On the Town: Guild’s fashion show celebrates dog therapy
With the late morning temperature at Pasadena’s Brookside Golf Club already well into the 80s, it was apropos that the women of the Burbank-based La Providencia Guild of Children’s Hospital Los Angeles gathered for their summer meeting and thrift-store fashion show presented under the theme “The Dog Days of Summer” this past Saturday.
Chaired by Vicki Margolin and presided over by guild President Lynn White-Shelby, the event’s theme also tied in perfectly with the day’s honored guest, English golden retriever Blondie of the Amerman Family Foundation Dog Therapy Program that serves Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Blondie was a birthday present from former Woodbury University President Ken Nielsen to his wife Rose. Unaware of what dog therapy was until she attended a canine obedience class, Rose was fascinated with the benefits of the program and worked with Blondie to master obedience commands and pass her Canine Good Citizen test.
Today, Blondie and Rose go from room to room visiting children in the hospital’s inpatient units.
Considered to be one of the most innovative programs of its kind, the Amerman Family Foundation Dog Therapy Program recruits, trains and supports a roster of therapy dogs who have become a part of the culture at the hospital since 2001.
Along with visiting patients, therapy dogs also help to provide distraction during uncomfortable procedures and provide motivation in the rehabilitation unit for patients involved with physical and speech therapy.
According to Ken Nielsen, who accompanied Blondie at Saturday’s event, more than 25,000 children benefited from a dog therapy interaction at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in 2015.
During last week’s event, guild members had the opportunity to purchase a beautiful book about Blondie, titled “Blondie and the Hidden Treasure,” written by Terry McKewzie, with all proceeds going toward the hospital’s dog therapy program.
Along with an address by Suzanne Lapis, who serves as the director of associate and affiliate groups at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, the assemblage also enjoyed a fashion show that featured clothing and accessories available at the guild’s Burbank Boulevard thrift store.
Working the catwalk to showcase the fashions were guild member models Joan Albriton, Michelle Chavoor, Dana Duncan, Janet Garrison, Jill Kessler, Carrie McCoy, Edna Minoque, Christy Morse, Ashley and Sunny Peltier, Delda Sciurba, Sharon Terranova, Marylouise Valdes and Rosemarie Witten.
Among those who made the day a success were guild officers Glenda Jones, Lorelei Kelley, DeeDee Rowlands, Nancy Wiggins, Ann O’Donnell Gardner and committee members Deborah Spang, Tycene Davis, Judy Pierce, Sue Ann Gordon, Irene Metzger, Gene Marie Watson, Eileen Motzkin and Sue Meckley.
Others who played a significant role in staging the event included Beth Bowls, Joan Chandler, Judy Gragg, Katherine Levine, Ming Liu, Sophia MacIsaac, Jeanne Margolin, Patricia Taylor and Marilyn Teasley.
Chartered by Children’s Hospital Los Angeles in 1947, the La Providencia Guild’s mission is to foster interest in the work of the pediatric medical facility with contributions of service and funds.
For more information about the guild’s work, its thrift store, upcoming fundraising events or to become a member, visit laprovidenciaguild.org.
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DAVID LAURELL may be reached by email at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.
