May 2025 Blog

Independence is Golden

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We are so super excited to be included as a featured guest at the
​50th Anniversary Celebration of Canine Companions 
taking place at the Northeast Region Miller Family Campus
286 Middle Island Road
Medford, NY. 11763
Date: Saturday, May 10th 
 Time: From 12 Noon until 3 PM

"Since 1975, Canine Companions has been the gold. standard in providing expertly trained service dogs, free of charge , to those in need."

It's going to be a PAWsome event!
​Come join us by getting your tickets using the link below :
www.canine.org/goldennortheast​

Is Picasso going to paint???

Picasso Painting

You'll be able to watch and cheer Picasso on as he paints a work of art.  Then you'll be able to bid on the finished painting at the end of the day! How great is that!! Picasso has been painting since last November and is stepping into beloved Dagger DogVinci's Paw Prints. Along with the painting Picasso will create during the event, will be a DogVinci luxurious pure silk tie made in Milan, Italy and a gorgeous pure linen scarf made in Positano, Italy. This package/bundle is just one of the many, many live and silent auction items just waiting to be yours!

Heather O'Rourke & Brittany Bell Co-Emcee's

We are beyond thrilled to introduce you to our co-emcees for Independence Is Golden: Brittany Bell and Heather O'Rourke from the ABC7 Eyewitness News New York Morning Team!

Brittany is an award-winning meteorologist who is regularly featured on Good Morning America and ABC World News Tonight. Brittany loves supporting animal-related causes, and she enjoys spending time outdoors with her two "fur-babies", a black lab mix named Stormy, and a beagle mix named Summer.

Heather O'Rourke is a four-time Emmy Award winning traffic anchor for the ABC New York Morning Team. She lives in the Garden State with her husband, two children and her two rescues, Bones and Astro. Heather is also proud to support charities like Canine Companions. Come and meet Brittany and Heather when you attend Independence Is Golden!

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Our entertainment for the day is concert cellist, Maddie Dagger and concert violinist, Shane Manfre. They're both Hofstra University students. Both are pursuing a career in music education. 

Concert cellist, Maddie Dagger / Concert Violinist, Shane Manfre

To add to all of this excitement, we're honoring a wonderful man, Jim Nazzaro.  Jim has selflessly donated thousands of dollars of his time and talent to add more dorm rooms to our state of the art facility. We are also welcoming Morgan! Morgan will tell us all about her journey with her Service dog, Wolf.

So, come enjoy a day of exceptional food, great entertainment, inspiring stories and extraordinary Service dogs in action. And come to watch Picasso paint a masterpiece!! 

Hope to see you there!
Happy Mother's Day to all mom's past, present, furry and not so furry!
🌷🌷🌷
Happy tales to you,
​xoxo Yvonne