Mackey came to B.O.N.E.S. from a bad situation in central Massachusetts. He was underweight and limped painfully. X-rays revealed a displaced femur fracture in his right hind leg – it was amazing that Mackey could use the leg at all. The options didn't look hopeful, but with help from the B.O.N.E.S. Medical Director, a carefully-structured exercise program, and a lot of TLC, he can now lead a normal life.
As Mackey recovered from his injuries, long-time B.O.N.E.S. adopter John was mourning the loss of his long-time beagle companion, Hudson, whose "Chronicles" were documented here for many years. John was settling into a new job with lots of driving, and Mackey loved to ride... a great match. John and Mackey will both share their viewpoints with us on this page.
Greetings from Virginia!
We have been down here for a few weeks moving out equipment and supplies from a laydown yard in Emporia. There's been a lot of powerline work in the areas over the past four years. All the equipment needs to be moved to another yard in Mocksville, North Carolina, or back to the Baltimore yard.
In the middle of all this work, I got a call asking if I would be willing to pull a float in the first annual festival of lights parade in Pittsfield, Maine. Needless to say, I was all for it!
When I got back to Pittsfield, I put the truck in the shop, hooked up to the float, and started polishing. Pretty soon, one of the guys on the float committee came around and sheepishly asked if I would consider dressing up as the Grinch, since they had the costume, and it seemed to be about my size. I thought about it for about a tenth of a second (to make 'em sweat a little), then "reluctantly" agreed.
When I got home, I dug out a green sweater for Mackey as well as a pair of reindeer antlers. Needless to say, he was not as excited as I was about the whole deal, but he was a good sport.
The crew did a fantastic job creating the float. It featured an antique dump truck and an antique jeep that were both original equipment when the brothers started the company. The jeep was harnessed to eight reindeer and Santa was in the jeep. And here was the Grinch and his faithful sidekick Max hauling them all!
The parade was a big hit with the town, and I look forward to next year!
Greetings from the sleeper!
We are down in Virginia on a rainy Sunday morning. It was a long week trying to make up for lost time. We were brought back to Maine in the middle of a major demobilization job.
We were asked to participate in a parade in Pittsfield. That was OK. It got better when they asked John if he would wear a Grinch costume. I thought this was great, until I found out later that I would be wearing a costume too!
The problem here is that, unlike John, everybody knows me! I have an image to keep. Luckily, everybody seemed to love me even more in the sweater and antlers. They just laughed at John, like they always do, at least he could blame it on the costume, this time.
Anyway, we are back down south and hopefully won't have to worry about costumes for another year!
Editor's note: A bystander shot a video of the parade, at night, showing all the lights. It includes John's truck going by starting at 18:10 and running to 19:20. You can find it here.
