Dana Boomer, HANDDS to the rescue
By Norm Wheeler
Sun editor
Dana Boomer is a pure Leelanau “local.” Born and raised along M-72 in the little valley between Fritz and Gilbert Roads on her family’s fruit farm, Boomer went to Glen Lake School part-time and was homeschooled part-time. At 15, she was already studying at NMC, and after earning an Associates degree in Business Administration, she went to Ferris State University and earned her Bachelor’s degree.
“When I was growing up on the farm we just had cherries,” she remembers, “but we have diversified to all of the stuff we do now, including maple syrup, shiitake mushrooms, and a whole bunch of fruits and vegetables, including saskatoons.” Her parents have maple syrup for sale on the honor system in their garage (for those who know the way), but Boomer makes it all available at the Still Point Market booth at the Farmer’s Markets in Empire, Glen Arbor, and Northport.
“I started my fruit stand here (corner of Gilbert and M-72) in 2010, and started a booth at the Empire market in 2011, so now it has been 13 years! I make enough money to keep doing it, but not enough to support a household,” she muses. Boomer is also the Kasson Township Clerk. She started as Deputy Clerk in 2012, and was appointed Clerk in 2019. She is laser-focused on the bills in Lansing that would take local control of gravel mines away from the townships, but that’s another story.
“Six years ago, I started fostering dogs for ‘HANDDS to the Rescue.’ It is a network of dog-fosterers run by a diverse board in people’s own homes, there’s no central kennel. All of the dogs go to foster homes so that we can see their personalities in order to find the right family to adopt them. Pre-COVID, we did weekly adoptions at Tractor Supply by Chum’s Corners,” she continues. “But when that was no longer an option, we went to face-to-face one-on-one meetings with folks who responded to the website and Facebook postings showing the dogs you could adopt. That really makes for a calmer environment for meeting the dogs. Now you can go to Pet Supplies Plus on some weekends to adopt a puppy, and those dates are always announced on the website and Facebook page.” (handdstotherescue.com). Boomer works on grants and donations, and someone else is the special programs coordinator now working on restarting a low-cost spay and neuter program.
“All of us are volunteers who don’t get paid.” Boomer explains. “Someone coordinates intake, another does all of the social media work for us, there is an adoption coordinator, and we have two licensed trainers. It’s something they do for the love of it. All adoption fees go right back into helping the dogs.” HANNDS processes 200–350 dogs per year through their network. “We are often dealing with high-risk dogs that are injured, ill, pregnant, or coming from abuse or neglect situations. So, a lot of our dogs are with us longer than they would be kept in a municipal shelter in order to deal with their issues. It is absolutely worth it to see the dogs open up in a home situation and to see their personalities develop.”
Partner Ken, brother Josh, and Boomer each have their own personal dog. Josh’s is a foster-fail from HANDDS. “It failed to get adopted because we fell in love with the dog and never put it up for adoption,” she smiles. Their current foster dog is Daphne, who arrived two weeks ago. “She was a surrender through one of the vets in town. She had a badly broken hind leg that had to be amputated. Now she’s healing, and when she’s done, she’ll be spayed and put up for adoption.”
Boomer’s commitment is enormous. “We’ve been doing this for about six years. I don’t know how many dogs we’ve fostered, maybe over a hundred. They’ll stay anywhere from a week to several months if they need long-term vet care or socialization. Sometimes we’ll have three or four young puppies at a time. It’s a really great organization, I’ve been really happy to work with it over the years.”
The phone numbers and contact information for fostering or adopting a dog can be found on the website: handstotherescue.com. And don’t forget to stop by the Still Point Market booth at the local farmer’s markets this summer. Maybe Boomer will help you to adopt your own dog!