Cedartown’s holiday shopping season and celebrations to begin
Audrey Lee, a local business owner, has a lot to smile about these days. That’s because her dog Evo is ranked number 1 Tibetan Mastiff for AKC (American Kennel Club) in the country.
Evo, whose official name is Dreamcatcher Cairbre To Lokis Major At Aujudon, from breeders Debbie Slayton and Tony Carter of Seattle, WA, is a 4 year old Tibetan Mastiff.
He’s an AKC Champion, and a “Silver” Grand Champion. Silver designates that he had defeated more than 200 of his own breed in his lifetime.
Lee stated that “Evo is coming into his prime. As a young puppy he was very promising and now at almost 5 years old, Evo is maturing and is just getting better with age.” Lee adds that Tibetan Mastiffs are a slow maturing breed. Males are at their best at 5-7 years of age, and females at 4-6 years of age.
This past February, Evo won Best of Breed at Westminster in New York City in a very prestigious victory.
Lee took a break from showing, from April to late July for several reasons. Evo, was “out of coat” in the summer months and not looking his best.
Tibetan Mastiffs have a double coat. They shed their undercoat in the spring and have a much sparser coat in the summer months. In addition, Lee had acquired and was training a young female Tibetan Mastiff from Russia, as well as 3 young puppies from her own program.
Along with Evo, Lee has enjoyed year competing with her other Tibetan Mastiffs to earn their AKC Championships.
“It’s been a great year,” she said. “I have finished 2 females’ championships and have another female who just needs one more win to become a champion.”.
Lee and Evo, along with several of Lee’s Tibetan Mastiffs show at AKC shows, primarily in the southeast.
“In AKC, there are shows almost every weekend in the country, some are 2 day and others 3-4 days,” Lee said.
Lee travels out of the area to the prestigious events, such the famous Westminster Kennel Club show in New York City, the AKC National Championship in Orlando, Fla., and the American Tibetan Mastiff Association’s National Specialty, to be held in Albany, Ore., in March.
Their next event is the Royal Canin AKC National Championship in Orlando in December.
It is the largest dog show in the country, with over 5000 dogs competing. Evo won Best of Breed at this event in 2016 and was on TV, showing in the Working Group.
Audrey Lee is the founder and owner of Cedartown Pet Boutique, which was established 1993. She and husband Don Lee reside in Polk County.
November is turning into a busy month in Cedartown as the month winds down and Christmas comes closer each day.
Between numerous holiday events and opportunities to support small businesses, it’s never been easier for locals to get into the spirit and do some shopping.
Small Business Saturday is slated for Nov. 24, and many businesses around Polk are known to offer special sales and items throughout the day.
Last year, the Polk Chamber of Commerce created shopping passports that rewarded those who shopped at many different locations.
The event works as a local, smaller version of Black Friday. Always taking place the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Small Business Saturday is one of the busiest shopping periods of the year and is held nationwide.
Cedartown’s Christmas Open House is set to begin on Nov. 30, with various seasonal festivities set to last until 8 p.m. at the park on the corner of Main and Ware Street.
The of course the real fun comes during the Open House on Friday night.
The Christmas tree lighting is slated for 6:30 p.m., Lime Branch Baptist Church will be performing the Nativity Scene live from 6 through 8 p.m., and First United Methodist Church and the Lime Branch Baptist Church choirs will be performing hymns at 6 p.m.
The various retail stores and eateries of downtown Cedartown plan to extend their hours to 8 p.m. during the events, and certain open house events will continue on Saturday, Dec. 1 during normal business hours and Sunday Dec. 2 from 1 through 5 p.m.