Our Volunteers Know How to Party!

Volunteer Appreciation Celebration 2010

Sit Stay Read's annual Volunteer Appreciation Party was a ton of fun! Held last Tuesday at Mrs. Murphy's and Sons Irish Bistro, everyone had a great time.

Honoring the hard work of all our fabulous volunteers was the focus of the evening. Among the highlight's was the announcement of Jennifer Cristina as 2010 Volunteer of the Year and a special presentation to our longest serving dog team. Click on the photo to see our special honorees and more action shots by our volunteer photographer, Bill Shomaker.

Many thanks to everyone for making 2009-10 a great year of reading fun!

Puppy Lucy--a Reincarnation?

This lovely pup is one year-old Lucy, latest addition to the family of Sit Stay Read volunteer, Gail Schwab.

As soon as I saw Lucy's photo I was struck by the resemblance to my Max (bottom photo). Certainly the markings are similar but it's those soulful eyes that really got me. Unfortunately, Max is gone but you can meet Lucy at the Sit Stay Read anniversary party at Dogone Fun on Sunday, Nov 16th. Hope to see you there!

School Programs Underway!

It was a busy time at the Sit Stay Read office as we prepared for the mid-October start of our school programs. But all the hard work was worth it when we saw the smiling faces of our students, so glad to have us back in the classroom.

We're in seven schools this year and, as of yesterday, all 15 classes have had their first visit! Yeah teams!

It was great to see old and new friends. Here's our group of volunteers getting ready for their visit to Faraday (only one dog attends the first day dog safety session). That's Allison, our fabulous intern, holding the classroom sign, Jennifer Cristina, Carley and Calvin, Guy Franklin, and Melissa Kennedy, a special visitor from Australia.

Melissa, an English teacher at Scots College, is visiting reading programs in the US to research ways to engage more boys in reading. She was blown away by our program and felt that it equally engages boys and girls.

Ms. Garcia Visit

When Ms. Garcia (yes, from Lowell School) came to pick-up materials for a community program she's leading for us (how cool is it that our fabulous program teachers volunteer their time over the summer to help more kids learn to read!?) she brought a wonderful surprise guest--her gorgeous niece, Naima.

Not only is she beautiful though, Naima is one smart girl! She's already learning her numbers (ok, so really only one number so far--everything is "dos") and letters.

I really wanted to get a photo of Naima with Shandy and Comiskey (Ms. Garcia's chihuahua) but she's just too fast for me--this is one of the few photos where you can actually see her face--in the others she's just a blur on the move. You'll have to imagine how sweet it was to see her hugging Shandy and giving her kisses.

Spaaaa Photos

Nearly 50 guests enjoyed being pampered at our third annual Sit Stay Spa benefit on June 23rd. Take a look at the fun we had at the fabulous Spa Soak. Click on the photo for larger view.

Our Little Sit Stay Spa Helper

SSR Dog Team, Andrea Marino and chihuahua, Charley, joined us in the office yesterday to help assemble the goodie bags for Sit Stay Spa. That's SSR staffer Jenn Dohm looking shocked to see her littlest helper sitting down on the job.

Many thanks to Andrea, Charley, Fiona, and Laurel for lending a hand!

Meet Our Newest Dog Teams!

Congratulations to our six new Dog Teams who were certified at the Sit Stay Read test at Call of the Wild on March 3rd.

In the full group photo, that's Julie with her mixed breed, Gracie; Marcia with Cavalier, Abbie; Sara and Ellie; Kathy and Maggie; Karen and Mystic; and Scott with Marley. (Click on a photo to enlarge.)

You're sure to be seeing these great teams in programs soon.

Best In Show Photos

The 3rd Annual Best In Show benefit for Sit Stay Read was a great success. See the fun for yourself and be sure to mark your calendar for next year--Tuesday, Feb 10, 2009!

Many thanks to our fabulous photographer, Jan Terry.

Brady the Cow Dog

Brady stopped by the office yesterday with his mom, SSR volunteer, Nancy Hollander. As you can see, he was wearing his fancy holiday collar. The red really sets off his cow-like coloring, don't you think?

Brady seems to like his collar but Shandy was unimpressed (even though it has bells!) I think she was just happy that I didn't have her try it on--she acts like she's being tortured if she has to wear anything other than her SSR bandana.

Miss Alice

Shandy and I visited Wheaten Terrier, Alice Bea, at her house yesterday but I forgot to take a photo.

Luckily, Alice often accompanies her mom, SSR board president MK Czerwiec, to the office so I happened to have this great picture. Such a happy face--and that blue really makes a great background for her. No doubt about it, she's a glamor girl.

Reindog Parade

Many thanks to Susan Kennedy (standing behind SSR sign in photo) and Jenna Kelsey for braving the weather to help staff our table at the Reindog Parade today.

Nancy Hollander and Brady, one of our newest SSR dog teams, came out to enjoy the festivities, too. Be sure to check-out Brady's bio to learn more about this great guy!

There were lots of adorable holiday costumes at the parade, as evidenced by the tiniest reindeer/dachsund pictured here and the Nutcracker Lhasa. So cute.

It was mighty cold at the Botanic Garden today. Let's hope for better weather for next year's parade.

SSR Volunteer Dinner

It was a fun time at Marcello's last night for the Annual Volunteer Dinner. Thanks to all the volunteers who attended and made it a great evening.

Here are a couple of photos. We'll post more when we get the CD from our fearless photographer, Margo.

NOTE: Click here to see all the photos.

Lee and Gavin Visit Shandy

That's Lee Rigby and her son, Gavin, reading a book in the SSR office. And that's Shandy sneaking a taste of Gavin's soy milk. Every time he put his cup down she was into it. But Gavin didn't mind--he's good at sharing.

Lee was one of the very first SSR volunteers and is still a big supporter of the programs. She now lives in New Hampshire with her husband, Graham, another SSR fan.

Thanks so much for visiting, Lee! Oh, and that's Gavin reading about the SSR values. Just kidding. He's actually pointing out the O's in every word. Pretty impressive for being 20 months old!

Old and New Friends

Shandy and I just got home from work so we had a long day but it was great.

We had a fun reunion of the Hendricks Academy volunteers for lunch. Pat Simpson, one of the first SSR volunteers, and her husband, Doug, became RVer's last year and were back in town for a visit. They came to the office with the boys--Lhasa's, Ted and Rudy, and we were joined by Elaine, MK, Guy, and Pierre (see Pierre & Rudy's bios on the SSR website) for pizza and lots of laughs.

Then Brian Gregory, another old friend, stopped by to see the new office and visit for a bit. Such fun to be with old friends.

Finally, this evening was the volunteer orientation and Shandy met some new friends and potential volunteers. Hillary and Coquette were scheduled to be the demo dog team but Hillary was stuck in Philly on business so Shandy filled-in for Coquette.

Hope your day was filled with friends old and new! Tomorrow--pictures of Ted, Rudy and Pierre.

Shandy Bows to Elaine

Elaine, one of Shandy's favorite Sit Stay Read volunteers, came into the office today to help us get ready for the upcoming school year.

Shandy likes to greet her friends with a bow and then she moves in for a good butt scratch. Ahhh, it's a dog's life.