Stouffville Barns Winner 2009

This has been a great year for Margaret Helms, a one-year-old English bulldog who lives in Sunderland with her father and mother, Rich and Dorothea Helms. In June, she was shopping at the Stouffville Country Market when she was photographed and entered into a contest at the special “Doggie Daze at the Market” event. A few days later, her dad received a phone call informing him that Margaret had won in the “Most Adorable Dog” category and would receive a gift basket of dog items worth $75. This honour comes hot on the heels of Margaret’s first-place win in the Large Dog Category in the Doggie Fashion Show held at the 14th Annual Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival in April.

“We are delighted that the judges recognized how adorable Margaret is,” Rich says. “We want to thank Stouffville Country Market for their generosity.”

“Yeah, the dog stuff is great,” says Margaret, “all except for the toothbrush. Whose idea was that?”

The lovable 60-pound canine is named for the late British actress Margaret Rutherford, and looks remarkably like that film icon. It was pointed out to her parents recently that in profile, she also bears a striking resemblance to the late William Conrad of the television series “Jake and the Fat Man.”

After both contest wins, the paparazzi hounded Margaret, whose mother is local freelance writer Dorothea, a.k.a. The Writing Fairy. “Margaret also appears regularly on humorous greeting cards, which are in demand across North America, Dorothea says. “We’re hoping that these brushes with celebrity won’t go to her head.”