PINE TREE GUIDE DOG USERS
(PTGDU)

WHAT'S NEW?

• Pine Tree Guide Dog Users
  Spring Fling
  
  Pine Tree Guide Dog Users (PTGDU) invites you to its Spring Fling. If you are a guide dog user, guide dog puppy raiser, know someone who uses a guide dog, or have an interest in guide dogs, this event is for you.
  Date: Saturday, May 5, 2012
  Time: 9:30 am to 3:00pm
  Place: The Senator Inn
  284 Western Ave.
  Augusta, ME 04330
  Cost: $15.00 Includes Coffee/tea and donuts in morning and soup and sandwich buffet.
  Our schedule of events includes registration, welcome, presentation by Emergency Management Agency of Maine, Augusta Fire Department Ambulance Service, lunch, business meeting, afternoon speaker Becky Barnes and door prizes.
  We think the Emergency Preparedness presentation will be especially beneficial as we discuss how we can be prepared for emergencies as it relates to people with disabilities as well as learning how the communities are prepared to assist us should we need to evacuate to emergency shelters. Becky Barnes is the President of GDUI and works for Guiding Eyes for the Blind.
  Breakfast break will consist of coffee, tea, iced water, warm Danish and bakery muffins.
  Lunch buffet consists of:
  Soup of the day
  Tossed Salad
  Assorted Sandwiches and Wraps (Chicken Salad, Roast Beef, Smoked Turkey, Ham & Swiss, and Vegetarian)
  Dessert Squares
  Coffee, Tea, and Iced Tea
  
  Please RSVP to this not later than May 1, 2012 to:
  Cheryl Peabody
  6 Lee St
  Winslow, ME 04901
  872-7594
  Please RSVP and send payment (make checks payable to: PTGDU) prior to May 1, 2012.
  
• A copy of the PTGDU membership application form (in RTF format) is now available for download.
• Useful Information For Air Travelers With A Guide Dog: Air Travel Advice for Guide Dog Handlers, a document originally issued by the GDUI Legislative Committee in December, 2010, was recently updated. The updated version of that document now appears in the GUIDE DOG INFORMATION AND RESOURCES section of this website. What To Expect If You're Blind Or Visually Impaired And Use A Service Dog, a complementary document issued by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in November, 2010 also appears there.
• A new page, Disability.Gov Resources, has been added to the PTGDU website. On that page, you'll find an overview of and links to the different sections of a Federal government website that provides links to thousands of resources for people with disabilities.
• PTGDU president Pauline Lamontagne reports on her January 2010 Caribbean cruise and offers practical advice for first-time guide dog team cruisers. You can read Pauline's story, "First Time Cruising With A Guide Dog" as well as many other stories and articles in the "Our Stories" section of this web site.
• Bobbi LaChance, a PTGDU member, tells of her presentation about guide dogs to students of the Poland Springs Academy. You can read Bobbi's story, "What To Do On A Rainy Day" as well as many other stories and articles in the "Our Stories" section of this web site.
• Hope Paulos, a PTGDU member, recently completed a half marathon in Florida. Listen to Hope’s interview discussing the event on the ACB Radio program "Blind Like Me" in the "Our Stories" section of this web site.
• Sue Martin adds to the collection of PTGDU members' growing number of articles about their guides in "Beverly Crosses the Rainbow Bridge", an article about the passing of her third guide.
• PTGDU member Anja Geleney joins the ranks of members who contribute stories about their guide dogs. Read "From Cane to Guide Dog" in our Stories section.
• Information about accommodations for service animals at Fenway Park as well as State of Maine sales tax exemptions has been posted in the GUIDE DOG INFORMATION AND RESOURCES section of this web site.
• The current PTGDU Board of Directors:
  • President - Pauline Lamontagne
  • 1st Vice President - Lynn Duplessis
  • 2nd Vice President - Gilbert Whitmore
  • 2 year Board Member - Patti Sarchi
  • 2 year Board Member - Ferne Davenport
  • 1 year Board Member - Cheryl Peabody
  • 1 year Board Member - Lynne Mason-Courtney
  • Treasurer - Anne Poland
  • Secretary - Bruce Prindall

OUR ORGANIZATION

Pine Tree Guide Dog Users (PTGDU) is a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to promote the well-being of dog guide users in Maine. Founded in 1997 with some financial support from the American Council of the Blind of Maine and a lot of energy and hard work from our founding members, PTGDU includes folks who are dog guide handlers, folks who raise puppies destined to become dog guides, and folks who are interested in working dogs of all kinds.

Pine Tree Guide Dog Users is an affiliate of the American Council of the Blind, the American Council of the Blind of Maine, and of the Guide Dog Users, Inc.

OUR MEETINGS

The Pine Tree Guide Dog Users hold quarterly meetings in various locations in Maine. Meetings are scheduled on the first Saturday of February, May, August, and November. Meetings generally consist of a luncheon with a guest speaker followed by a business meeting. All members of PTGDU are encouraged to attend our meetings. If you have an issue that you would like to discuss, please contact our President, Pauline Lamontagne, at nera2@myfairpoint.net.

OUR MEMBERS

Our members come from throughout the State of Maine and their dog guides have trained at a number of the many dog guide schools located in the United States. Here are some of the schools at which our PTGDU members have trained:

OUR STORIES

So, what's it like to work and live with a dog guide? Read the writings of some of our members and others on this subject.

GUIDE DOG INFORMATION AND RESOURCES

Find links to all sorts of information about guide dogs on this page.

DISABILITY.GOV RESOURCES

Find links to all sorts of information about resources for people with disabilities on this page.

PTGDU MERCHANDISE

PUPPY RAISERS

If you live in Maine and are interested in raising a puppy destined to become a guide dog, you can contact Pat Webber at 207-338-5520 or pbwbbr@gmail.com.

WEBSITE INFORMATION

The space for the PTGDU website is generously donated by the good folks at Downeast.Net.

This website is designed to be accessible to users of assistive technologies such as screen readers and screen magnifiers, to persons who use dial-up modems, and to persons who use older technologies. The website does this by trying to comply with the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Accessibility Guidelines. If you experience any problems with the use of this website or if you have recommendations for additions or corrections to its content, please contact Lynn Duplessis at lyndup@roadrunner.com.

This web page revised 7/2/2011.