Christmas
2014
Welcome one and all to
our Christmas Newsletter for 2014! We
hope this newsletter finds you well and happy.
It's been another busy, thrill-packed year, so read on and see what
we've been up to!
OLD MAN WINTER
2014 started off pretty
quietly, with a nice dinner at friends Andy and Linda’s house to ring in the
New Year. We always appreciate their
hospitality—a great way to start the year off right!
With the polar vortex
firmly in place, we tried to limit ourselves to indoor activities. Quincy pitched right in and did his part, joining
our friends Karma and Savannah for Therapy Dog visits at Clare Bridge memory
care facility in Niskayuna. It’s one of
our great joys to see the residents’ faces light up when they see our Therapy
Dogs. We’re so lucky to be able to bring
a little canine sunshine into the lives of others.
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| Judy and Karma |
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| Quincy and Friends |
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| Nancy and Savannah |
When he wasn’t busy with
Therapy Dog activities, Quincy once again donned his fundraising hat and got
Team Quincy going for the 5th annual American Cancer Society Bark for Life walk. This year, we were so fortunate to have Karma and Savannah join our team, making us
bigger and better than ever! Bark for
Life is a great community fundraising effort for humans and their dogs to
support the American Cancer Society.
Team Quincy remains dedicated to help the ACS in their efforts to find a
cure and to provide services in support those who are fighting cancer. For our dear family and friends who are affected
by this disease, we hope and pray for their continued recovery and good
health. Team Q. had our most successful
year to date (more on that later!!!)
We were glad to see the
last of January (Brrrrr) and were psyched to start February out with a weekend
of entertainment, starting with our nephew’s performance as Sid Prince in Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure at the Schenectady Civic
Theater. Well done, sir!
The very next day we
were up and out to watch the Seahawks battle the Broncos at the annual Super Bowl
party at the Papales. Aided by possibly the biggest TV we’ve ever
seen, we enjoyed good food, good friends and oh yeah, the game (even if our
team wasn’t in it). There’s always next
year for our Giants!
After a couple of weeks off, we were right back on the crazy train with another back to back weekend of parties, starting with our annual Valentine’s Day dinner with the usual suspects. This year, we tried another new venue, Sake Japanese restaurant in Latham, and this one may be a keeper.
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| Sake shots! |
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| Magic Chef |
Here we are at the after
party, attempting to master Foosball.
I’m not quitting my day job… ;-)
Had a blast—can’t wait
to go back next year!!!
Quincy’s 5th
Birthday
Although we were pretty
tired from the foosball tourney, we couldn’t let our boy’s birthday go by
without a little party. This year, we
celebrated Q’s 5th birthday--hard to believe how time flies!! We’re so lucky to have him and we couldn’t do
it without our wonderful family and all they do throughout the year to help us take
care of Q. Thanks and puppy kisses all
around!
With February dragging
on and cabin fever setting in, Gary decided to try a new winter sport that he
saw on the Olympics and wanted to try.
No, not Skeleton (ha, ha—I’d kill him if the sled didn’t first). Nope, it’s the inscrutable sport of curling,
that spine-tingling event where 40 pound granite rocks are pushed/slid/brushed
bumper-car style into a bulls eye impossibly far away. I’ve no idea why anyone would want to freeze
their butt off while coaxing rocks along a slippery sheet of ice, but
apparently it holds fascination for a select few. So off to the Schenectady Curling Club we
went for an open house. These folks are
hard core, and it’s WAY harder than it looks on TV. Doubt Gary will be joining anytime soon, but
at least he can say he tried it!
March saw another happy
birthday celebration for Gary, and with it, the promise of spring. We
were surely fed up with what had to have been one of the worst (if not the
worst) winter in memory, but we knew it wouldn’t be long before the days would
be longer and the sunlight stronger.
We were happy to see the
calendar turn to April, and not just for the weather. On April 10th, we celebrated Quincy’s
gotcha day. Five years ago we brought him
home, and it’s been pure joy every day since.
Love you Q. man!!
The rest of April turned
out to be busier than March, first with a great Stars On Ice skating show at
the TU Center, where Jean got to see ice dancing faves and Olympic gold
medalists Meryl Davis and Charlie White.
They are poetry in motion--truly sublime. Here, their Olympic free dance program:
Easter 2014
April drew to a joyous
close with a sumptuous Easter dinner at our house. As always, the Easter Bunny was exceptionally
good to us, surrounding us with loving family and delicious food. A wonderful entrée into spring!
