to Our Family and Friends
Christmas
2012
Welcome one and all to
our Christmas Newsletter for 2012! We
hope this newsletter finds you well and happy.
It’s been an another year filled with good times and some challenging
times as well, so read on to see what
we've been up to.
OLD MAN WINTER
Although we had an unusually mild winter, Quincy managed to get himself outside to play in what little snow we did get. He loves it a lot more than we do ;-)
Last year's unusually
warm weather inspired us to venture out on New Year's Eve, at First Night
Saratoga with friends Andy and Linda.
Had a nice dinner at Scallions and caught some of the festivities around town.
Had to make it an early night because the next day we were competing at the big AgileDogs New Year's agility trial indoors at beautiful High Goal Farm in Greenwich. This was our first time at the event and Quincy's first ever Canine Performance Event (CPE) trial. We were so thrilled when he qualified in Colors, Level 1. He's still learning, but having so much fun in the process. Check out his qualifyingrun on YouTube.
Not content with dog
only sports, we kept our competitive spirit alive a couple of weeks later with
a Scotch Doubles match at Del Lanes, with agility friends Bob and Trisha. We even shot a 300 game (no tap) and came in
second place, winning $70 in prize money plus the $85 Gary managed to win on
the 6 card draw shootout. All in all, a
fun night!
Next thing we knew, it was time for the annual Super Bowl party at Andy and Linda's. This year, we had a lot to celebrate, as our usually mediocre Giants pulled off a surprising win against the Patriots in Super Bowl XLVI!! Note to Packer fans Billy and Lisa--you had your turn last year!
As exciting as the Super
Bowl was, February is really all about Valentines, both human and canine. Of course we couldn't let the month go by
without a birthday party for our boy Quincy, who turned 3 years old on
Valentine's Day. We celebrated with a
family dinner complete with cake and special puppy treats. Once again we say 'THANK YOU' for all the TLC and help we get
throughout the year.
Later in the month saw our annual Valentine's dinner at Hiro's with the usual suspects. Not sure who got the shrimp bunny this year, but the chef kept us entertained with a beautiful rice heart, and the food was delicious. We even managed to decide where to go after dinner, which must have been a first!
In between all the
partying, Jean started work on the organizing committee for the third annual American Cancer Society Bark for Life walk, with the Barkapalooza kickoff event on the 16th. Bark for Life gives dogs and their humans a
chance to get out and raise funds for the American Cancer Society to help find
a cure for human cancer. Barkapalooza
was our opening party and community outreach event for the 2012 walk, featuring
local vendors and teams involved in fundraising, including SEFCU, Schenectady
Chapter of Therapy Dogs International and of course, Team Quincy. More on that later.
Our work with the American
Cancer Society is very near and dear to our hearts, as so many of our family
and friends are affected by this disease.
This year, Gary's mom Julie was diagnosed with stomach cancer at the end
of February. Following her surgery, mom
made a strong recovery and continues to do well. Our thoughts and prayers are with her for
continued good health.
Once mom began to feel better, we decided to celebrate Gary's birthday in the Big Apple, at a NY Knicks game at Madison Square Garden with Andy and Linda. After the game, we hit up the bizzare 'antique' store, Obscura (site of the Discovery Channel show "Oddities") and then made our way to the fabulous Eataly, where we picked up some gourmet foodstuffs and had a nice dinner. Almost made up for the Knicks losing the game...
SPRING IS IN THE AIR!
As April rolled around, we could feel ourselves
thawing out, and Jean decided to kick off the warmer weather with her favorite
activity, a Springsteen concert, with Dennis, Lorraine and our friend and
fellow Springsteen aficionado, Trisha.
We had great seats behind the stage (thanks Den!) and got to see some
cool behind the scenes stuff. Three solid hours of vintage Springsteen can't
be beat!! Jean made an awesome sign, but
the Boss didn't catch it--maybe next time!
