A three-legged dog, his owner give cheer and cash as gifts
An Aspen-themed Winter Wonderland in La Jolla? That’s what AJ “Ace” Thakore created on a mini scale in front of his home at 6052 La Jolla Blvd. His yard sprouted about 50 flocked evergreens of all sizes, thousands of white lights and artificial snow.
Foam icicles were hung from the eves of his white peak-roofed house. Mountain cutouts arose behind the trees. A human-height walk-in Aspen Lodge was added, along with a sleigh, a sled and ski rental sign. Free cocoa was served on the Saturdays before Christmas.
This white wonderland is dedicated to his three-legged boxer mixed-breed dog, Aspen, who often greeted passersby.
“I’ve been super blessed in life,” says Thakore, a business entrepreneur with a passion for adopting dogs with handicaps or special needs.
His stable of six canine pets includes two threelegged dogs, another with a metal plate in its jaw, one that was feral and a stray lab mix that simply showed up at his door 10 years ago.
“I like getting dogs that are not winning too many award shows,” he laughs.
While Thakore enjoys skiing in Aspen, he explains that “Aspen’s Winter Wonderland” is more about his dog, Aspen, and how he can direct attention to handicapped dogs.
He decorated his house and yard in a similar way in December 2020, but this year he added a charity component, Aspen’s Holiday Giveaway, to grant wishes. He invited kids and families to drop letters to Santa in the red Santa Claus mail box, vowing that, if he received 100 letters, he would respond by spending thousands of dollars in gifts for needy families, children and rescue programs for dogs with special needs.
By Christmas, Aspen’s Santa had received about 230 letters. So Thakore, the CEO of Doctors Multimedia digital marketing for private practice physicians, with the help of his employees and friends, launched an avalanche of Amazon toy deliveries. Along with presents for the kids, three families in need were given food, help with utility bills and other expenses and requested household items, Thakore says.
One recipient was Lynnsey Safford, a young mother who lost her husband in May. Struggling to pick up the pieces and take care of her two young kids, her friends started a GoFundMe campaign for her a few months ago and nominated her for Aspen’s holiday giveaway program.
Safford says she was unaware that a friend had submitted her name during a visit to Aspen’s Winter Wonderland until she received a call from Thakore on Tuesday informing her that her family had been selected. Later that day, one of Thakore’s associates dropped by and presented her with a $5,000 check.
“I was astonished,” she says. “I had no idea.”
Safford, who lives in Rolando, says she had been a stay-at-home mom for eight years. A month after her husband’s passing, she took on two jobs, sometimes working seven days a week and sometimes two full shifts a day, to make ends meet.
“I’m forever grateful for this gift,” she says.
Not all the letters Thakore received were for Santa, though. One, from a passerby named Kelly, related that her holiday spirit had been rekindled.
“For various reasons, I was not in the Christmas spirit,” she wrote. “However, I saw the beautiful doll display and most importantly the Christmas spirit you shared outside your house. “It brought/brings me JOY to pass by and see so much love/light and truly the spirit of Christmas! My Christmas lights are being put up today.”
Thakore was touched. “That’s the reason why you do it,” he says.
He also pointed to donations of $5,000 each to two dog rescue programs: The Big Fix in Uganda, which runs a free-service veterinary hospital, and The Rescue Dog in San Diego. It searches for dogs with good temperaments that are bypassed for adoption because of their costly or chronic medical issues.
“Any time we can get a generous donation like that, it helps immensely,” says Katie Heuermann, president of the all-volunteer dog rescue organization. She says Thakore’s gift could save as many as 10 dogs or pay for medical attention for a single dog requiring expensive surgery, such as Waffles, a young shepherd mix suffering