Well, it's done. Weeks and weeks of work included lots of coordination, filming, editing and production. The end result was the Celina, Texas community being pulled closer together and awareness increased for a local donkey rescue called the Donkey And Horse Rescue operated by Karla Vargas.
When it all started, I had become aware of the donkeys over time, but never knew to whom they belonged or how they arrived there just north of Brookshires on Preston Rd. Upon a little deeper research, I found and met Karla. She told me how she travels all over Texas to "kill pens" where these unwanted donkeys were being readied for slaughter for glue production and meat. It doesn't take long standing at the fence at the rescue to get a sense that for every one of them that were saved and are here in Celina, Texas, there must be countless others that will never be saved.
I reached out to Mayor Sean Terry and asked him if he would like to participate in some sort of friendly challenge with the police chief to help bring awareness to the donkey rescue. He agreed, and then I had to get the chief onboard. Yep, I asked the mayor before I even knew if the chief would participate. Welcome to my way of doing things. Surprisingly, Chief John Cullison also quickly agreed.
Now I know Celina, Texas and have been here longer than most (1993) but I honestly gained a ton of respect for our city leadership when both of these men agreed to participate. I guess that I half expected to get a "no" from at least one of them. But, as you know, I didn't.
From the moment that I had the green light to move forward, there was lots of filming to be done. First up was heading out to the Donkey and Horse Rescue and meet with Karla to shoot some footage with the donkeys and to get a better feel for how she operates the rescue. Needless to say, that meeting was eye opening.
Most of the donkeys there remind me of the homeless people I used to work with in Dallas. Each one has s story, a heart and personality. Each one has had a rough road that led to them being at the shelter. So, my interest in the donkey rescue became even greater. The video that was a result of that day can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fjcqGuWTmc
After that day, I went on to do a podcast interview with Karla Vargas. At the time, she was helping shut down the property she had worked at for some time in Celina. This property was known for raising show class Andalusian horses. We used a small trailer at the property and did the podcast interview. That interview can be heard here: https://www.celinaradio.com/karla-vargas/
While at the Andalusian ranch, Karla introduced me to Catalino Carrero, a horse trainer from Spain. This was one of the highlights of my day as he was so friendly and welcoming. Catalino took the time to show me many of his Andalusian horse training techniques and even put one of his horses through some of it's paces in the horse arena. I have some great videos and will post them soon! Also, I am going to include Catalino on and upcoming episode of CelinaRadio.com as well. I am certain that you are going to enjoy getting to know him and his connection to the most regal of horses, the Andalusian.
Soon it was time to meet with Mayor Terry. We met at the Celina City Hall and did a podcast interview ion the city council chambers meeting room. Mayor Terry was great to interview as he is sharp, outspoken and confident. We discussed his personal journey to becoming the Mayor of Celina, Texas and lots about who he is personally. And of course, we did something fun as well. You might like to hear that interview which can be heard here: https://www.celinaradio.com/mayor-sean-terry/
Another week or two later, I met with Celina Police Chief John Cullison and did a CelinaRadio.com Podcast interview with him. Of course, many of you know that I am a former police officer and that I started my career in Celina, Texas as a police officer (in fact, I left the family real estate business to become a police officer.) So, getting to see how much the Celina Police Department has changed since 1996 when I left was fun!
One thing is certain, Chief Cullison is a great leader. His officers love him and he completely understands Celina, Texas and where we are as a growing city right now. Chief Cullison is also aware of the rich history in Celina and how important that is to everyone living here. -But, I digress. The bottom line is that my time speaking with Chief Cullison was great and I have developed great respect for him.
Within days, I met with both Mayor Terry and Chief Cullison to film the Indoor Fishing Challenge to help bring awareness to the Donkey and Horse Rescue. The challenge was fantastic and in the end, Mayor Terry won by one point! You can find the final video of the event here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpgQDfgyQls
There was lots of followup video to be shot of Chief Cullison delivering lunch to Mayor Terry from Papa Gallos along with tons of coordination. But the filming was only a portion of the time required to complete the Donkey Challenge. The truth is, I spend nearly 20 hours editing the final video.
Thanks to everyone involved in making the Donkey Challenge amazing! It was fantastic and for a very good cause!
