Carefree Truth #1109

"Thomas Jefferson said a democracy is dependent on an informed citizenry. I don't care whether it sounds corny or not. It's the truth." -Jim Lehrer

Carefree Truth
Issue #1109, November 25, 2024

I am sorry Lyn, I wish you would have told me you were going to write an article using my store as an example of being stirred up by Diane. This is not true. I have never met with her or discussed this issue with her. I read Les Peterson's letter you printed in Carefreetruth and that's how I found out about Petsmart going in the new retail development. Please understand Diane is a very good customer of mine at the shop and I do not want to loose her as a customer by what you wrote. She has nothing to do with my mentioning to you my feelings about Petsmart. Please correct your article. Thank you very much.
Alison/ Bosco's Biscuits

Alison, you were the one who told me Diane had been into your store and said that to you. I did not make that up.
Lyn

That is not true. You need to stop this now and leave me alone. I am not a resident of Carefree, so have no say so in your city government. From here on out please do not name me or my store in your Carefreetruth letters. Please refrain from involving me or my business in any conversations with other people. Thank you. I am disappointed that you could use me in your article with false information and statements. You have always been a loyal customer and I appreciate that. But this is not what I expected.
Alison

(Lyn's note: As I wrote, Alison walked out to the car while Herbert was loading up around $500 worth of dog food and a 2 lb. bag of biscuits into the trunk of our car, when she told me that Diane Roth was in her store and telling her how PetSmart would compete with her on the NE corner of Carefree Highway and Cave Creek Road. These were statements that Alison made to me. Herbert heard Alison telling me about how Diane Roth said that to her. But if she is so eager to keep Diane's business and to drive us away, that's fine. As stated, there are plenty of other pet stores in the immediate area, including an existing local PetSmart 3 traffic lights south of Bosco's Biscuits on Scottsdale Road. We had supported Alison because she is a Carefree business.

We spent at least $13,000 a year in Alison's store buying dog food and biscuits. Since she told us to "leave her alone", we will never shop at her store again. That does not seem like a smart business decision, but it's the decision she made, and we will honor it.

In writing the very nasty letter to a local paper, repeatedly naming and villanizing Carefree Truth, she did what she demanded that we not do ever again. Below is her Letter to the Editor. As you can see, although she demanded that we never again mention her and/or her store either in writing or speech, she does not hesitate to mention Carefree Truth repeatedly in her rather bizarre letter to the newspaper.
Bosco’s Biscuits has been a thriving business in Carefree for 25 years. During that time I have had the pleasure of serving quality pet foods and products to the pet owners of Carefree and beyond. I strive to maintain high quality products and service and have purposefully maintained a neutral position to protect my business from local politics.

Recently, Carefree Truth quoted me in their October 24th newsletter with language that did not represent me. In fact, nothing in the quote was true. I have never spoken to Councilwoman-elect Roth about the NE corner of Carefree Highway and Cave Creek Road, which is currently slated for development.

My store is a full-service pet store. It is not just “cute toys and biscuits”, as stated. In fact, two years ago I doubled my space to accommodate my expanded product lines of quality pet food. Carefree Truth also mentioned Pet Food Depot, which closed two years ago, and Pet Smart, who is my local competitor. I have no idea why Carefree Truth would make up this conversation! When I questioned the author on the facts contained within the article, I was told that I “just didn’t remember the conversation.” Really…I consider myself a very successful businesswoman who has quietly built a respected and dedicated clientele that seek quality products, and assure you that I have a very good memory.

I feel that people should know the truth. I intend to keep my store the Switzerland of dog food Emporiums that it has always been, which is why I have chosen to put this response out for public knowledge. The “REAL TRUTH” still matters.

Alison Ballai
Owner, Bosco’s Biscuits

Alison's shop started out in Cave Creek. She was not always in Carefree. The space she now occupies used to be occupied by John Brinkman, who owned and operated Foothills Photography. We bought our original Minolta film camera from him, and I had all the photos from it developed and printed there for many years.

I do admit I was wrong about the Pet Food Depot store in Cave Creek closing, but I was not aware of that because we were buying dog food and biscuits from Alison, so I had no reason to know that it had closed. But as you can see from what Alison put in writing to me, Alison did indeed "remember the conversation", just not correctly. I suspect she is trying to placate Diane Roth with all of this nonsense, and I suspect our patronage was one of the major elements that made her "a very successful business woman".

Alison claims that she learned about PetSmart going into the NE corner in Les Peterson's Guest Editorial in Carefree Truth. Below is former Mayor Peterson's article in Carefree Truth. There is absolutely no mention of PetSmart in that article. This is the link to that editorial: http://carefreetruth2.com/carefree-truth-1105.html )

And although it's correct that Alison did not talk about Carefree politics, she regularly talked about national politics. She posted the following on her FaceBook page after Donald Trump won the election:

This also does not seem like a good business decision to post on social media in an area where the vast majority of her clientele consists of conservative Republicans.

We are going back to the Pet Food Depot main store farther down Cave Creek Road for dog food, and have already placed a large order by phone at 602-493-7639. The address is 1745 N. Cave Creek Road, just south of Union Hills. We used the branch in Cave Creek before switching our business to Alison. Pet Food Depot carries an extensive line of dog food as well as giving us a discount on dog food since we buy in quantity. Alison did not give us that discount, but we were trying to support a Carefree business.

By the way, Herbert discovered a wonderful business that is located in Oregon called Snoops. It is a family owned and run small business, and Patrice Snoops is a sweetheart. We have been ordering her dried sliced sweet potato treats online for a few years after Herbert saw the tag line "Tested on humans" and loved it. Since we no longer have Bosco's Biscuits as a biscuit source, we tried Snoops' sweet potato biscuits. Our dogs ADORE them! If anyone would like to try some of the Snooks products, their contact info is below.

Snook's
http://snookdog.com/index.html

Patrice Snook

Contact Snook's Pet Products, LLC
Mail: 22641 S. Day Hill Rd. Estacada OR 97023
Email: info@snookdog.com
Please use this email for questions, concerns, or testimonials. We'd love to hear from you!

Phone: (503) 630-3646

Lyn & Herbert Hitchon

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