Kids who attend the Story Time activity on April 2 can visit with three year old Hashbrown in the cat sculpture room while listening to a story. Hashbrown is one of the 60 cats available for adoption at the Chenango SPCA, and now until March 31 all adoption fees are 50 percent off. (Photo from the Chenango SPCA Facebook page)

CHENANGO COUNTY — The Chenango SPCA has some fun events in store for the month of April, including their monthly Story Time activity and a painting workshop.

Children of all ages are invited to visit the SPCA on Saturday, April 2 for Story Time in the cat sculpture room, from 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to visit with the cats at the shelter while also listening to a story about animals.

"Certainly we’d like to get more kids involved, and now that masks have been eased in the schools and stuff and people are getting out, we hope that maybe they’ll come for the Story Time," said Chenango SPCA Executive Director Annette Clarke. "Sometimes it’s our front desk person, sometimes we invite somebody special to read, but they go into the big cat room and they sit on the floor, and she reads them a story and the cats play with them. It’s just a nice little story time."

Story Time has been held at the shelter and area libraries for years, and are always scheduled for the first Saturday of each month. Children are also welcome to stay in the cat room after the story to play with the cats and ask questions.

"It’s a lot of fun, the kids like it. They get read a story or two and it’s a nice little activity for a Saturday," said Clarke. "The kids do sometimes stay after, and they ask her questions and visit with the cats."

The event is completely free, and no registration is needed. Currently, masks are still required inside the Chenango SPCA facility.

From 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 30, the SPCA will also be collaborating with The Artists' Palette in downtown Norwich for Paint Your Pet's Portrait. Participants can send in a photo of their four-legged best friend when registering, which Artists' Palette owner Jill Kraft will sketch onto a canvas.

"A lot of people just love doing them. They’ve been very successful, because what happens is the owner of the Artists' Palette, when they upload a picture to us ... of their animal, she sketches it on the canvas board that you use to paint, so you already go in with something that is kind of a pre-sketched image of your animal," Clarke explained. "She provides all the paint, the brushes, and you go in and you actually paint based on your picture. It doesn’t matter how talented or lack of talent you have, it’s just a lot of fun to do."

A registration link can be found on the Chenango SPCA Facebook page, and on their website, chenangospca.org, under "Upcoming Events." After registering, photos can be emailed to sheltermanager@chenangospca.org.

The workshop will be held at The Artists' Palette, located at 17-19 South Broad Street in Norwich, and is $40 per person. A portion of proceeds go to the store to cover the cost of materials, and the rest is donated to the Chenango SPCA to assist with the $370,000 annual cost of operations.

"She doesn’t get a huge amount, but she gets enough to cover the supplies because she provides all the paint, the brushes, the canvas. Everything so you can walk in the door and you can paint, and you don’t have to provide anything. So she does take a portion to pay for the supplies," said Clarke.

"But we do okay with it," she added. "Sometimes you do things because you want to expose people to things that they might not be exposed to, and painting is one of them."

For those looking to adopt a pet, the Chenango SPCA currently has 60 cats and eight dogs listed on their website as available for adoption. Now through March 31, adoption fees are 50 percent off as part of the Love is in the Air special.

"We want as many animals out the door as possible. That's what we’re in the business of, is adoption," said Clarke. "We're trying to find everybody a home, so whatever we can do to make that happen is what we do."

While nothing else is set in stone as of now, Clarke said the SPCA Board of Directors is planning to meet to determine events and fundraisers for 2022.

"The board is going to start meeting about what we can do for fundraisers now that things are opening up a little bit," she said. "But right now aside from doing our Paws and Pints, which we intend to do but that won’t be until towards the end of the summer, I don’t know what else we’re going to do."

Updates on future events and fundraisers can be found on the Chenango SPCA Facebook page. For more information on Story Time, call 607-334-9724 or email cspcainfo@chenangospca.org. For more information on the Paint Your Pet's Portrait event, call 607-334-9724 ext. 2, or send a message to the Chenango SPCA Facebook page.