Wagner Shelter salutes former HSWC president on his 87th birthday

From left, HSWC board members Amy Thurman, Ellen Aders, Michelle Kisiorek and Wagner Shelter Executive Director Meghan Bowers, wish Malcolm Barr a happy birthday at Va. Beer Museum party organized by wife Carol. Courtesy Photo/HSWC

One of Royal Examiner’s contributing writers, former Associated Press journalist Malcolm Barr Sr., was honored at his 87^th birthday party, Tuesday, March 10, by the Humane Society of Warren County (HSWC) and its Julia Wagner Animal Shelter, among other friends.

Barr is a former president of HSWC and a still active and avid supporter of the Society and the Shelter’s work on behalf of the County’s stray and abandoned animals. Still, Barr said he was “surprised and honored” that his birthday celebration included a two-pronged present delivered by the Wagner Shelter’s Executive Director Meghan Bowers and some of the current HSWC board members.

Those presents were a canvas inscribed with dog paw prints and notice that one of the shelter’s homeless dogs has been named “Malcolm” after the Rockland octogenarian.

“I hope he will soon find a forever home and that maybe they’ll keep his name,” Barr said of Malcolm the dog, who was described as a black, friendly, pit bull terrier. “I know I always am very attentive and respond on command when called by it,” human Malcolm said of wife Carol’s call.

Malcolm the dog, this handsome guy named for the birthday boy at least for the day, is looking for a ‘forever home’ – Courtesy Photo/HSWC

In fact, it was Carol Barr who organized her husband’s birthday party at the Virginia Beer Museum, where he spends an hour or two each Tuesday with a group of friends at a weekly event christened TPT (Two Pint Tuesday). And a toast was also raised Carol Barr’s way at her husband’s party, as she was feted as a 10-year cancer survivor, to the day. Carol received her cancer diagnosis on her husband’s birthday in 2010, not a present he was looking for. But “Cheers” to Carol for beating the odds – and keep up the good work!!!

Carol’s husband’s work on behalf of animals dates back to his teen years in the United Kingdom, he points out, as a member of the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA). Malcolm was also active in the Western Canadian branch of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and counts 27 years of Japanese Chin rescue work covering a five-state region including New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia.

Barr, who formed his own Chin rescue group after encountering issues with a Chin parent organization, The Cherry Blossom Chin Club, is now an honorary member of the Japanese Chin Club of America. He put his Japanese Chin organization on the American Chin Club’s rescue map after entering 24 Japanese Chins in Washington’s annual Cherry Blossom parade back in the 1970s, and successfully finding 95 Japanese Chins “forever homes” over a 25-year span.

Malcolm and Carol brought their own Chin, Hamlet, with them to Front Royal in 2002. And while Hamlet died 10 years ago, his successor, Miniature Pug Ophelia, is still in the household carrying Hamlet’s memory forward – yes, there is a Shakespearian theme here.

Mainly through their son, Malcolm Jr., an Iraq war veteran, the Barrs in recent years have taken in several Siberian Husky rescues. Then USAF Staff Sgt. Malcolm Barr Jr. adopted two huskies that he left behind during his overseas assignment. He never got them back and, after their passing, the Barrs continued their newfound love affair with the breed.

“We adopted our current Siberian, Diva, from Pet Harbor near Fredericksburg, a few months ago. She’s another of our dogs who is pretty well-known downtown since, like the others before her, she goes everywhere with me, including the dog-friendly Beer Museum once a week, my BB&T banking branch, Lester’s Pharmacy, Petco and Lowe’s. On Memorial Day in May, she will lead her first parade honoring the ‘Dogs of War’ at the Gazebo ceremony on May 25,” Malcolm has promised her.

This party deserves a story, don’t you think? Your humble reporter approaches his amazingly youthful 87-year-old colleague as Diva the rescue Husky lobbies for a role in that story. Courtesy Photo/Paul Hutchins

“During the warm weather months, we take our dogs to the back, open-air, area of the PaveMint Brew House, which Christian Failmezger runs and owns. Some 10 years ago, Christian and I began a ‘Yappy Hour’ fundraiser each Friday, raising more than $10,000 for the Humane Society’s Wagner Shelter. Last September, Christian’s wife Rachel got involved with a similar project at ViNoVa on East Main Street and ‘Yappy Hour’ continues there every Friday from 5 p.m. till 7 p.m.”

Of his current dog population, Malcolm told us, “Diva and I will gracefully grow old together, along with Carol and our newest addition Goose.”

Goose is a mixed breed, part German Shepherd the Barrs took in a few weeks ago after their son, now out of the air force, was involved in a fairly severe traffic accident. Goose accompanied young Malcolm to his parents to recuperate from the accident and stayed behind with his new friends Diva and Ophelia with free run of the Barr’s spacious, fenced-in Rockland backyard, when young Malcolm returned home, still somewhat hobbled, limiting his ability to handle the very active young Goose.

Happy birthday again, Malcolm – and always remember, we’re going to the dogs, and loving it…