SPRING IS IN THE AIR!
Quincy's Bloomingdale's Adventure
As April turned in to May, the excitement ramped up for
our boy Quincy. As many of you know, he
has been fortunate to have done some modeling for clients in New York. Last year, we did our first shoot for
Benetton. This year, he was selected to
be featured in retailer Bloomingdale’s
Loyalist campaign, an amazing honor! This
photo shoot was held in the Picture Ray Studio in New York (William Wegman’s
studio, of Man Ray fame!). For this
shoot, he had to pose between two (very tall, VERY skinny models) while the
photographer kept rearranging different positions and angles. As usual, Q. was an angel throughout. He did exactly as asked and the crew loved
him! It’s amazing that he’s unfazed by
the lights, cameras and commotion and remains focused enough to respond to verbal
and non-verbal commands. Could not ask
for more!
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| Outside the Studio |
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| Waiting for Mr. DeMille |
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| Glamours models! |
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| Working hard on set |
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| The finished product, on Bloomingdale's website May 2014 |
Like the Benetton shoot,
this job was SO much fun. They gave us great food and even gave Quincy
a little gift (the pink plaid collar and leash he wore during the shoot). Our agent, All Creatures Great andSmall, was there to help us every step of the way
and the people from Bloomingdale’s were lovely to work with (the set designer
had dogs of his own who model as well).
From beginning to end, everyone was friendly and nice. The best part is, he gets paid to have all
this fun, and we get to donate his earnings to a good cause, near and dear to
our hearts…
Which brings us to our
proudest moment of all for 2014.
Bark for Life
2014
This year, Team Q.
(Quincy, Karma and Savannah, our TDI buddies), really hit our stride in fundraising
efforts for the American Cancer Society.
In addition to our usual candy and bake sales, we held a raffle for some
fabulous deluxe gift baskets filled with goodies, including a wine lovers
basket, a date night basket, an Italian food gift basket, a gift certificate
from our friends at HealthyPet Center in Delmar and a gift
certificate from our awesome veterinary chiropractor, Dr. Kristen Gundersen of Alternative Veterinary Therapies.
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| Date Night |
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| Wine Lovers |
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| Italian Delicacies |
Thanks to the incredible
generosity of our family, friends and colleagues Team Q. was able to raise $$3,051, more than
three times our original goal, making us the #1 FUNDRAISING TEAM at the 2014
Bark for Life event!!! We were so
excited to be a part of this effort and to do what we can to support the American
Cancer Society and help those who are undergoing treatment for this
disease. Stay tuned for Bark 2015--Team
Q will have more surprises in store for our cause!
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| The Winning Team (not pictured: Judy and Karma)
While not much could top
the excitement of April, we did manage to have some concert related fun in May
two very different but equally entertaining acts.
First up was English
comedian Eddie Izzard at the Palace. Izzard,
originally a stand up comedian turned actor, is a comedic genius with vast
historical knowledge and a nimble mind capable of bizarre and funny conceptual
connections. Sophisticated British humor
at its best!
Memorial Day weekend
featured good old toe tappin’ fun at a great combo concert featuring the
Marshall Tucker Band and the Charlie Daniels Band at the TU Center. We never get tired of hearing the Devil Went
Down to Georgia, and I can only hope I’m in as good shape as Charlie Daniels at
his age. That guy can still play, for
sure!
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With Memorial Day
weekend behind us, we focused our attention on another of our favorite causes,
the Paws in the Park community walk and fundraiser, for the benefit of the Mohawk and Hudson RiverHumane Society. This is
our fourth year attending the event, and we really enjoy the music, food and
vendors. It’s a great chance to meet up
with friends and help out the animals.
Here’s Quincy posing with his friend Vinny (also a star of TV and
magazine ads!) at the Vested Interest in K-9’s photo booth.
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| Quincy and his pal Vinny at Paws 2014
No time to rest, as a
couple of weeks later, we joined with family to celebrate our Uncle Tom’s 90th
birthday. A lovely dinner at Mercato’s
in Delmar, followed by some delicious birthday cheesecake, made for a wonderful
party. Happy Birthday, Uncle Tom! And many more!!
The next weekend, we
were busy celebrating again, this time a graduation. Our dear friend Zack graduated from
Guilderland High School, and we couldn’t be prouder of him. He made a fine looking graduate, don’t you
think? Congratulations, Zack. We love you and wish you the best as you go
on to college!!
