MUSKEGON, Mich. — The holidays are coming, and it's one of the busiest times of year for the Big Lake Humane Society. Executive director Alexis Robertson says the shelter takes in more animals that would otherwise be left outside in the cold temperatures, but at the same time, adoption numbers go down because families are busy.
Luckily for Robertson, one of her favorite events of the year is coming up, and it's about to give the shelter a much-needed boost in funding. The annual Pianos and Paws event will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. at the Polish Falcon Club on Hackley Avenue in Muskegon.
"It's a dueling piano event with Main Street Dueling Pianos. If you haven't been to a dueling piano event, I really encourage you to try it. It seems to kind of hit everyone of all ages. They do requested music. I mean, they know everything. There's dancing and competitions between the piano players and the audience. So it's a really involved event, and it's a ton of fun," Robertson said.
But perhaps the most exciting part of the evening will be the auctioning off of an item Swifties will really be interested in getting their hands on - a guitar signed by Taylor Swift herself.
"One of our rescue friends donated it to us to auction. We know tickets are hard to come by, so this was kind of the next best thing for us to raffle off. I know The Eras Tour is coming to an end, and it felt like just kind of the perfect item. We're so thankful, and it'll make a perfect Christmas gift for any Swiftie out there," Robertson said.
The event is 21+. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door, but shelter leaders would love for people to buy them ahead of time so they can prepare the right amount of food. If you'd like to go, you can buy tickets online.
"This event in particular has stuck around because it's so much fun, and everyone who comes, comes back the next year. So we definitely want to keep building on this event. Our goal is to raise $10,000 at this event, so we're hoping we're going to be able to hit that this year without a problem," Robertson said.