Name: Therapy Dogs International.
History: Founded in Cincinnati in 1970 by Glenna Mockbee after learning how animals help to relax patients, including her husband, Kenneth.
Where: 6851 Irwin Simpson Road, Mason.
Mission: "Travel to hospitals, nursing homes and schools and use dogs to help sick people, especially children, come out of depression and help their medicine work," Mockbee said.
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Kaitlin Conacher, 14, and her mother, Laurie, of Saskatchewan, Canada, enjoy their time with dogs from Therapy Dogs International.
(Jeff Swinger photo)
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What others say: Dr. Edith Markoff, associate professor of pediatrics at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and coordinator of dog visitation program, said using animal-assisted activities is a form of psycho-social therapy.
"It helps to relieve stress," she said. "Usually if a sick child is unresponsive, a dog can change their responses. A child will reach out and touch a dog, and you can notice that the child's eyes will follow the dog's movement. This brings on an emotional difference and helps in treating a sick child."
SOME GOOD NEWS
"B 7, I 21."
That could be the voice of Joan Wilson, bingo caller for St. Paul United Church of Christ, Colerain Township.
She bellows out bingo numbers every Fifth Thursday of the month at the VA Hospital in Avondale.
"It is a lot of fun," she said.
"I go with a group of about five or six ladies from out church."
Wilson said the bingo games also provides something special for her and her committee.
Aquarium gets books
More than 800 fish-related books of longtime fish hobbyist, the late Dr. Peter A. Lewis, have been donated to the Newport Aquarium.
The books were donated by Phyllis Flynn of Glendale, widow of Dr. Lewis.
Dr. Lewis, who collected the fish library, died last year in his home. The books relate to marine and freshwater fish, the oceans, and rivers around the world.
The collection also contains slides and fish-related magazines, dating back to the 1950s.
Phyllis Flynn said she feels the collection will make a difference at the aquarium.
Dr. Lewis was director of Communications and Regulatory Affairs for Sun Chemical Corp.
The books will go to the WAVE Foundation, the independent, not-for-profit educational arm of the Newport Aquarium.
ACADEMIC ALL-STARS
Music scholarship
Megan Barclay, a recent graduate of Winton Woods High School, has been accepted into the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y.
She was awarded scholarships from Eastman and will have the opportunity to perform with the Eastman Wind Ensemble.
Overseas study
Courtney Budd, a junior elementary education major at Valparaiso University, Ind., studied spring semester at Anglia Polytechnic in Cambridge, England.
The Lakota West High School graduate is the daughter of Sandra and Joseph Budd of West Chester Township.
D.C. forum
Teresa Grieselhuber attended the National Youth Leadership Forum on Law in Washington, D.C. She joined other high school students to observe the legal system at Washington-area institutions.
Teresa, of Hamilton, attends Ross High School.
On dean's lists
These students have been named to the winter termdean's list at their college or university:
Jennifer Locy, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Dayton. The St. Ursula Academy graduate is the daughter of Lisa and Chuck Locy of Hyde Park.
Brendon Webb, a junior chemical engineering major at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The Walnut Hills High School graduate is the son of Barb and Barry Webb of Westwood.
For submission information, call 755-4165.
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