[nagdu] Fw: Article: From the Boston Globe
Doug Parisian
eggmann at shaw.ca
Fri Feb 10 23:06:45 UTC 2012
I Still think those stamps should at least be able to lick themselves.
Doug: we have six legs.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry D. Keeler" <lkeeler at comcast.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, February 10, 2012 4:26 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Fw: Article: From the Boston Globe
> My post office was out of them but should have them soon!
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Julie J." <julielj at neb.rr.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, February 10, 2012 4:27 PM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Fw: Article: From the Boston Globe
>
>
>>I forgot to update you guys on the stamps. I was able to purchase them at
>>my regular post office. If they have them here in the middle of nowhere,
>>I'm guessing you can purchase them anywhere.
>>
>> Julie
>>
>>
>> On 2/10/2012 10:59 AM, Nicole B. Torcolini at Home wrote:
>>> At Perkins, applause for stamps honoring service dogs
>>> By Cindy Cantrell bar Globe Correspondent
>>> February 09, 2012
>>> Suzanne Kreiterst Globe Staff
>>>
>>> Anne DeFeo, 73, with "the love of my life," her guide dog, Viv.
>>> "She's the love of my life, and she loves me. We're joined at the hip,"
>>> DeFeo said of her 4 1/2-year-old yellow Labrador
>>> retriever, Viv.
>>> On Valentine's Day, DeFeo and Viv will participate with other guide
>>> dogs and their owners in a ceremony at Perkins honoring the US Postal
>>> Service for its new 65-cent "Dogs at Work" series of stamps. The series
>>> depicts a guide dog, therapy dog, military tracking dog, and
>>> search-and-rescue dog, and celebrates the "enduring partnership between
>>> dogs and people."
>>> Designed by Postal Service art director Howard E.
>>> Paine, the four stamps feature original paintings by John M.
>>> Thompson, an illustration professor at Syracuse University.
>>> Television newscaster Randy Price will emcee the 1:30 p.m. ceremony
>>> Tuesday in the historic Howe Building on the Perkins campus, 175 North
>>> Beacon St.
>>> The event will include speakers on the importance of guide and
>>> service dogs in their lives, and a presentation by Perkins Elder Book
>>> Club members on "Thunder Dog," a true story recounted by Michael Hingson
>>> about a guide dog's heroics on Sept. 11, 2001.
>>> There will be gift bags of dog biscuits made by Perkins students, and
>>> the presentation of a plaque to Boston's postmaster, James Holland, in
>>> honor of the Postal Service's longtime commitment to the blind and
>>> visually impaired.
>>> DeFeo will be there as a person with first-hand knowledge of the bond
>>> between guide dogs and their owners.
>>> "She's meant a whole new life of independence for me," said DeFeo,
>>> describing the confidence she feels from Vivbs presence, guiding her
>>> almost imperceptibly.
>>> "I'm a people person, and now I'm never alone. My pal is always
>>> right by my side. She's just the best."
>>> Watertown resident Kim Charlson, director of the Braille and Talking
>>> Book Library at Perkins, coordinated the event after learning about the
>>> stamps. Through the Postal Service's free delivery of reading material
>>> and sound recordings for the blind, the library serves 25,000 people
>>> across Massachusetts who cannot read ordinary printed material due to
>>> visual impairment, reading disability, or physical disability.
>>> "We wouldn't be able to do what we do without the post office," said
>>> Charlson, who will attend the event with her 3 1/2-year-old guide dog,
>>> Dolly, a 44-pound German shepherd who accompanies her to conferences
>>> nationwide.
>>> Charlson said she estimates that there are 100,000 residents who
>>> would qualify to use the library's free services and materials such as
>>> large print, Braille, and digital audio books and magazines, but aren't
>>> aware of its existence.
>>> "Events like this help get the word outbb that the library is here
>>> and we can help," she added. "So many borrowers say they don't know
>>> what they'd do without access to books and reading. It makes such a
>>> difference to their quality of life."
>>> Canton resident Dave Lynn, the Blinded Veterans Association
>>> representative to the Braille and Talking Book Library, will be
>>> accompanied Tuesday by his 6-year-old guide dog, Blazer, a red Doberman
>>> pinscher.
>>> Lynn, whose degenerative retinitis pigmentosa forced him to medically
>>> retire from his 14-year Air Force career in 2003, will share the steps
>>> involved in being matched in need and personality with a service animal,
>>> and how Blazer has improved his life. While he previously used a white
>>> cane to navigate public transportation, Lynn said, Blazer helps him find
>>> doors, escalators, and elevators more quickly.
>>> At times, however, Blazer has become too smart for his own good, Lynn
>>> said. He emphasizes the importance of dog handling and directional
>>> skills, particularly when long-practiced routes suddenly change -- such
>>> as when he gets a new class schedule at the University of Massachusetts
>>> Boston, where he is majoring in history.
>>> "Blazer gives me the ability to navigate the world much more
>>> efficiently," said Lynn, who describes the 94-pound canine as a
>>> "terrific" guide dog, but also "the biggest goof on the planet" who
>>> resumes his fun-loving, attention-seeking ways the second that his
>>> harness is removed.
>>> In addition to posting a sign on the harness alerting strangers that
>>> Blazer is working, Lynn said, he looks for opportunities to educate the
>>> public that guide dogs are service animals, not pets. As such, he is
>>> serious about his responsibility of properly controlling his dog in
>>> public places. In return, he wishes people would ask before petting
>>> Blazer -- a distraction that can be compared to pulling on a driver's
>>> steering wheel.
>>> "I understand people like dogs, but it's so nice when I walk into a
>>> place and they don't acknowledge the dog is there," he said. "They
>>> treat me like everybody else, which is what should happen."
>>> Brighton resident Carl Richardson, president of Guide Dog Users of
>>> Massachusetts, will speak about "these amazing dogs who dedicate their
>>> entire lives to uea"b and the assistance they provide for a wide range
>>> of disabilities: safely navigating around obstacles, retrieving items,
>>> helping with balance, alerting people to everything from a ringing
>>> doorbell to an oncoming seizure.
>>> Richardson, who is visually impaired and hard of hearing, emphasizes
>>> that the use of a service dog versus a white cane is strictly a personal
>>> choice. And while he agrees that people should ask permission before
>>> approaching guide dogs, he credits his first guide dog, Kiva, with
>>> helping to court his wife, Megan Sullivan, a Boston University associate
>>> professor.
>>> Richardson credits his current guide dog, Kinley, a 7
>>> 1/2-year-old black Lab, with reducing his reliance on his wife, and
>>> providing an extra set of eyes and ears throughout his daily commute on
>>> the bus and subway.
>>> "She doesn't have to worry about me because that's Kinleybs job,"
>>> said Richardson, who is the Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator
>>> at the State House.
>>> Richardson said he is fortunate to still have Kiva, a
>>> 14-year-old yellow Lab whom he retired as his service dog due to her
>>> arthritis at age 9. Because 70 percent of the blind community are
>>> unemployed, he said, many guide-dog owners can't afford to care for
>>> multiple animals.
>>> "I'm so glad the US Postal Service is honoring these magnificent
>>> dogs, because I can't imagine my life without one," he added. "I also
>>> hope the stamps bring more recognition and awareness so when we bring
>>> our dogs into public places, people know it's not a big deal."
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>>
>>
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