Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan Goes to the Dogs

I've heard the ladies are always throwing themselves at Bethlehem Mayor John Callahan. And now I know it's true. I saw it myself on Saturday. He was just standing there, yet all these females were still jumping on him, licking him and even smelling his butt.

Mayor John was at Bethlehem's busy dog park, which was packed in spite of the cold weather. My grandson's maniac dog, Suki, forced us to take her there. She's a Jack Russell-poodle mix, and is one of the tramps who threw herself, literally, at Callahan. She's officially called a Jackapoo, but is really just a mutt.

Don't tell her that. Her personality is 110% Jack Russell. She's only ten pounds, but seems to think she's a Bull Mastiff or Great Dane, and loves chasing big dogs or stealing their balls and then running off, even though any one of them could swallow her whole. At Lehigh, she once broke off my leash, dashed into the middle of a lacrosse game, and stole the ball. She leaped across a small stream as players and refs yelled and chased after her. At Jacobsburg, this ten pound furball has gone after three deer, and nearly caught them, too! Last summer, it took me two hours to get her out of a ground hog's hole. She's no foo-foo dog. She's the Captain Danger of designer dogs, and Saturday was no exception.

I was a little surprised to see Bethlehem's mayor go to the dogs. No trumpets announced his presence, dogs can't vote, and for at least forty minutes, no one seemed to know him. I think he enjoyed being just another dog owner.

Until Saturday, I'd only seen him in formal settings. In the dog park, he was quiet and unassuming, yet very congenial to those who spoke with him. He was even nice to me. He seems to know quite a few dogs, including Suki, by name. I listened as he described a few nearby swimming holes to one lady with a black lab. He commiserated with others who were complaining about the cold. And Suki, slut that she is, would have left with him.

He must be a regular. He knows all about Max, a German Shepherd who always enters the dog park by leaping over its six foot fence. As much as the ladies like Callahan, they like Max a little more.

When he found out I was actually a trespasser from Nazareth, he had some good questions about our skatepark. I won't quote him because he had no idea he was talking to that crazy blogger and I wasn't taking notes. But skating enthusiasts would like what he said. He told me Bethlehem is working on one, too. I told him we're working on a dogpark, too.

Eventually, someone blew the mayor's cover. It was kind of sad, really. I think he enjoyed being able to be himself for a few minutes. Those dogs don't know he's the mayor, and they like him anyway.