‘Miracle on Mechanic Street’ raises funds, awareness for animals

HOULTON, Maine — “Miracle on Mechanic Street” is an aptly named Christmas treat, dedicated to animals, whose owners bring their pets to the street in Houlton adjacent to the Hollywood Pet Salon for a time of mingling and participating in a special parade.
    Mechanic Street, a one-way lane, is blocked off for five hours, as the sides of the street are lined with canopies, and under the coverings, are a variety of goodies.
“We had a bake sale, a candy sale and all kinds of food from chili to baked beans,” said Hollywood Pet Salon owner Lorraine Monfils and member of the Ark Animal Sanctuary. “We also sold Christmas trees and wreaths.”
Joey Ebner also had his Pampered Chef booklet taking orders, which Monfils said, “he did really well with,” and photographs with Santa were taken inside the Hollywood Pet Salon.
The event raised $1,200 to be used for the care of animals at the ARK Sanctuary.
Also, on hand during the day were kittens, cats and dogs awaiting new homes.
“We adopted out three dogs, which is awesome,” said Monfils, “and people came in after [the event] so six kittens will soon be adopted, too.”
In the middle of the gathering, the 12 Dogs of Christmas parade, free of charge, takes center stage.
“The community gives us so much during the year that we just want to give something back,” Monfils explained. “This is a fun little thing that we can do to get the community and kids involved and it doesn’t cost any money to come down. Everyone loves to see all the different breeds of dogs.”
There are always some drawbacks to lining up a parade and Monfils knows that best.
“We were short on shih-tzus so we had to send down a pit bull,” she laughed. “It was fun. We were lined up down past the gym [Main Street Fitness] with dogs. They were all very well-behaved and no incidents.”
Pulling up the rear were 11 rescue dogs, all of which were dogs up for adoption through the ARK Sanctuary.
“We had 12 tiny kittens, too,” said Monfils. “Half of the crowd was dogs who have been adopted through us, so it was pretty cool.”
The ARK Sanctuary, located on 37 acres of land on the Old Woodstock Road, now has lights, heat and water, but members are in the process of replacing the roof. The ARK Sanctuary became a 501c3 in 2009.
“Hopefully, we will be fully functional soon,” Monfils said.“We wanted to do something to help animals and larger ones, as well. There was nothing in this area for large animals.”
The Monfils had been looking for land, but couldn’t afford what was on the market. But, the answer came from one of Monfil’s customers, whom they purchased land from.
“It’s a beautiful piece of property. It is where Tidd’s Slaughter House used to be of all places …  animals used to be slaughtered there and now they are going to be saved,” Monfils said.
Members of the ARK Sanctuary hold two fundraisers per month.
“We are trying to just raise money because we don’t get any type of funding,” explained Monfils. “It is all through donations and fundraising [that we] do the work we do.”
There are plans in the works so that when the ARK Sanctuary is fully functional, it will be a place that is community oriented.
“We want the Cub Scouts and Girls Scouts to be able to go up with their troop leaders and learn responsible pet ownership,” said Monfils. “We want to put a road in around the whole piece of property so you can go up and walk your dog. We want to get the public involved. The more kids are taught about responsible pet ownership and care, we might just see some of these situations that are out there, that are really bad, kind of dwindle away.”
One step in building that foundation is the annual “Miracle of Mechanic Street” festivity.
“I think it gets bigger and better every year,” Monfils said. “Everyone calls and wants to put their dog into the 12 Dogs of Christmas. A  lot of people came down to check it out. I think it brings a lot of business downtown too because you can’t ever find a parking space, it’s just packed down here.”