SWEET
SUMMERTIME
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With summer upon us,
agility season was in full swing. We
went to a number of trials where Quincy had some occasional moments of
brilliance and other moments where he chose to work on his tan. But whatever his motivation for any given
run, we always have a great time with our agility friends, both 4-legged and
2-legged. And what better way to capture
the moment than with our new, custom photo screen for the back of the
Tundra? We’re grateful to photographer
extraordinaire Barry Rosen for immortalizing some of our favorite agility
moments for all to see. You wouldn’t
believe how many comments we get on this!
As is our usual custom, once again we celebrated Independence Day with
a birthday party for our dear friend Lee
Ann at her camp. Another great day with
Lee Ann and family on beautiful Sacandaga Lake, chillin’ out and enjoying good
times with our besties!
Paul McCartney
in concert!!
The very next day, Jean
and Lorraine had the concert experience of a lifetime at the Paul McCartney at
the TU Center.
Although old enough to
have been a Beatles fan since adolescence, Jean had never seen any of the
Beatles (either together or separately), so this was a dream come true. And the cute Beatle certainly did not
disappoint. Without a doubt, the best
and most amazing concert ever! McCartney
performed songs from the beginning of his career to the end, spanning a lifetime
of memories. Over 2 straight hours of iconic hits that are now a permanent part of
our musical heritage was just awesome.
And all done with big arena rock show effects, including moving stages,
laser light show, psychedelic balloon graphics and fireworks. A once in a lifetime event, for sure. Thank you, Sir Paul, for making the music of
our lives.
After winding down from
all that excitement, Jean and Lee Ann continued the birthday festivities with a
trip to SPAC to see the New York City Ballet perform Balanchine’s Journey, on
opening night. These amazing,
breathtakingly beautiful dancers made for a truly memorable evening and we both
hope to go back for another performance next year. We’re so lucky to have one of the world’s
foremost ballet companies right in our back yard!
Parrott
Heads!!
July turned out to have
yet another bucket list concert in store for Jean, when she headed down to
Bethel Woods, the site of the original Woodstock festival in 1969, with friends
Patti and Nancy to hear Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band on their ‘This
One’s for You’ tour.
For the uninitiated, a Jimmy
Buffett concert is like a giant beach party with your very own superstar live
band. Everyone dresses up island-style
(complete with hula skirts, parrot head hats and Hawaiian print shirts) and
beach balls fill the air. Buffett
concerts have a chill, laid back vibe, and combined with the iconic venue, it
was an evening to remember. Bethel Woods
features a museum and gift shop dedicated to the original Woodstock that is
well worth visiting on its own. The
arena itself is set up just like SPAC, only much newer and nicer. It is out in the middle of nowhere and we had
to park remotely and take a bus in. But
we heard all the songs we know by heart and had a lot of fun people watching—that
alone was worth the price of admission. Didn’t
get home until the wee hours, but SO worth it.
Parrot head for life!
Just one short day after the Buffett concert experience, we packed up the car and headed out to our annual vacation in beautiful Cape May, N.J. Quincy was fortunate to have his usual luxury staycation with Dennis and Lorraine, where he enjoyed picture window views and a generous treat policy ;-).
Cape May 2014
As in years past, we rented a condo at Regent Beach (our
favorite place to stay) and enjoyed our usual activities--chillaxing on the
beach, shopping, mini golf and an abundance of fine dining. This year, the weather was a bit cooler than
usual (right around 80 degrees, as opposed to the usual 85 and up), but we had
nice sunny days and temperate nights. Of
course the food was spectacular and we got to see the resident dolphins cruise
up and down the coast every day, from our balcony and right offshore on the
beach.
No sooner did we arrive
home than we started planning our annual backyard BBQ and pool party, where
friends gather to eat, drink and have some fun in the sun. Once again this year we had great weather,
yummy food and good times. Can’t wait to
do it again next year!
As we were sitting
around chatting, we started reminiscing about our (much) younger days, and how
our favorite childhood playground was closing.
We had heard that the owners of
Hoffman's Playland were planning to retire, and had announced that all
the rides and the prime land on Rt. 9 where the Playland stood would be sold
off to developers for yet another worthless strip mall. Community response was swift and
emphatic--Hoffman's should somehow be saved!
As it turns out, the owners of Huck Finn's Warehouse bought all the
equipment and plan to move it lock stock and barrel to a site adjacent to their
building on Erie Boulevard.
