HUMANE SOCIETY UNVEILS 'FACELIFT'

In a ribbon-cutting ceremony this past Tuesday, the local Humane Society held a “grand re-opening” at its Sally Mood Dr. location. “We’ve finally completed this phase of our renovations, and we want to give the public a chance to see what we’ve accomplished with their help,” says Executive Director Robert Lee, who refers to the changes as a sort of “face-lift.” “We want to show the changes we’ve made to help facilitate more adoptions and to assure that the animals are able to be held here under better conditions.” Some of the improvements include installing awnings over outside runs, additional workspaces, improved storage, a new cat facility with a “better, less-stressful environment,” Lee says, new nonporous flooring “for better hygiene,” and an upgrade of computer services and vet faciliites. The event kicked off a weeklong “Home for the Holidays Adopt-athon” to be held Dec. 13-18. During that time the Humane Society will hold extended adopting hours until 8 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday evenings. “Our theme for the adopt-athon is ‘Home for Christmas,’” Lee says. “We’d love to go home Christmas Eve and have this place completely empty. That may not be a totally realistic goal, but it’s what we’re shooting for.” W.W. LAW BOOK GETS KUDOS A new children’s book about local civil rights activist W.W. Law received an award last week. The book will also be presented to Savannah City Council at this Thursday’s meeting. Delivering Justice, written by Jim Haskins, illustrated by Benny Andrews, and published by SCAD’s Design Press, has been included in the New York Public Library’s annual list of the 100 best books for children in 2005. Delivering Justice also will be presented to Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson and City Council during the regular meeting at Savannah City Hall on Dec. 13, beginning at 2 p.m. A MIGHTY EIGHTH CHRISTMAS Staff and volunteers of the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Pooler invite you to help decorate their specially-themed tree this year. "We’re trying to recapture some of the aura of a ‘Home Front Christmas,’ when most of the decorations on the trees were home-made because of wartime restrictions," says Lee J. Maltenfort, volunteer coordinator for the Museum. "We’re asking for photographs of any and all military veterans, both retired and those currently serving, to use as decorations on our tree." The photos are scanned and reduced to fit a specially designed hanging paper ornament tied with a ribbon. A museum spokesperson says that collected photos “so far have been a mix of carefully poised formal portraits and candid shots taken in a variety of situations.” Those interested in participating in the project should email their photograph to [email protected], in a jpg file format [approximately 400 x 300 pixels] or copies of photos may be mailed to the Christmas Tree Project, Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, P.O. Box 1992, Savannah, GA 31402. The museum stresses that they cannot return original photos. You can have original photos scanned by bringing them to the museum Monday-Friday between 10 a.m.—4 p.m. The photo will be scanned while you wait. The Christmas tree, complete with lights and the unique ornaments, will be on display in the Museum’s Lewis E. Lyle Rotunda through the holidays. Visitors to the Museum will also see a different kind of Christmas celebration within its Prisoner of War exhibit. The POW tree is “a simple tree branch decorated with strips of tin and scraps of paper,” the spokesperson says. The Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum is at I-95 and US Hwy 80 [exit 102] in Pooler.