The Ancient and Effervescent Order of Little Yellow Dog. 

 

Credit for beginning the Little Yellow Dog organization must go exclusively to the late Worth Waltermire, at that time a bellboy at the Martin Hotel and later manager of both the Martin and Warrior Hotels here, as well as other hotels in the Eugene C. Eppley chain.

Worth overheard a traveling man talking about the ancient and effervescent order in Des Moines which was dedicated to fun and charity. It occurred to him that such a group could be organized here and used to solicit funds for The Journal’s Christmas charity project, which he knew was sorely in need of help.

So, Worth wrote to a friend in Des Moines and obtained a copy of the canine order’s initiation ritual. He immediately went to work obtaining memberships at 25¢ a head and he recruited some energetic helpers, such as Harry Harbeck, Rodney Dean, Ray Murphy, Mike Bergeson and others. Their collections that year “saved the day” for The Journal’s Goodfellow fund.

The Des Moines kennel of the Little Yellow Dogs long ago passed into oblivion, but the Sioux City kennel grew and flourished until today it is one of the most active fraternal organizations in the city.
 

It is the heart and soul of The Little Yellow Dog to raise money during the Auction for contribution to charity in support of Siouxland’s less fortunate youth. Money raised comes principally from the successful bidder in purchasing the dog on an annual basis. Individual gifts, however, to The Ancient and Effervescent Order of the Little Yellow Dogs are also graciously accepted during the Auction. The organization is a 501(c)3 entity, and any contributions made other than dues are tax deductible by the individual contributor.

 

Historically, The Little Yellow Dog has, on an annual basis, contributed all of the proceeds of the auction to the Sioux City Journal Goodfellow Fund. The Little Yellow Dog is the major supporter of the Goodfellow Fund, and the Goodfellow Fund has a volunteer organization or network which annually screens family applications for assistance; purchases toys and other gifts for the children and organizes the distribution to designated families for the benefit of their children. These toys and other gifts are gender specific and age specific. Many of The Little Yellow Dog Auction Club members serve as volunteers along with the Sioux City Journal staff in handling the organization and distribution annually.

Since 2000, the purchase of the mascot for auction have been purebred dogs while recently they have been embracing ever popular specialty/designer breeds.  The mascot is selected by the Board of Directors with the assistance of the Kennel Master (a veterinary hospital). The puppy is normally housed in the Kennel Master’s clinic and staff within that clinic work with the puppy so that at the time of Auction most of the puppies are housebroken, healthy, and socialized.
Over the course of the years, the Auction for the puppy has varied pricewise. The highest bid during the 2011 Auction was the sum of $45,000.00 paid by John F. Roost for Stoney. 

To dispel the often-expressed belief, neither the auctioneer nor The Little Yellow Dog club members have any preconceived notion as to who the successful bidder may be. While various people in the community have expressed a desire for one breed or another of puppies, this does not normally mean that that breed will be selected or that the individual making the request will be a bidder, let alone a successful bidder.

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The generous bidders who create the successful fund raising at the annual auction of The Ancient and Effervescent Order of The Little Dogs, continue to outdo themselves, year after year.

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The repeat buyers continue to assert their generous impulses. Among them, Fred Wells, of Wells Dairy, who was unaware the Auction was even underway until he stopped in at the Terra Centre to buy a Christmas present for his wife at Gunderson Jewelry and ended up buying a dog on a Christmassy impulse.
It is probably the Waitts who established the standard for consistent longevity. Waitt family members have purchased the dog 4 times in 3 generations, the first one occurring long before Gateway President Ted ever heard of such things as computers.

We are fortunate to have a vast reservoir of talent in Siouxland, so that crucial vacancies always prove to be temporary problems. And so it is, that when long- time Auctioneer Harold Ruden decided to hang up his seductive chant, Bruce Brock was standing by to take up those challenging duties.

THE AUCTION CLUB

By 1942 it had become apparent that a more stable organization should be formed to handle the auction sale, so Tony Perasso decided to do something about it. He asked Harry Harbeck to help him.

They went to Waltermire, Dean and Murphy and explained Tony’s plan. It was this: He and Harry would each chip in $10 and invite 18 of their friends to do likewise. That would make a pot of $200 to buy the dog. Names of donors would be written on slips of paper and placed in a hat. After being thoroughly mixed, one of the slips would be drawn out. The man whose name appeared on that slip would be the purchaser of the dog.

It was a great idea, and it was enthusiastically received by the auction originators.

But word of what Tony was doing leaked out and others begged to be let in on the deal.  So by the time the auction date rolled around the pot had reached a total of $310. The dog that year was sold to the late Hugh Twohig, well known stockyards livestock commission man.

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It is not only the impressive purchase prices paid for the mascot at the auction which have inflated over the years. The cost of buying pedigreed pets for the auction has also gone up, creating dismaying pressures on the rather meager budget afforded by membership dues. That stress has been relieved by still another avenue of philanthropy which has manifested itself – a long list of donors who have volunteered to offset the expenses of procuring the dog annually – a list which assures that we will have a mascot for the next decade or so.

 

Upcoming Dog Donors
2024 – Don Lemley
2025 – Travis and Angie Dye
2026 – Rusty and Karen Clark 
2027 – Tim and Laura Schmitt

It is the fond hope of the Board of Directors that the Little Yellow Dog membership will maintain its loyal support, and that open-handed Siouxlanders will match that support with their Christmas season generosity, with the annual auction going – going – going but never gone!

THE TAILWAGGERS

Every Christmas time the order’s devoted Tailwaggers swing into action. They invade factories and offices, infiltrate organization meetings and roam
the highways and byways in search of generous citizens from whom they can extract a dollar or two to help needy children. Their collections every year account for the major portion of The Journal’s Goodfellow Fund.

Back in 1936 Rodney Dean and the late Ray Murphy, then Town Criers on an early morning program over radio station KSCJ, conceived the idea of providing the Yellow Dogs with a mascot and selling it at a radio auction. They went to Worth Waltermire with the plan and were enthusiastically received.

The three went to the city dog pound and from the late Mrs. M. W. Baldwin, then secretary of the Humane Society, obtained a mongrel dog whom they named Skippy. The Saturday before Christmas in the lobby of the Martin hotel they held an auction which was broadcast over KSCJ. The dog went to Herman Miller for the then stupendous price of $25.

The following year, another mongrel whom  they  named  Mike,  was sold to Wax Nelson and John Kampmeyer for the colossal sum of $200. After the picture of the dog  and  the  two  purchasers  had  appeared  in  The  Journal, a little boy with tears streaming down his face appeared at the Nelson- Kampmeyer pool hall.

Between sobs, he informed them: “You’ve got my dog Midget and I want him back.”

So Kampmeyer and Nelson took the boy and his tail wagging pet to the dog pound, bought the dog a collar and a license and changed his name back to Midget. Then they took the boy to an uptown clothing store where they bought him a complete outfit of clothing, from underwear to overcoat and from shoes to cap.
The Yellow Dog auctions continued under the direction of Dean and Murphy for six years, with the price increasing to a peak of $300 in 1939, where the late Oscar Hoberg bought the mascot on behalf of the Sioux City Scottish Rite Consistory.