Well, we got thinking
we'd like to pay one last visit to the original Hoffman's and relive a little
of that Playland magic. So off we went
to squeeze our adult bodies into the toddler sized rides. As you might imagine, much hilarity ensued...along with a lot of
happy memories! Check out our
Not long after the
Hoffman's escapade, we jumped back on the concert train with a great show from Boz
Scaggs at the Egg. He had a tight band,
an amazing backup singer and he
himself sounds exactly the same almost
40 years after his biggest hit, “Lowdown.”
The small venue made for a very intimate, enjoyable evening. Highly recommend if he comes around again.
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| Lowdown with Boz Scaggs at the Egg |
Although we were busy
with concerts and social activities, we kept up with our agility fun with numerous trials throughout June and
July. But one trial in particular stands
out in our memory.
Crystal’s
Spirit
At the beginning of
August, we attended the AgileDog’s CPE trial at Sugar Bush Farm. Held every August, we always have a great
time, but this year was extra special for us.
Quincy was having one of his attention deficit weekends, with a few nice
moments, but racking up only one qualifying score out of 10 runs. We were feeling a little bit defeated, but
then, something magical happened that completely turned us around.
At the end
of the weekend, the trial judge, Shane McConnell, selected Gary and Quincy for
the Crystal's Spirit Award. Our trainer
and friend Trisha Stall created this award in honor of her dog Crystal, who crossed
the Rainbow Bridge in 2006. Since then, the Crystal's Spirit Award is “given to
a dog/handler team that isn't necessarily the fastest, but that has the most
fun and the handler gets the most out of the dog.” This is just the perfect description of what
agility should be, and what we aspire to achieve each time we run. We felt so proud to have been chosen by Shane,
who is one of the original USDAA judges (a MUCH more difficult venue than CPE),
who has competed in international trials and was one of the organizers and judges
of the ESPN Outdoor Games (which featured agility and dock diving for
dogs).
It’s hard
to describe how much it meant to us to receive this award and we feel very
fortunate to be part of such a great community of dogs and people who are
endlessly supportive of our efforts to learn, grow and improve.
So thank
you Trisha, Shane and all of our agility friends for showing 'the other Boston
Terrier' a whole lotta love.
Let’s Go Mets!!!
After that banner weekend, we took a little break from agility
and made a road trip with friends Lisa and Clancy to see our NY Mets play the
Cubs. It was a beautiful day, but sadly
our Mets couldn't manage a win, but at least we got a batting practice cap!
August came to its customary close with a fun day at the Scottish Games, held right around the corner at the Altamont Fairgrounds. This year we helped out with an AgileDogs agility demo and the Scottish breeds parade again, which is always a highlight of the event. Love those Border Collies, Wolfhounds, Westies and Collies! Looking foward to going back next year.
FALL FUN
Well, summer went by in
a buzz of activities and the next thing we knew, it was time to head up to
Sacandaga for our annual Labor Day BBQ
with friends with Lee Ann, John and family. Year after year, we look forward to ending
the summer with our good friends. Good
food and beautiful scenery help make the transition to fall a lot less painful!
Protecting the
Paws in Blue
Along about
mid-September, we joined our friends Joann and JRT Vinny for a fundraising
event to help VestedInterest in K-9s. This organization raises money to purchase
Kevlar vests for police dogs to help protect their lives while on duty. This event was held at the Saratoga Sheriff’s
headquarters.
Dog Days Sun Visors
The Paws in Blue event
was the perfect time to debut a little project that we’ve been working on to
help our fundraising efforts. We brought
along an E-Z Up and introduced our Dog Days Sun Visors, which Jean makes from
foam visors and dog patterned fabric, to sell at the event. All proceeds from the sale of our visors go
to various charities. Besides Vested
Interest in K-9s, This year our visor sales supported the Amyloidosis SupportGroup, the National Canine CancerFoundation and of course, Bark for Life!
We have over 20 patterns
in various colors. They are lightweight
and perfect for all kinds of outdoor activities. Here we are in our booth at the Paws in Blue
event, along with pictures of a few of our patterns. Let us know what you like J:
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| Our Dog Days Sun Visors booth! |
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| Gotta Pee! |
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| Speak! |
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| Psychedelic Fur |
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| Muddy Paws |
Much to our surprise,
Quincy was on his agility ame in September, scoring some fun runs at the
Agility Dogs of Schenectady trial (where Gary served as Chief Course Builder
for BOTH rings for BOTH days—yeah, our guy is a Superman for real!)
