Hamster Roll 500

This is going to be fun!

Petland, 5592-A Whitesville Road, is going to hold the Hamster Roll 500 (500 centimeters or roughly three feet) at 2 p.m. Aug. 16. Registration begins at noon.

Other Petland stores have been doing this for some time, but it will be the first in Columbus.

Growing up, we had hamsters and parakeets. And a couple of dogs, of course. For some reason, we never had any cats. I don't know why. My sister-in-law, Cheryl, loves cats. Right now, she has one, Harry. Her beloved Rosie died a few months ago of old age. She was a sweetie. She was a kitten when our Pomeranian, Cherry, was a puppy. They were buddies. It was so cute watching those two play. They'd pretend not to like each other. We'd leave the house and when we got back, they'd be sleeping together! We lost Cherry first, about four years ago.

Anyway, getting back to the hamster race.

Anyone with a hamster can register their pet. It's free.

The course is straight and about three-feet long. The "world" record is 38 seconds.

Depending on the number of hamsters, there will be different heats for them to compete in.

The Ice Cream Girl, a new ice cream shop in the Landings, will be selling ice cream. Ten percent of the sales will go to the Muscogee County Humane Society. Petland will match whatever the Ice Cream Girl donates.

It'll be lots of fun!

For more information, call Don Popham at 706-321-9921.