Monday, December 21, 2009

Dreaming of a White Christmas

One of Lania's puppies
Puppy raiser and breeding stock custodian Ruth Cattaneo is enjoying her holidays in quite a unique way. She's the wardrobe supervisor of the National Tour of Irving Berlin's White Christmas, and is with the tour as it travels the country bringing the time-honored classic to maybe a neighborhood near you! But while she's on the road, thoughts of GDB and her breeder dog Lania are forefront in her mind during this season of giving. She has organized a unique fundraiser in honor of Lania's first litter of pups (Lania and her new pups are pictured here). In Ruth's own words:

Sarah (my daughter) and I began raising puppies when she was in junior high school. We've raised seven dogs. Four of our pups are currently active guides, working in locales all across the country (Portland, Ore., Lake Oswego, Ore., Boston and Kansas City). Lania is our first breeder and is very special to me. She is the most athletic of all the dog's we've had - I plan on doing agility training with her when I get home.

Logo: Irving Berlin's White Christmas
For now, I am traveling with the National Tour of Irving Berlin's White Christmas. It is a wonderful tap dance musical that I call "candy for the eyes." It is a seasonal show that runs from November thru January. [As the wardrobe supervisor] I am in charge of over 300 pieces: hats, jewelry, shoes etc. The costumes are colorful and lots of fun. I started in New York in October to prepare the show for tour. We will be visiting the midwest section of the country: Omaha, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Michigan State University, St. Louis, Louisville and Kansas City. I'm hoping to see Baja, one of the pups I raised, in Kansas City when we are there.

To raise a little money for GDB, I plan to put pictures of Lania and her puppies on the crew and cast bulletin board. Then before the shows in the evening I will make an announcement over the speaker to our cast and crew letting them know that whatever is donated in total I will match (example: if two hundred dollars is donated then I will match it with another two hundred dollars). There are two little girls in the show who saw the pictures of the puppies and got so excited that they've agreed to take the "can" around and help collect any donations.

Thank you Ruth for your creativity and thoughtfulness!

Lania with her first litter of  pups

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