Pet Tender Angels Rescue and Rehabilitation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dog shelter in Landrum. &bsp;

It was started in Greenville, S.C. about 10 years ago by a caring woman named Lori Jewell.&bsp; Eventually Pet Tender Angels outgrew the space available because the need was, and still is, so great.&bsp; So Lori moved to Landrum to enable Pet Tender Angels to expand. &bsp;

Our mission is to provide rescue and rehabilitation for homeless, feral, stray, abandoned and special needs dogs with the hopes of placing them in a&bsp; loving &dquo;forever&dquo; home.&bsp; &bsp;

Pet Tender Angels has a website, www.pettenderangels.com, where you can see all of the wonderful dogs who are available for adoption and also learn more about what they do. &bsp;

&dquo;You might want to help us by volunteering some time to take a dog for a walk, donating some much needed items or sponsoring one of our great dogs.&bsp; There are lots of ways that you can help.&bsp; We are totally dependent on donations to care for the animals in our shelter,&dquo; said Nancy Allevi, secretary for Pet Tender Angels.

For more information, call Pet Tender Angels at 864-787-2498. Visitors are welcome to make an appointment to come out and see. For other information, please email Kathryn at jrp2001@charter.net or Nancy at twoshelterpups@yahoo.com.

* * *

Nodine&squo;s Restaurant has been collecting donations of school supplies for the last month to give to O.P. Earle and Campobello Gramling Elementary Schools. &bsp;

The donations have come from customers who learned about the effort while eating at the restaurant. Items received include notebooks, pencils, crayons, rulers, erasers, paper, and glue and were based on the supply lists from the schools.

The Nodines started the collection for members of the community because of this year&squo;s economic troubles. &dquo;We wanted to give something back to our community,&dquo; Tim Nodine said of the effort. &dquo;It was our customers who really gave back.&dquo;

The Nodines will present these donations to the principals of each school on August 17 to be distributed to children who need assistance this year. Donations will be accepted at the restaurant until then.

The Nodines are also collecting clothing of all sizes for men, women and children that they plan to redistribute free of charge to anyone in the community who needs them. &bsp;

For more information call Tim or Bobbi Nodine at 864-468-5485.

* * *

Horses for Healing LLC is a new Western North Carolina resource for equine assisted therapy (E.A.T.). E.A.T. is an experiential based therapy that facilitates development of personal insight and immediate feedback through guided interaction with horses. Individuals who struggle with emotional, behavioral and psychological issues benefit from E.A.T. Our mission is to provide outstanding therapeutic assistance via guided interaction with horses.

Horses for Healing LLC pairs an individual and horse together with a professional therapist for guided therapeutic interactions. These interactions between horse and individual provide immediate reliable feedback, revealing individual issues that interfere with day to day living.

Once issues are revealed, decisions can be made to change behaviors, thoughts or actions for more positive outcomes. E.A.T. has proven effective in the treatment of individuals, families and groups in all age ranges with a wide range of issues including, but not limited to: anxiety, depression, grieving, anger management, post traumatic stress, phobias, emotional, physical and sexual abuse, relational and communication issues.

To learn more, contact Pam Hecht or Dr. Betty Kjera, Ph.D., LPC at 45 Henderson Rd., Tryon, NC 28782 Phone: 828-625-8786 or 813-760-4016, or online at horsesforhealing.com.

* * *

The Book Shelf, a member of the American Booksellers Association and Southeastern Independent Booksellers Association, as well as the Think Foothills First initiative, is also linked with IndieBound. IndieBound is a unique, community-oriented movement that celebrates independent bookstores and promotes locally-owned businesses.

The IndieBound movement gives independent booksellers and their customers a way to show their support for local, independent businesses and supports Independent Business Alliances around the country.

Friends of The Book Shelf, is an off-shoot of the IndieBound concept. It consists of customers and supporters who receive occasional emails and the online newsletter containing items of interest to readers and information regarding literary events at The Book Shelf.

To become part of this group, email The Book Shelf at tryonbookshelf@gmail.com, or stop by The Book Shelf, located at 90 Pacolet Street, across from the Tryon post office.

* * *

Pardee Hospital has announced that John Hicks, M.D., an orthopaedic surgeon, recently joined its medical staff, and is currently accepting new patients at Blue Ridge Bone & Joint in Hendersonville.

Hicks received his medical degree from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in Columbia, S.C. He completed his internship at the University of Tennessee Department of Surgery in Memphis, Tenn.&bsp; Hicks completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery at the Campbell Clinic in Memphis, Tenn., and completed a combined orthopaedic and neurosurgical spine surgery fellowship at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va.

Hicks specializes in spinal disorders and surgery as well as general orthopaedic surgery.&bsp; He has special interests in spinal degenerative disease, lumbar and cervical stenosis, minimally invasive care and fracture management.

* * *

The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau and American Express have invited North Carolina residents to &dquo;Get Off Your County Seat&dquo; and visit Raleigh, kicking off a year-long sweepstakes that will reward 100 winners, one from each of North Carolina&squo;s 100 counties, with a personalized weekend getaway to the Raleigh area.

Once one winner from a county is chosen, all other entrants from that county will be eligible for the &dquo;Get Off Your County Seat&dquo; Grand Prize to be awarded at the close of the sweepstakes in June 2010.

To enter, North Carolina residents must go to www.mycountyseat.com&bsp; and fill out the online entry form and take a short quiz to determine what type of seat best fits their personality. Entrants will take the quiz and determine where they match among six categories of visitors: Creative Genius, Foodie, Fashionista, Adrenaline Junkie, Rock Star Wannabe or History Buff.