Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 25, 1994 TAG: 9410250066
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KATHLEEN WILSON
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Did you hear ``squirrel'' mentioned frequently during the commentary of the fashion show going on inside?
You heard correctly.
The fashion show - sponsored by E.I. Randle - was part of the second annual ``Evening for the Animals,'' a fund-raiser to benefit the Roanoke chapter of the SPCA.
An example:
``Molly loves to chase squirrels, bite jogging attorneys and one day hopes to catch a motorcycle,'' announced the commentator in the apropos fashion show commentary vocal tone.
Oh, and by the way. Barbara Daub was dressed to kill in Anne Klein.
The stars of the show were the animals, accompanied by well-dressed women in E.I. Randle's very best.
I left this event with my tail behind my legs in shame at how ill-behaved my Sheltie, Mindy, would have behaved at this chichi event.
She'd have been dragging some poor woman in high heels off the catwalk with her nose headed straight for a plate of food, terrorizing the guests with a never-ending bark.
That really was the most amazing part about this evening for animals.
There were 45 dogs and cats participating - most of them wandering around on leashes held by sweet 9-year-old handlers who'd volunteered to help out in and outside of the Sheraton's Conference Room 5.
In two hours, I heard not one bark. Not a one.
These were the most well-behaved animals I've ever encountered.
Connie Stevens, who adopted her dog from the shelter, was as amazed as I was.
Yes, she agreed, her dog - whom she named Cody-Lowe-the-religion-reporter after our own Cody Lowe - would have been terrorizing the black tie-clad crowd and headed for the chicken fingers.
Mae Moore made Connie and me feel a tad better.
Mae, ``who works for TRUST and drives to soccer,'' walked her walked 8-year-old Bandit - ``who is bad, messes up the house, scratches and growls, but does not need a ride to soccer.''
Even more amazing than the temperament of the animals was the attendance of 250 - twice that of last year's - at a cost of $25 a ticket.
And the 21 organizations and individuals listed in the program for donating $250 or more.
That's some $11,500 in the bank toward building a new shelter.
Most of the dogs walking the models belonged to other folks.
Janice and Danny Wilmer brought their gorgeous - and gigantic - Newfoundlands, Boogie Bear and Goliath.
Each weighs 130 pounds.
Janice and Danny, who belong to Newfoundland Rescue, were contacted when Goliath wound up at the local SPCA shelter. They brought him into their family.
Boogie Bear and Goliath spend part of their time giving cart rides for children, competing in Newfoundland swim meets. In his free time, Boogie Bear, a pet therapist, makes trips to local retirement homes to raise the spirits of those who live there.
Sarah Carlson brought her Great Dane, Gretchen, who was wearing a rainbow-colored custom-made color sparkling with ``jools'' around her neck.
Suzi Gardner was the brave woman to model with this 31-inch tall, 125 pound 4-year-old.
Pam Scordas modeled with Spenser, her own Great Dane, whom she described as 150 pounds of nervous energy.
``I asked if they'd let me wear tennis shoes,'' she told me, ``but they said no. I think I'm going to need all the traction I can get once I get on that runway with this dog.''
One of my favorite characters at this event was Flo, a tiny Boston terrier who refused to accompany gossamer Albert Nipon-clad Rhonda Jennings down the walk. A male model followed the pair on the runway, occasionally lifting Flo just inches off the ground so she sailed behind Rhonda.
Lucy, a stunning Italian greyhound who weighs just eight pounds, and is the only one of her kind in this area, accompanied Linda Kaufman.
Nepfertiti, a beautiful 14-year-old Abyssinian cat, battled Muriel Brobst for elegance in their walk down the runway.
Blonde, hazel-eyed Anna Meinhardt, 8, was a volunteer handler, but could have been a model herself, dressed in in blue and green blackwatch plaid skirt and jacket.
Hers was special duty. She was keeping an eye on SPCA shelter executive director Al Alexander's Mutley.
Al, who described Mutley as ``the ugliest, scrawniest thing you'd ever seen,'' adopted Mutley from the SPCA. After visiting the cowering Mutley, who shook and cowered in his cage there, one day Mutley just leaped from an SPCA technician's arms into Al's, and that was that.
Mutley had a home.
When Anna grows up, she told me, she wants to be an art teacher with an Australian Shepherd who would be allowed to sleep in her bed with her at night.
By the way, Anna wasn't the only one here clad in plaid, one of this year's hottest fashion statements.
One guest was wearing blackwatch plaid slacks to this black-tie gathering.
His name?
Winter Hodges.
A soap opera name if ever I've heard one.
by CNB