Although it was hard
to come down from the concert, we needed to focus our attention on the Bark for
Life walk on May 5th. After months of
fundraising, the walk was a huge success.
When all was said and done, Team Quincy came 5th place (out of 31
teams), raising a total of $1,091, beating last year's total by over $100!!!!! Only 3 corporate and one personal team (the
event organizer) raised more. Our sincere thanks to our family, friends
and colleagues to contributed to the success of the 2012 event. We look forward to getting
out there with your help for Team Quincy in 2013!
Check out our Bark for Life photo album.
The very next day, we entered our first Dogs on Course in North America (DOCNA) trial at Sugar BushFarm in Stephentown. We had a blast with Chris Penna (and Otis) and Jane Cadran (with Daisy) in trigility (three dogs in succession, on different sections of a course); no 'Q' ribbons, but tons of fun nonetheless!
May continued to be super-busy, with Gary travelling to Virginia for a week to meet the other members of his Bank of America team. After all the business meetings, he was able to enjoy some true southern hospitality with friends and colleagues. Now he can put faces together with names and voices on his conference calls!
June proved to be a super busy month, starting with a bit of nostalgia at Jean's 35th reunion weekend at Russell Sage College in Troy. Hard to believe it's been so long since graduation--literally seems like yesterday. Jean attended the festivities on Saturday with friend and fellow alum Cathy. We had lots of fun catching up with old friends and visiting familiar places. Thanks to Cathy for talking me into it!
Yearbook
memories
Then and Now
June brought more
activities for Quincy too, starting with a CPE agility trial at Stockade Agility in Glenville. Mom came along and
brought good luck--Quincy and Gary won the Judge's Merit Award (thanks judge
Doreen)!
The very next weekend the fun continued with the annual Paws in the Park walk to benefit the Mohawk & HudsonRiver Humane Society. Mom came along on the walk with us and our friends from the Schenectady Chapter of Therapy Dogs International. We had an enjoyable time for a good cause.
In mid-June, we were
very fortunate to be able to attend and volunteer at the CPE Nationals / East
at the Altamont fairgrounds. This
national agility competition featured the best dogs from east of the
Mississippi in three days of spirited competition. Quincy was
not eligible to compete, but we saw lots of exciting dogs and great runs,
not to mention shopping at the vendors, attending dog-related seminars and
meeting many wonderful dogs and their people.
Hosting this event was an incredible feat of organizational skill
among dozens of dedicated volunteers
from four local agility clubs. We
probably won't ever be lucky enough to have it held in our back yard again, but
it sure was fun while it lasted!
After all that
excitement we felt the need to relax, and what better way to chill out than
with Jimmy Buffet? Well, not
exactly--this was the Parrot Head Festival at the Saratoga fairgrounds, which
featured some island music and a Buffet tribute band, along with some yummy
food and refreshing adult beverages. Our
own little Holiday, complete with friends Lisa and Clancy and a little
Cheeseburger in Paradise, we were all set!
And to round out the
social whirl this busy month, we took mom and Quincy to the Tri City Valley
Cats Bark in the Park baseball game at the Joe in Troy. This is always a fun night for dogs and
humans and this year was no exception, including the meet and greet with local
animal advocate Steve Caporizzo from WTEN.
We met Steve again in a couple of months, but more on that later.
SWEET
SUMMERTIME
Once again our favorite
time of year just flew by, starting in July with the annual celebration for Lee Ann's birthday on the 4th. We spent the day at camp with Lee Ann, John, the boys and
friends on beautiful Sacandaga Lake, maxing and relaxing. Always a pleasure to spend this day with our
dear friends!
The following weekend we
competed in our first ever United States Dog Agility Association (USDAA) trial at Sugar Bush Farm. USDAA is one of the most demanding venues in
the sport and while we didn't earn any qualifying runs, we did have tons of fun
and learned quite a lot about the skills we need to work on to compete in this
venue. Just means more practice, and we
love practice!
