Meet the #USBarkRangers Founders!
Ben
Who is your Bark Ranger?
Miss Maisy Daisy, aka Wiggle Butt, aka Maisita! She is a very sweet, super velcro girl! She is 4 and has been with me nearly 3 years. She has been to many NPS sites and earned her Bark Ranger tags at several!
My previous Bark Ranger, Bella Brown, was the reason we started the group! Bella and I found the Bark Ranger program too late in her life, so it's important to me to get Maisy these awesome experiences starting early on! And last, but not least, was my first dog as an adult, Sadie Lou. She was never a Bark Ranger, as she passed before Bella and I discovered Bark Rangers. Sadie was a super sweet, absolutely adorable, and absolutely rotten beagle!
What is one thing you love about being a Bark Ranger enthusiast?
Everything, really! My best friend Nicki and I created the group to better share info with people on where they could make great memories with their pups! I love being able to find a special way to share my great passion and hobby of visiting park sites with my girl and being able to have her involved! And, I love seeing everyone else's experiences, as well! It is awesome that we have, hopefully, helped facilitate, in some small way, great memories with pawrents and their Bark Rangers!
What are things you would like to do or see this year with your pup?
Within the next year I would hope to be able to do some more road trips with Maisy to make some more great memories with her!
What is something about you that is interesting or unusual and not related to your dog?
I am a trumpet player and a music teacher. I didn't really start traveling incessantly and get obsessed with national park visits until 2018. I have now been blessed to visit 46 of the National Parks and just about an equal number of the "smaller " units of the National Park Service!
What is your favorite part of being on the Admin team?
It has been a pleasure making friendships through the page because we all have this common interest! I've had the pleasure of meeting some of the other moderators and other members of the group in real life which has been pawesome! Also, we don't really miss any posts and it's always really neat to see where members are taking their pups and seeing new spots that I haven't been to!
nicki
Who is your Bark Ranger?
My Bark Ranger is my wiley, loving, smart girldog senior rescue Lily. Her full name was Tiger Lily, but I shortened it to Lily, because she is such a pretty gal. She has earned a few tags, and the many wonderful members of this group have blessed us with presents -- tags and swag from all over our #USBarkRangers nation. So Lily has quite the collection now. Before my Lily, my first daughter was Jessie, and my son was Charlie, both pictured with me in 2018. Charlie had the chance to earn one Bark Ranger tag before he crossed the rainbow bridge.
What is one thing you love about being a Bark Ranger enthusiast?
Everything. My bestie Ben Jarvis and I co-founded this group because we truly love living in the present tense, actively, with our pups in the parks. We work hard to share that love and respect with all hoomans and fur babies in this furamily.
What are things you would like to do or see this year with your pup?
Lily is elderly now, so we are grateful for short trips and beach days. We recently went to our "home" Bark Ranger park for a lovely meetup with our Florida locals and helpfed them joyfully earn their first tags! Lily loves the beach, so we wake early and see as many sunrises as possible.
What is something about you that is interesting or unusual and not related to your dog?
I have an undergraduate degree in musical theatre, a Masters in Directing, and I worked professionally as a professional musical theatre performer in NYC and abroad for many years in my 20s. I am very proud of this, as well as my work as a professor at the University of Kentucky and years in arts education. I now work in consulting, but I am grateful for my background as a creative.
What is your favorite part of being on the Admin team?
While I truly love seeing our members’ many precious posts, and truly love supporting their joy with our map and so on, my favorite thing has become the friendships I now have with our mod squad! The ladies who work with Ben and I are very diverse, very authentic, super savvy and wonderfully loving. Those new friendships have really enriched my life.