Calling All Paws to the Bark for Life Event

Looking for something to do with your dog tomorrow?  Well you are in luck because the 3^rd annual Corona Bark for Life walk will take place tomorrow, April 28^th, at The Shops at Dos Lagos in Corona. 

What is Bark for Life?

“The American Cancer Society Bark For Life^TM is a noncompetitive walk event for dogs and their owners to raise funds and awareness for the American Cancer Society's fight against cancer.” –RelayforLife.org/barkcoronaca

The Corona Bark for Life is a fundraiser event for the annual Corona Relay for Life (a 24-hour relay), which will be held May 19^th - 20^th at Santana Park.

The annual Corona Bark for Life is hosted and organized by mother and daughter team, Colleen Cain and Stephanie Gott, to honor the memory of over 11 family members who have passed away from cancer, including beloved husband and father, Bill Cain.  Bark for Life also honors the many service dogs who assist cancer patients and those who have passed away from cancer. 

Why should I help?

·         Approximately 1 out of every 3 women in the U.S. will develop cancer in their lifetime.

·         Almost 1 of every 2 men in the U.S. will develop cancer in their lifetime.

·         1 out of every 9 dogs in the U.S. dies of cancer each year.

·         Cancer is the 2^nd leading cause of death in the U.S., exceeded only by heart disease.

By supporting or participating in Bark for Life, you help the American Cancer Society raise much-needed funds and awareness to help save lives and reach their ultimate goal, which is to “create a world with less cancer and more birthdays.”

How can I get involved?

You can support the American Cancer Society Bark for Life by donating, participating, and

spreading the word. 
 

By donating to the American Cancer Society you can provide support to cancer patients and their families in the community.  And with the proper funding, the American Cancer Society will be able to offer a broad range of essential programs and services at no cost to the recipient. To donate, log on to www.relayforlife.org/barkcoronaca

 

To participate simply come with your dog(s) to The Shops at Dos Lagos, located at 2780 Cabot Drive in Corona.  This year’s Grand Marshall will be Assemblyman Jeff Miller of the 71^st Assembly District (which includes Corona, Eastvale, Norco, and a few cities in Orange County). The event kicks off with the walk but it doesn’t stop there.  There is plenty of fun to had after the walk including the agility course, doggy costume contests, vendors, food, adoptions, demonstrations and more.  New this year to the festivities is the Doxie races, which are always fun to watch.  The event is from 9a.m. – 3p.m. and the entry fee to join the walk is $20 for the first dog, and $10 for every immediate family dog after that. For more information, or to pre-register your dog, log on to www.relayforlife.org/barkcoronaca or call (951) 283-9128.

   

If you can’t donate or participate you can still make a difference by passing on this

information and encouraging your friends and family to support the cause in whatever way
they can.  Every little bit helps and together we can make a difference and save lives.

The Unknown Dogs of the Titanic

We all know the epic love story of Jack and Rose in James Cameron’s Titanic (currently being reshown in theaters everywhere). But do you know the stories of the 12 dogs that boarded to RMS Titanic, only 3 of which survived?  Not many do, that was until now, thanks to one professor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and news of his exhibit which has gone viral.

April 10^th, 1912 marked the departure of the RMS Titanic on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York in the United States.  April 15^th, 2012 marked the 100^th anniversary of the tragic day when the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.  The Titanic was the largest ship afloat at the time, able to carry 2,435 passengers and 892 crew members.   While the ship was the highest standard in luxury and comfort it was also equipped with advanced safety features, such as remotely activated watertight doors.  Despite this and other state-of-the-art safety measures, the ship lacked one pertinent safety feature – carrying enough lifeboats for the number of passengers on board.  As a result of this and other issues, such as the lifeboat not being filled to capacity, of the 2,223 people on that voyage 1,514 lost their lives. 

When you think of the Titanic you think of the great tragedy that befell its passengers and all of the lives that were needlessly lost.  What many people have never heard about (and probably never even thought about) was that there were 12 dogs aboard the ship and an onboard kennel to care for them.   An exhibit at Widener University, located in a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, hopes to change all that by focusing part of its latest Titanic exhibit on the stories of the 12 dogs (4 of which belonged to Philadelphia families) who made that fateful voyage.  

The exhibit at Widener University is produced and curated by J. Joseph Edgette, Ph.D., professor emeritus of education and folklorist emeritus at Widener and an authority on the Titanic.  “There is such a bond between people and their pets. For many, they are considered to be family members,” Edgette says, “I don’t think any Titanic exhibit has examined that relationship and recognized those loyal family pets that also lost their lives on the cruise.”

Of the 12 dogs aboard the ship only 3 survived. “All surviving dogs were small and were kept in the first-class cabins of their owners,” said Edgette.  And while the remaining 9 dogs that perished were taken well care of in the onboard kennel, their owners could not get to them in time to rescue them. 

One of the 3 dogs that survived included Lady, a Pomeranian puppy owned by Margaret Hays of New York City.  She wrapped the puppy in a blanket so the crew assumed it was a baby and allowed her to carry it on to the lifeboat.  The second dog to survive was Sun Yat-sen, a Pekinese owned by Henry and Myra Harper (of Harper & Row Publishing fame), also of New York City.  The third dog to survive was another small Pomeranian owned by Elizabeth Rothschild from Watkins Glen, New York. 

Two of the dogs that were lost with the Titanic belonged to William Carter, a coal magnate from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  His children were very worried about their pets but William assured his daughter Lucy and son Billy that their King Charles spaniel and Airedale would be alright and encouraged his children to get into the lifeboats. The family survived but the dogs did not.  (According to Edgette, the 1912 Renault replica, used for the love scene between Jack and Rose in James Cameron’s Titanic, was based on the car owned by the Carters).

 Two other Airedales, named Kitty and Airedale, belonging to John Jacob Astor IV and his wife, perished along with their master, John.  Another lost pup was Dog, a Fox Terrier belonging to William Dulles, an attorney from Philadelphia. 

Of these heart-breaking stories, perhaps the most tragic is that of Ann Elizabeth Isham.  After living abroad for nine years, Ann boarded the Titanic to visit her brother in New York for the summer.  During the sinking of the Titanic, Ann was already in a lifeboat but got out to go rescue her Great Dane.  She never returned to the lifeboats and a few days later her body was found in the water still holding on to her cherished dog.

The Titanic exhibit not only spotlights the four-legged family members and their owners onboard, it also tells the stories of the 68 Philadelphia families aboard the ship (including 3 members of the Widener family, for whom the Widener University is named), as well as information about the ship’s builders, recovering the bodies after the ship sunk, how local families have commemorated their lost loved ones, and the impact this tragedy has had on popular culture.  The exhibit is now open and free to the public until May 12^th.