Next thing we knew, it
was time to head out on our annual vacation in beautiful Cape May, N.J. with
friends Andy, Linda and Christina, Lee Ann, John, Zack, Alex and Ian. With Quincy safely settled in his staycation
with Dennis and Lorraine (THANKS, YOU GUYS!!!), we were ready for some R &
R. We all camped out at our usual place,
Regent Beach condos, and had a wonderful time.
Weather was fantastic and the food to die for (as always!). We got to see our dolphin friends every day,
from our balcony and right offshore on the beach. We never seem to tire of this charming town
and can’t wait to go back next year!
Check out some of the highlights of our trip here!
After returning home
from vacation, we again set out the next weekend for Sugar Bush Farm, this time to compete in another DOCNA trial,
where Quincy earned his first DOCNA Qualifying score ("Q") in
Standard Level 1. Naturally, we were thrilled and hope for more success in
DOCNA in the months to come.
Next thing we knew, it
was August and time for our annual BBQ and pool party on the 4th. The weather was good, then bad, then good but
the company of friends and good food were the best! That's Brian taking his patented half-pool
shot.
Linda and Sue
continuing their long-standing rivalry badminton game, under the lights with a cheering crowd. We don't remember who won, but we bet they
do!
August continued to
be a busy, exciting month both for us in our agility endeavors. On the 12th, Jean had her first ever run with
Quincy at the AgileDogs CPE trial at Sugar Bush Farm. Jean and Quincy earned a qualifying score in
Full House, Level 2! Check out our run on YouTube!
At that
same trial, Quincy completed CPE
Level 1 in Standard and all Games; what a good boy!
But the excitement didn't end there. One of our agility friends gave us a reference to a talent agent from All Creatures Great and Small agency in New York, and on the 15th, we went down for an interview. Quincy managed to do all of his tricks for the agent and generally behave himself pretty nicely and they agreed to take him on as a client! All Creatures represents all types of animals for print ads (in magazines and newspapers), TV commercials and film work and we're hoping Quincy will be called to audition soon. Either way, it was a blast just to be interviewed. If he makes it big, we'll be sure to let everyone know!
The summer went by so
fast, and before we knew it, it was Labor Day and time for the annual BBQ / end
of summer party at Sacandaga with Lee Ann and family. This year’s party featured the usual food,
fun and games for young and old alike.
The ring of fire around the lake at night heralds the end of another
summer and though we’re sorry to see it go, we’re glad to be able to share this
annual event with our friends.
That very same
weekend we were off to the Scottish Games at the Altamont Fairgrounds, where we
worked with agility friends Trisha and Bob for the annual Scottish breeds dog
show and agility demo. Hosted by Steve
Caporizzo, there were plenty of fabulous dogs in the parade of breeds and the
agility show. Hope we get to be part of
the fun again next year!
September was a busy
month for Quincy too. He continued his
Therapy Dog visits to Kingsway with our friends from the Schenectady Chapter of TDI . We love visiting the residents at Kingsway;
they are such nice people and always seem so happy to see Quincy and all the
great Therapy Dogs in our group. Great
bunch of people and dogs, giving their time to 'Paws a While for Love.'
This October marked
our 21st wedding anniversary and we decided to celebrate with a visit to our
Super Bowl Champion New York Giants at
the new MetLife Stadium. We headed down
on Columbus Day weekend, starting on Saturday with a trip to the U.S.S. IntrepidSea-Air-Space Museum and Space Shuttle
exhibit. We had a guided tour of the
museum, including an up close and personal look at the space shuttle
Enterprise.
We even got to tour
the British Airways Concorde SST, complete with a photo op in the cockpit! No longer in service, the Concorde flew
commercially from 1976 to 2003, all over the world. Only 20 planes were made, and very few remain
intact. The one we saw, G-BOAD, holds
the record for the fastest transatlantic airliner flight from New York JFK to
London Heathrow on 7 February 1996, in 2 hours, 52 minutes, 59 seconds. Known for
carrying celebrity passengers across the Atlantic, it's a surprisingly small,
narrow plane, and not at all luxurious inside.
