Fort Myers, Florida (July 20, 2005)  Lee County Animal Services and the Lee County Library System were recognized at the July 14 Red Baron Media Awards luncheon for their Lee County PugFest joint fundraiser event.  The awards luncheon was held during the Florida Festivals & Events Association's 11^th Annual Convention and Trade Show in Sarasota.

The Red Baron Media Awards signify the highest level of achievement for members of FFEA.  Nearly 300 promotional items were judged by six marketing, advertising and public relations professionals.

Lee County PugFest, held on March 20, 2005, received honors as the Best Community Partnership in the category for events with a budget of $99,000 and under.  The PugFest budget, in fact, shows a mere $317 in expenses.  PugFest coordinators Ria Brown (Lee County Animal Services) and Karen Sloan (Lee County Library System) agree that they were able to keep expenses to a minimum thanks in large part to Bell Tower Shops for providing the venue and much of the equipment at no cost.

"The 2005 Lee County Reading Festival was featuring a wonderful author and illustrator of a children's book called Unlovable,' a story about pugs," says Sloan.  "A friend in Cincinnati coordinates an annual pug event there.  I put the ideas together and the wheels started turning."

The result was a fun pet-friendly event that cleared over $2,000 to benefit the library system's Reading Festival and the Lee County Animal Care Trust Fund.  Neither agency, however, feels they could have produced the event on their own due to staff and time constraints.  Together the two agencies produced a successful first-time event that had attendance of over 150 dogs and 500 people, far exceeding organizers' expectations.

The Florida Festivals & Events Association is a not-for-profit association dedicated to providing support to festival, event, and fair organizers in the State of Florida.  The annual award competition acknowledges the skill, creativity, and resourcefulness of member event's marketing efforts.

"We are thrilled to have received recognition for the event, particularly from our peers in the event-planning industry," states Brown.  "We hope the award will propel the event into securing more sponsors and generating more support and funding for the two causes."

The date of the next Lee County PugFest will soon be announced.  For more information on the event, send an email to ksloan@leegov.com with the subject line "Keep me posted about PugFest" or call Ria Brown at 239-432-2090, extension 241.