More than 30 dog owners and their dogs joined Suffolk County Leg. John Kennedy and LI-DOG organizers to celebrate the Grand Opening of the new Blydenburgh Dog Park on Sept. 7th. The Grand Opening was a lot of fun and featured brief comments by Leg. Kennedy, sponsor of the bill authorizing creation of the Blydenburgh dog park, LI-DOG organizers Ed McMullin and Ginny Munger Kahn, plus a ribbon cutting, a ceremonial first Frisbee toss by Leg. Kennedy, several photographers, and refreshments and donuts.

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The new dog park, which is fenced, is located within 627-acre Blydenburgh County Park in the southern section of the park. Entrance to the park is on Veterans Memorial Highway, opposite the H. Lee Dennison Building. The 1.8-acre dog park includes both an open field and woods, a small dog area and a large dog area, water fountains for each area, doubled-gated entries, plenty of benches and waste bag dispensers.

In his comments, Leg. Kennedy noted that he was happy to be an early supporter of dog parks in Suffolk County and that the dog park will open Blydenburgh for healthy recreational activities for even more Suffolk residents and their canine companions. "I love the way it turned out," said Kennedy, who helped LI-DOG identify the field on which the dog park is centered.

"Because of the support of legislators like John Kennedy", said LI-DOG President Ginny Munger Kahn, "Suffolk County is on its way to creating another five new dog parks, which will put the County in league with other forward-thinking communities across America. We thank Leg. Kennedy for his foresight and vision," she said. "This is truly a quality of life accomplishment that will impact the lives of thousands of his constituents and other Suffolk residents for years to come," she said.

LI-DOG member Ed McMullin noted that dog parks also are a big benefit to the broader community. "Leg. Kennedy understands what few people do, that dog parks provide a place for dogs to socialize, too, and that this socialization results in calmer, happier, better behaved canine citizens," he said. He also commended Suffolk Parks Commissioner Tracey Bellone and two of her senior staffers-Bill Sickles, senior park supervisor, and Bob Schubert, park supervisor at Bldyenburgh, for the speed and high quality of work done at the dog park. The park was created within a matter of weeks this summer and the Parks Dept. staff did an incredible job of putting in the water fountains, building the bulletin board, and clearing the underbrush from the wooded area, he said.

Leg. Kennedy then reached down and picked up his friend's dog into his arms, and LI-DOG organizers cut the ribbon signifying the opening of the dog park. Leg. Kennedy next threw out the first Frisbee to Lycos, owned by long-time LI-DOG supporter Brad Thayer. Finally, everyone-dogs and humans alike-gathered under a big banner made by LI-DOG supporter Linda Tolmie with lettering in the shape of dogs, saying "Thank you, Leg. Kennedy!"

We want to thank all of our fellow dog owners for helping us celebrate this great new dog park! We especially want to thank Pam, Stacey and Liz for taking great photographs of the event, Johan for walking around and asking people to sign the Friends of Blydenburgh Dog Park sign-in sheet, and Jay for volunteering to keep an eye on the dogs so there were no incidents.

If you want to help make Blydenburgh a wonderful place for us and our dogs, please join our affiliate, Friends of Blydenburgh Dog Park, by emailing: dogpark@aemcmullin.com. Joining will help build a strong community of dog owners committed to making the Blydenburgh dog park a great experience for everyone!

To see more great photos of the Blydenburg Opening please go to the photo albums at our MSN Groups website at http://groups.msn.com/LI-DOG/shoebox.msnw

    As always, keep in touch by e-mailing us at lidog_news@yahoo.com.