Volunteer state now has over 1.5 million donors

Recently, NewsChannel9.com in Chattanooga, TN ran a story, Tennessee Tops 1.5 Million Organ Donors, announcing that Tennessee had reached a new milestone in the battle to end the deaths of people waiting on a life-saving organ transplant. The milestone was reached in only three short years thanks to a joint effort between Donate Life Tennessee and the Tennessee Department of Safety. Their work brought the Tennessee Donor Registry online.

Currently, only 27% of adult Tennesseans are registered as organ and tissue donors. The goal is 50%. With approximately 2400 Tennesseans and 110,000 Americans currently awaiting life-saving organ transplants, it is vital that more Tennesseans register. It is easy to do. When you go to get or renew your driver's license, simply check the appropriate box on the form to indicate that you want to be an organ and tissue donor. Also, make sure you check it every time you renew or it's possible that your name may be dropped from the registry.

If a Tennessean does not have to renew their driver's license any time soon, they can still go ahead and sign up as an organ and tissue donor. Just visit the Tennessee Donor Registry online by clicking here and then follow the prompts to sign up. It'll walk you through the step-by-step process. In the three years that the Tennessee Donor Registry has been online, 23,000 lives have either been saved or improved by people like you who have chosen to sign up in the registry. You never know who might be saved next. It could be one of your parents, your spouse, a brother or sister, a dear friend, or even ....... you.

Please register today.

P.S. If you live outside the state of Tennessee, many other states have similar registries. To find out if one is available in the state where you live, please visit the Donate Life America website by clicking here.

Get "Vixenized" with the premiere of Music Monday

2011 kicks off today on The Sheepdog with a new blog layout and the first Music Monday. Today's artist, Vixen, was the warm-up band at the first rock concert I ever attended. The featured song and video is "Edge of a Broken Heart" from their debut, self-titled album in 1988. Interestingly, the song was written by singer / songwriter Richard Marx who had some success of his own in the late '80s.

Vixen was once described as "the female Bon Jovi" but their career, unfortunately, never garnered that type of success. Today's Music Monday appearance is their first on The Sheepdog, but it will not be their last. They hit the big-time when I was in high school and were one of my favorite bands. In fact, the afternoon before the concert, I was fortunate to attend a meet-and-greet autograph session with the band. At that age, who do you think I would have rather met - them or Bon Jovi ?? That's a no-brainer. Heck, now, twenty years later I'd still rather meet them than Bon Jovi.

Next week's Music Monday feature will be the band that Vixen opened for at that concert. I'll give you a clue. This band was making a bit of a comeback in the late '80s. Let's just say it was a "Dangerous Age" for them. If you think you know who it is, leave a comment with your guess. If anyone gets the correct answer, I post two videos of that band next Monday. We'll call it a "double shot."

(For my e-mail subscribers - please click here to see video.)