With October upon us and
temperatures dropping a bit, we started looking for indoor entertainment. Jean took a trip down memory lane with
friends Lee Ann, John, Zack, Lisa and her mom at the 75thanniversary showing of Gone With the Wind on the big screen at Regal Crossgates. Though hardly politically correct, Jean never tires of the fabulous Scarlett
O’Hara, one of the most memorable female characters in literature and
cinema. If you haven’t seen it on a big
screen, it’s well worth the 4 hour commitment.
Our 23rd
Anniversary
Once October rolls
around, sweet memories return of that day in 1991 when we said ‘I Do.’ In this, our 23rd year of
marriage, life just gets sweeter and sweeter.
Here’s to 23 more!!!
Merrick's Mealtime Mayhem Contest
In addtion to his
therapy work, Q-man had an exciting feather in his cap this month, with a
prize-winning entry in the Merrick Mealtime Mayhem contest. Merrick is a small pet food company who
sponsored a contest for owners to video their dogs at dinner time to show how
much they love Merrick's food. There
were over 100 entries, and Quincy's video came in as one of only four
runners-up. He won a three month supply
of Merrick food plus a huge treat box full of goodies. Thanks to everyone who voted for us on
Facebook and to the great folks at Merrick for choosing our little star.
Rocky Horror
Picture Show
Although we had a lot of
other fun events in during the month, October is really all about Halloween, and
what better way to start the ball rolling than with the annual showing of the Rocky
Horror Picture Show at the Palace with fellow Time Warp aficionados Elise and Michelle.
Always a fantastic time, this year was
no exception, with a great shadow cast and plenty of audience
participation. Let there be lips! Blue ones too!!!
Halloween Hall
the big night with our
usual ghoulish display. Once again, those pesky spiders came out of
the woodwork to take up residence in the most conspicuous places. The good weather helped produce lots of
ghosts and goblins, (over 200!), all dressed to impress. Dennis, Lorraine and Julie joined in the fun
and we had a great night.
Check out our Halloween Photo Album for this year.
Scary monsters! Super Creeps!
Before we knew it,
Halloween was over and we were off to another big agility weekend at High Goal
Farm, this time for the Takes 2 to Q CPE trial on November 8th and 9th. It turned out to be an especially successful
weekend for Quincy, who earned 5 (out of 8) qualifying scores, including his
FIRST EVER LEVEL 5 'Q' in Full House (his favorite game). If anyone had told us three years ago that we
would get out of Level 1, we would have thought they were kidding. Serious kudos to Gary for his incredible
patience and work ethic, and to our fantastic trainers for helping us get this
far. Here's a pic of the victor napping
with his spoils.
I wish we could say that
the rest of the month went as well.
Unfortunately, as we were preparing for Thanksgiving, Gary's mom fell
and suffered a broken leg. She was
hospitalized and operated on Thanksgiving morning. The surgery went well and she continues to
improve with the help of physical and occupational therapy. Keep her in your thoughts for a speedy
recovery.
Bob Seger at the TU Center
Although December had a
rocky start, things improved a bit when Jean was able to take a break to attend
another bucket list concert, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band Ride Out tour
at the TU Center. Seger, who is 68 now
and rarely leaves his home outside Detroit, put on a fantastic show. You forget how many monster hits he had, and
he played almost every one during the 2 plus hour concert. His voice has aged extremely well, still
powerful and true, and he managed to make all his songs come alive for the
packed house at the TU. Catch him while
you can, as rumor has it the Ride Out tour may be his last.
Operation Fuzzy Blankets
In mid-December, Jean
again worked with friends from the Schenectady Chapter of Therapy Dogs
International on Operation Fuzzy
Blankets. This is one of our favorite
projects, where we get together and make no-sew fleece blankets for local
children and seniors. This year, we made
over 30 blankets for the kids at the Albany Medical
Center Hospital Kids Chemo Unit,
to help them stay warm during their treatments.
Members donate the fleece and we make the blankets--many hands make
light work! Good work for a good cause. Thanks to everyone at TDI Schenectady for
making this happen!
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), giving us a call (518-861-5768) or better yet,
friend us on Facebook!
Although
we may not see you or hear from 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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| The BT Tree |
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| Holiday Style |
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| Season's Greetings |
