It’s a dogs’ holiday....and they love the green
Special to The Times
Happy St. Patty’s Day! Boy, did we say that a few times this weekend. As you know, everyone is a little Irish at St. Patty’s Day; even a Bichon Frise and French Poodle mix have a little Irish in them.
We started with a quick St. Patty’s Day hello to our friends at New Horizon Adult Day Care. Everyone had a little green on and were ready for a little St. Patty’s fun or special treat.
We then headed over to celebrate St. Patty’s Day with our friends at the Leon Mathieu Center and members of the 5th grade Leadership Club from Agnes Little School. The seniors were all decked out in St. Patty’s Day attire, as were Tinker Bell & Wendy, even I had a special O’Bichon St. Patty’s T-shirt on.
We have discovered that it’s always a good party when you get the senior and the young people together.
Entertainment was provided by Aubrey Atwater, a folk and Celtic singer and musician. We have had the pleasure of being at one of Aubrey’s performance before, and were looking forward to hearing her again. She didn’t disappoint us with a few Irish stories and some foot-tapping Celtic songs. The children sat together in front and all seem to really get into her explanation of the different pipes she had with her. Several students played a wind instrument at school and shared that with her. Audrey blew what she referred to as a dog whistle, one that only dogs could hear; at least that was what she thought. Everyone looked at Tinker Bell and Wendy when she blew it; well, neither dog reacted. In fact Princess, a Shih Tzu comfort dog in attendance, didn’t react either.
Aubrey, a self-taught tapper/clogger, had the kids up on there feet so she could teach them a few steps. In return, the students taught her a few new dance moves. Wendy couldn’t help but dance a little herself. When Aubrey saw her, she played a special song just for Wendy to twirl too.
The children had the most fun when Aubrey brought out her wooden dancing puppets. The toys are a very old form of entertainment; many of the seniors remembered the toys from their youth, but they were new to the young ones who loved tapping the boards to make them dance. They put truth in the statement “Everything old is new again”.
The treats for the day were Zeppoles, cookies, mini-cupcakes and carrots. Tinker Bell and Wendy didn’t really want the sweets, but were happy when several of their friends offered to share their carrots with them.
From the senior party we headed over to the Pawtucket Public Library for Jeff Snow’s presentation of Celtic music and stories. Jeff’s music had a Scottish blend to it. Before he played, he explained many of the sto- ries behind the songs. Some of the stories actual had sad meaning behind them, but the beautiful soft melodies were like a lullaby to Tinker Bell and Wendy, who curled up on a chair and went to sleep.
Jeff did explain the history behind some of the bag pipe songs and managed to get his autoharp to sound like a bag pipe. Jeff had a great history with the autoharp and one particular sad song about the history of the Hunt family.
We ended our week end celebrations on St. Patty’s day with visits to our Irish friends Sally and Colleen. We didn’t get any corned beef and cabbage, but Sally told me not to worry; they don’t really eat it in Ireland. That dinner was something they put together in New York when the Irish immigrated there.
Have a great week, and if you see us “Around Town” be sure to say hi.