Valley women love their pets and, it seems, will do practically anything to help animals in need. With that in mind, a group of gutsy Valley women came together to pull off a bit of a risky stunt – posing “au natural” with their pets for a gorgeous, full-color calendar being offered this holiday season by Pets Lifeline.
Loosely based on the 2003 British comedy, “Calendar Girls,” starring Helen Mirren and Julie Walter, PLL’s 2012 Wine Country Women Calendar is the brain child of Elfriede Whitcher – who is otherwise known as “Miss March.” Whitcher recruited photographer Berto Alves, who has artistically captured twelve wine country women with rescued pets, most of which, not surprisingly, are Pets Lifeline alum.
Joane Palmi, who graces “The Sun’s” cover this week, is a flight attendant and longtime supporter and volunteer of Pets Lifeline. Some of the other wine country women featured include: Beth Lambert, yoga instructor at the Yoga Community; Joanne Evans, owner of Three Dog Bakery (with her husband Lee Evans); Elena Orozco of Ceja Winery; Sue Albano, rock star and owner and instructor of En-er-gy Studios; Jayne Kincaid, one of Pets Lifeline’s “uber” volunteers and an amazing chef; Kate Twain with her sweet pooch Django; Monna Throop, Vet Tech at Pets Lifeline with her devoted feline following; and PLL’s own Executive Director Nancy King.
The photo shoots, which took place between May and August 2011, took on a giddy air as the women embraced their inner pin-up girl. The pets cooperated splendidly and the entire creation turned out beautifully. For Roxanne Alden, featured in July with her dog Jackson, it was project of love and dedication as she embarked on doing hair and makeup for all 12 photo shoots. Ditto, Lisa Murray, gracing October’s pages with beloved Schnauzer Trixie, who handled design and layout of the calendar. The group of women also gathered forces to raise the money for publication costs, so that 100 percent of the proceeds will go directly to the care of the animals at Pets Lifeline.
The calendars sell for $20 each and can be found at the shelter or online at petslifeline.org or around town at: Reader’s Books, Sonoma Home, Artefact Design & Salvage, Sonoma Pet Center, Yoga Community, Three Dog Bakery, Pharmaca, Sonoma Yarn, the Granary and Casey’s Place, to name a few. They will also be available at the following events: The Lighting of the Snowmen at Cornerstone Sonoma on Saturday, November 26; Estate’s 2011 Holiday Open House on December 10; and Pets Lifeline’s Annual Santa Paws at the Sonoma Community Center on Sunday, December 11.
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