with ours we can move the horses in only 4-5 trips.
However,
lumber has to be bought, hay will be needed in 3 weeks; bagged feed will need to be purchased
2-3 times before the move, truck rental to move all the horse things (including what lumber
we can salvage from the existing stalls) and ourselves will be $600, tractor rental (to
smooth and level the area where well rebuild the stalls) at least $400, PVC pipe for
watering, nails, etc etc etc
, we come to
the point of my letter:
HELP! If you intended to donate - NOW IS THE TIME!!
In order to buy this place Mike and I have to scrounge up $8,000 for a minimal
down payment and closing costs. We can just barely do that. The property has two wells,
two septics, two electric and phone connections, but only one residence. We need to buy a
cheap mobile home for me to live in. Because of our minimal down payment, our monthly nut
will be high - we can do it, BUT with all these costs at once, we need help.
If ANYONE wants to donate a days work - whoopee!
Right now, Mike and I will have to pack up and move, dismantle the old and
remantle the new. Mike will have to use a week of his vacation, but I don't have paid
vacation - I'll have to keep working, keep doing the chores and move on top of that. That
puts quite a burden on Mike alone. His friend, Bob Stager has offered to help if the timing
is such that he can take off work. I can offer coffee and doughnuts for breakfast, and
pizza or subs for lunch - maybe a good plan is to come help on a Saturday - stay over in
Temecula and stroll through Old Town and have a leisurely breakfast Sunday morning before
heading home. A nice weekend, hey? We're talking the 2nd, 3rd or 4th week of February -
Maybe.
Those of you who have bought property know this is all a little vague at this
point. We have made the offer and I believe the offer meets the sellers needs. But
then, it's back in the hands of the lender. Our mortgage broker is a miracle worker -
basically he has surmounted the obstacles of a large property, and no real down payment, etc.
He is INCREDIBLE. The minute I have a more definite day to suggest, I'll ask Carol to
post a new bulletin on the site. So keep checking it, and check your calendars in the
meantime.
Please
call or e-mail me with any suggestions or offers
.
The sooner I know what we can depend on in the way of dinero or manual
labor, the better I can plan. I appreciate anything you can do. Remember, when it comes to
money, no amount is too small.
THANKS!
At this point, real quick, I'd like to acknowledge another donation
received from
Portuguese Bending Riding Club - Kelly Dunphy made a
generous donation, and an anonymous donor sent me $2 cash.
THANK YOU!
Even that $2 paid for 7 horses to have one meal!
Also,
thanks to
Mimi Galdi - a single mother who found the money
and the time to donate it! That's not easy for any of us - and a single mom has a full plate
to begin with.
Thanks Mimi!
FINALLY - may I also take this opportunity to THANK those of you who responded
to my last whining and complaining newsletter. I didn't mean to sound so sour, but felt
I needed to let everyone know - donations depend on YOU. If everyone thinks someone else is
donating - nothing happens. I received a great response, and in fact, 1999 topped out at
$1500 more than 1998.
Thanks to all of you - but don't stop!
These guys KEEP EATING! And the more donations I
can get, the more I can do to increase programs for the kids, and in a pinch, maybe rescue
more horses. Your support is still needed.
Thanks Again,
Casey OConnor
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