The PAWS of CNY volunteers visited the Hancock International Airport for a special photo shoot on Saturday, June 24. The dogs were not only there to help marketing director Jennifer Sweetland, and photographer Chuck create fun bookmarks to hand out to lucky passengers, they were also there to do what they love to do the most: put smiles on the faces of every person that was in the airport that day.
The airport service workers, along with many of the children at HancockInternational Airport, got a chance to meet the handlers and their dogs. The handlers and dogs in attendance included, Sue Vaughn with her Labrador Mix dog Bert, Martha Sturtz and her Golden Retriever Flyer, Joy Hawksby and her Golden Retriever Keno, John and Sue Stepien and their Bernese Mountain Dog Stella, Ronna Richardson and her Golden Retriever Cody, Cindy Griffith and her Toy Poodle Sebastian, and Christy Nappi and her Pomeranian Terrier Mix Charlie.
The dogs met inside the airport, then had individual photos taken outdoors before heading back inside to one of the terminals for visits. This was the first time that PAWS of CNY made a visit with six dogs. Sue Vaughn, one of the volunteers, was able to share her thoughts on the experience that day:
“We’ve never done a visit with six dogs before and it was quite exciting tosee all of us fan out along the gates.” It wasn’t just fun for the dogs, but also for the people who visited the dogs and who were flying to places such as Hong Kong and Poland. Sending these people off with a smile on their face as they boarded their flights.”
Sue shared one more thought stating:
“It would be fun to visit with this many dogs each time we do a visit at Hancock!”
-By Kyle Andrake