It's amazing what a great group of volunteers can do...especially at the last moment. The emails started rolling in after 9pm on Monday evening with word that a pregnant Basset Hound was going to be put to sleep first thing Tuesday morning at a shelter near Columbia.

Diane Caban pulled "Momma Basset" from the shelter first thing and met me at Eagle Aviation at Columbia Metro Airport. D Thompson was there as well. I had just parked the plane and shut down the engine when they walked inside Eagle Aviation. Perfect timing! :-)

"Momma Basset" is beautiful and loves to be carried! We had to tote her around as she was not wanting to walk on her own. After visiting for a few minutes, we loaded her up and I headed out. Unfortunately, I had a maintenance issue crop up just before takeoff and I had to taxi back to the ramp. Since D and Diane had already left, it was just me and "Momma Basset". I had to coordinate trying to get the maintenance done AND babysit our pregnant hound. I was able to call my wife, Kim, to get a hold of D and Diane. Without hesitation, they came back to assist.

Once the fouled spark plug was replaced, we loaded her back up and off we went to Greensboro, NC. We were met by Lori Yarbrough (and her kids), Tammy Graves, and Sandra Lumley . A special thanks to Lori for hooking up this pilot with lunch and Starbucks!

But the adventure didn't end there. On the way back to Hilton Head, a line of thunderstorms developed that I couldn't get through so I opted to divert and land at Florence Regional Airport in Florence, SC. I spent about four hours in their pilot lounge watching the weather and a Cops marathon on Dish Network! hahahaha

I was able to depart Florence at 7:30pm for the hour and 15 minute flight back to Hilton Head.

Thanks again to everyone who assisted in this rescue and transport!

Enjoy the pictures below.

Ted Holstein
Hound Dog One Pilot
"Flying Hounds Into Your Hearts."

Hound Dog One and her flight crew are proud to announce the fund raiser of all fund raisers...the 2009 Hound Dog One Fly-A-Thon! Hound Dog One and her flight crew are gearing up to fly 600 miles to raise money for the Basset Hounds of CBHR and you can help!! HD1 is hoping to raise $2,000 for CBHR and help raise public awareness at the same time. You can help by printing off a fly-a-thon pledge form and getting as many sponsors as possible. We are asking for pledges of 5 cents per flight mile ($30) but any donation will be accepted. In addition, we have "Olympic" sponsorship packages available for $100, $150, and $200 with some cool gifts to go along with them. Please contact your family, friends, and co-workers and encourage them to donate. We would suggest also contacting your local vet offices, pet stores, and other charity groups to make a donation. If you have any corporate contacts that you have worked closely with in the past or who you think would donate, let them know as well.

We have made it easy for those wishing to donate. HD1 has created an account through First Giving where anyone wishing to do so, can make a secure, online donation. A receipt is also generated after the transaction is completed. If you would like to go "paperless" and create your own First Giving fly-a-thon account, please contact Kim Holstein at kimburrkay@hargray.com.

***PLEASE NOTE: Whomever raises the most money for this event (non-Olympic sponsors), will receive an award at the Waddle in December! You do not need to be present at the Waddle to get this award.***

An email to the CBHR Yahoo Groups address (and an additional blog post) will be sent out with specific instructions/details on this fundraiser. The forms will be available on the CBHR website soon. If you are not a member of this group and would like the form(s) emailed to you, please contact me at hounddogone.cbhr@gmail.com.

Hound Dog One will also be coming to a city near you! We will be making stops at the key CBHR volunteer centers. So, pack up your family, tell your friends, and put on that Hound Dog One clothing you bought through Cafe Press. Let's show our communities that CBHR has the best volunteers. This should be a proud weekend for us!

The locations, dates, and times are as follows:

Friday, October 16, 2009 from 6pm to 8pm
Odyssey Aviation at Charleston International Airport
5875 South Aviation Avenue
North Charleston, SC 29746
843-414-9200

Saturday, October 17, 2009 from 12pm to 2pm
Landmark Aviation at Raleigh-Durham International Airport
1775 E International Dr
Morrisville, NC 27560-7690
919-840-2200

Saturday, October 17, 2009 from 4pm to 6pm
Lincolnton-Lincoln County Airport
716 Airport Drive
Iron Station, NC 28080
704-732-0602

Sunday, October 18, 2009 from 10am to 12pm
Greenville Jet Center
1 Aviation Lane
Greenville Downtown Airport
Greenville, SC 29607
864-235-6383

Sunday, October 18, 2009 from 2pm to 4pm
Eagle Aviation
Jim Hamilton L.B. Owens Airport
1400 Jim Hamilton Blvd.
Columbia, SC 29205-4458
803-771-7915

***Airports subject to change***

Hope to see you there and thanks for your help and support!!!!

Your Hound Dog One Flight Crew,
Ted and Kim Holstein
"Flying Hounds into Your Hearts"

Twinkle Toes boarded Hound Dog One yet again yesterday, but this time, it was for a different reason....to fly to her forever home. It had been almost 7 months to the day since Twinkle Toes first boarded HD1, suffering from injuries received after being struck by a car. Pauline Grimball and Sue Ramsey fostered TT and nursed her back to health. It wasn't easy, however. Besides recovering from a cracked pelvis and torn ACL, TT fought through a difficult heartworm treatment as well as eyelid surgery.

Upon arrival at Concord Regional Airport, TT was greeted by a mass of CBHR volunteers as well as her new mom, Patty Andrews.

I am proud of the volunteers we have within CBHR. None of this would have been possible without your support. Nothing is better than seeing a hound so happy in her new environment, knowing where she came from.

The Post and Courier in Charleston, SC also did a follow-up story on TT in yesterday's paper. To view the online article, click here

Enjoy the slideshow!

Ted Holstein
Hound Dog One Pilot

Hound Dog One was supposed to do another Pilots N Paws mission this week but was grounded by weather in three attempts. So, Hound Dog 2 (Kim's Nissan Pathfinder)took to the road yesterday to do the mission by ground transport.

The mission was to transport a 95 pound Great Dane, named Zoey, from the Sevier County Humane Society in Sevierville, TN to Savannah, GA. The plan was to get Zoey and meet a volunteer of a local Great Dane Rescue group at a predetermined location along I-95 to do the transfer.

I left the house at 7:15am on Wednesday and made it home at 10:45pm. Driving conditions were less than ideal with heavy rain and fog, especially in the mountains of NC/TN.

Zoey was a doll though! So sweet and she slept most of the way home. She is going to make some family very happy!! I'm just glad I was able to get her to safety since the shelter she was located at is considered a high kill shelter.

Enjoy the photos!

Ted
Hound Dog One Pilot (and Hound Dog Two Driver!!!) :-)

I want to extend a huge THANK YOU to the CBHR volunteer who donated $250 over the weekend to help the hounds! The hounds thank you too!!!

If you would like to help as well, please scroll down to the lower right side of the page under PLEASE HELP. We have reached half of our goal of $500. Your tax deductable donation goes directly towards helping the hounds of the Carolina Basset Hound Rescue.

Hound Dog One and her flight crew thanks you!!!