Black River Trading Co. P.O. Box 7, Oxford, Michigan 48371 USA Phone: 248-628-2986 Fax: 248-628-6422
(Warning: This site has many pictures and could take several minutes to download!)
Jane Briggs-Bunting is a professor of journalism at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. She has written for People and Life magazines. She lives on a farm in Oxford, Michigan with her husband, Robert. A Cleveland, Ohio native, she has four cats, three swans, four dogs (including Laddie), a llama named Awoll, and her horse, Whoop for Joy.
Jon Buechel was the fashion artist for the Detroit Free Press. His sketches and whimsical drawings graced the pages of the newspaper for almost years. He is retired now, though his weekly drawing entitled "Buechel's World" earned him legions of fans. Born and raised in Center Line, Michigan, he still lives there with his wife, Shirl. They have three grown daughters and two grandchildren.
Whoop is a 30-year-old retired race horse who lives on Briggs-Bunting's farm in Oxford, Michigan. He was foaled on April 22, 1971 in Florida to racing parents. In his six year career on the track, he won his only race at the Detroit Race Course on June 19, 1975--the very year Briggs-Bunting's husband surprised her with riding lessons for her birthday. He retired from the track in 1978 and began his second career as a dressage and Western competitor for a girl in Addison Township, Michigan. When she grew up, she fell in love and planned to marry. She sold Whoop, who was then 12, to Briggs-Bunting for the price of her wedding gown. He then launched his third career as a hobby horse. The two would saunter down the gravel roads and country trails in the area with fast, hard gallops through the fields. He began his fourth career, as cover boy and media star in 1995, when his semi-biography, Whoop for Joy A Christmas Wish was published. He now gets fan mail and birthday cards from across the United States.
Laddie was Cairn Terrier from a
litter in Oakland Township, Michigan. He became the loyal and mischievous companion to
Briggs-Bunting's
mother, Isabelle Briggs, a Cleveland,
Ohio resident. He would join his mistress for lengthy visits to Briggs-Bunting's Oxford
farm and her cottage along the Lake Huron shore. After his mistress' death, he came to
live in Oxford with Trapper, Whoop, Chance and the other dogs and cats on the farm. He
though it great fun to bark ferociously at the vacuum cleaner and chase around and around
the outdoor sprinklers. He loved swimming in the chilly waters of Lake Huron, chasing
seagulls and retrieving sticks while walking the shoreline to the Sturgeon Point
Lighthouse. On one of those walks in 1995, the idea for Laddie
of the Light was conceived. Sadly, Laddie was diagnosed with bladder cancer in
September 2001. Though not a common cancer in dogs, Scottish Terriers do seem to have a
predisposition to this type of cancer. Though Laddie was a Cairn, they are close genetic
relatives of Scotties, and Laddie was bigger than breed. Briggs-Bunting and her
veterinarians were successful in the battle to significantly shrink the tumor using
conventional and homeopathic treatments, but a second mass developed in his lungs. Life
was no longer much fun for him. He was humanely put to sleep on December 31, 2001. Hard
though it is to lost the little guy, all are convinced his mistress, Isabelle Briggs, was
waiting for him with arms open in the light. He truly became Laddie of the Light.
Trapper (formally named Mousetrap) was adopted from the Michigan Humane Society at three months of age. His long and distinguished career as a mouser began the night of his arrival. He deposited his first victim, headless, in his litter box. He grew to fill the promise of his oversized ears and large paws tipping the scales at 18 lbs. in his prime. He has also lent a paw in training the various dogs and others cats who wander up the driveway and stake a claim on the Oxford farm as a home for lost and abandoned critters. Trapper was humanely put to sleep on December 23, 1999. He had cancer. At 19 1/2 year of age, he had a full life. We miss him dearly.
Awoll, also known as Llarry and Lama-bama, was indeed a llama on the lam in southeastern Michigan in Spring 1998. His antics drew widespread media attention and a tape of his bird feeder pilfering was featured on the syndicated Rosie O'Donnell show that spring. Captured after running amok through the gardens, yards and bird feeders of Belleville, Michigan, he was taken in by Horses' Haven. He was adopted by Jane Briggs-Bunting as a companion for Whoop that same summer. Whoop and Awoll had a rocky relationship early on, and all is not peaceful all of the time in the pasture and barn the two share. Awoll has been known to splatter Whoop with a well-deserved spit on occasion, and Awoll has been known to sneak into Whoop's stall and steal his food thereby earning Whoop's annoyance. But the two hang out together and fret when separated from each other.
For further information see News Briefs click: 
For information on copyright, legal jurisdiction for disputes and user waiver of liability see information under Copyright.