But then we're sure the thrill of flying at twice the speed of sound
more than made up for the lack of space and frills.
The next day we
headed out to the game and the G-Men didn't disappoint, winning 41-27 over the
Browns. MetLife is a cool stadium--check
it out:
The rest of October
proved equally exciting, especially in terms of agility. On the 13th (our anniversary!) Gary and Q.
ran strategic pairs with Clancy and Pistol in the USDAA trial at Sugar Bush
Farm. There were no 'Qs' involved in
this, just fame and glory in what has
become known as The Boston Marathon.
Quincy redeemed himself
completely a couple of weekends later, when he accomplished the rare feat of a
perfect weekend, earning qualifying scores in eight total runs, including two
Standard runs, Colors, Snooker, Jackpot,
Full House and Jumpers. Check out the runs on YouTube.
This was an amazing
accomplishment for Quincy and Gary and we couldn't be happier--our agility
dreams are coming true!
The perfection continued that very same week,
when Gary threw a perfect game in our Tuesday Night Mixed league at Del
Lanes. This was his third career 300,
and it never gets old...
Jean's been bowling
pretty well this year too (though no 300's, of course!), maintaining a 155
average in spite of persistent tendonitis.
It's still a lot of fun, even with the 30 minute ice-down afterwards.
Every year we look
forward to Halloween, and this year Jean was able to get to a screening of her
favorite Halloween movie, Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Palace, with
Elise. This year, we sat down in the
orchestra, near the front--much more fun in terms of props and audience
participation. It's just a jump to the
left...
Our Halloween plans were
put on hold, however, when hurricane
Sandy came barreling up the east coast.
We watched in shock and disbelief as the storm leveled the Jersey shore
and Long Island and worried that we'd once again have to deal with the effects
of wind and rain on our own home. As it
turned out, the winds were relatively mild, with almost no rain, and
luckily we escaped damage. Our hearts go out to those affected by the
storm; we've seen what a measly 3" of water can do and can't imagine how
people will recover from such devastation.
It was amazing too that seemingly the only town on the Jersey shore that
wasn't obliterated was Cape May, the oldest and most fragile town on the
shore. Let's hope the other towns along
the coast can rebuild and find a way to restore their homes and way of life.
After the storm had passed, we moved
into a much calmer November, starting with Chris's play at RPI on the 9th. He took on the role of Don Pedro in the
Players production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, which turned
out to be a delightfully straightforward rendition, with a talented cast and those great costumes
(thanks to Elise ;-) Bravo!
We switched gears on the
following night with a trip to the Albany Devils hockey game with Lee Ann, John and the boys. The Devils won 2-1 and a good time was had by
all!
The very next week we gathered
together for Thanksgiving at Ray and Michelle's with the family, and we had
much to be grateful for. Of course, we
had to have our annual day after Thanksgiving leftovers dinner at mom's house,
followed by the ladies' traditional Black Friday shopping trip to Wit's End in Clifton Park. It's
our store of choice for all things Christmas; if you can't find it at Wit's
End, you really don't need it!
December started off another birthday celebration, this time for our friend Linda, with a pizza dinner and night out at the Siena/UAlbany men's basketball game. UAlbany won the game, 67-56 (Go Danes!). Now if Linda could just get her coat on...
Well, that brings us up
to Christmas time. It’s amazing how fast this year has
flown! We hope your year has been
everything you’d hope for and next year, even more.
We would love to hear from you, so let us
know what you’ve been up to by dropping us a line on Email (gguyon@nycap.rr.com) or giving us a call @ 518-861-576. Or better yet,
friend us on Facebook!
Although
we may not see you or hear from all of you as often as we’d like, you're always in our
thoughts and in our hearts.
We wish you
peace and joy this holiday season and always.
Jean, Gary
& Quincy
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