Without a solid foundation, the future would be bleak for almost any undertaking, including a town. This series will highlight a few of Blanco’s citizens who have made our town into what it is now and those who will take our community into its future.

A growing number of young people in Blanco are interested in starting and maintaining their own businesses. One such young person even desires to start a “Blanco Youth Chamber of Commerce”. As the first article in this series, here is her story.

Anna’s Animals

“We have constantly had stray animals at our house and all we can figure out is that it must be due to Anna,” says slightly puzzled and amused Julie Dill.

Julie, mother of twelve year old young business entrepreneur Anna Dill, finds it hard to remember when Anna was not fascinated with both animals and business. It seems inevitable that Anna would blend the two together just as she has done with her two new business ventures, “Anna’s Art” and “Happy Pets”.

“I have been drawing and painting horses since I was four and selling things since I was five,” says Anna, laughing. “I tried everything; cookies I made without recipes for a penny apiece, silly stuff like that, but I also sold my drawings and paintings. When I was little, I said that I wanted to be the richest girl in the world.”

“If we’d followed all of Anna’s ideas, we might be millionaires by now,” acknowledges Julie, “but her first and most enduring love has always been animals. We watched her interests. As a toddler she especially loved all the stuffed animals her older sister had, especially the two stuffed horses.”

“I got the door slammed in my face a lot because I was always wanting to go into her room and play with her stuffed animals!” Anna remembers.

During a recent pet portrait session, Anna used her growing knowledge of pet massage to completely relax a group of Labrador retrievers. (see photo) She is using the money she earns with her business to participate in animal therapy workshops, to pay for her horse back riding lessons, pet food, and to board her two horses, Dakota and Lefty.

“I want to help animals feel better and I want to be around animals all the time,” Anna proclaims as she describes her interest in becoming a Holistic Animal Healer. Anna’s clients say that it is obvious that she has a calming gift with animals and that they are amazed at the way she attracts animals to her.

In addition to her other interests, Anna has also always had an interest in history and architecture. Blanco’s VIP workshops played a big influence on her, Anna says, and compelled her to design a town square, take the lead on producing a map of 400 Blanco historic structures, and to design her own ranch.

Anna calls her future dream ranch the “Double D Ranch” and she says it is to be a horse lover’s paradise “where you can ride your horses anywhere!” Also on the “Double D”, Anna plans to have a rescue animal shelter and to breed animals.

“I want to rescue horses and put them on the land so they can live and breed and hopefully I can help to bring the wild horse population back up,” Anna maintains.

“Happy Pets” is a line of all natural pet products that Anna sells and ties in with her interest in becoming a Holistic Healer for animals.

“Anna’s Art” is comprised of a pet portrait business and original note cards produced using her animal photographs. The note cards are currently being sold at Brieger Pottery on the Blanco Square for $3.00 apiece. For a $25.00 sitting fee ($15.00 for each additional pet), Anna will take natural portraits of any type of pet. The photos are $3.00 per sheet of prints and $1.00 per photo (minimum of five photos) on a CD.

You can reach Anna at 833-1931 to schedule a pet portrait session or to discuss her business ventures.