October 22, 2013

Really Wordy Wednesday: Black Tie with Betty White

I apologize in advance for how wordy this will be, but I wanted to share my pics from the Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) Gala of Hope and tell you all about it. 

I also apologize in advance for how crappy our pics are. (!) My sis and I are new to having iPhones. (Do all iPhones take crappy pics indoors if the lighting isn't great, or is it just us? It's just us, isn't it...) If I'd known, I would've brought my "real" camera! Darn it.

Anyway... here goes the full report! 

My "date" and I checked into our lovely hotel room and got dolled up.
I told you on Monday that although we didn't meet Betty White, we did meet a sorta-celebrity: it was actor and cancer-advocate, Parker Pup! (More Parker tomorrow on Mirth Watch Thursday...)

I tried to look for Jan's angels' names (Moses and Shelby), but (sadly) there are a lotta names on Parker's vest, and his hair hid a chunk of it. I didn't want to paw through his fur (well, I did want to, but I thought his peeps might not like it) and I didn't want to hog him. (Well, again, I did want to hog him...). I took pics of both sides and the top, hoping I could find their names later, but since my pics are so blurry, I couldn't find them. :(

We checked out the silent auction items (pics of our winnings later), and then went in to dinner. The meal was really lovely: a yummy salad with berries, entree with fish/beef/veggie options to keep everyone happy, decadent dessert, and Cru Vin Dogs wine (that's a rescue dog on the label!).

At our table, seated next to my sis/date were 3 gals who came strictly to meet Betty (said they were big Golden Girls fans - didn't know young ladies watched that show). They don't even have pets. They had sprung for the VIP tix, so that's how we knew about the meet-n-greet with Betty beforehand where they had pics taken with her. They were not the biggest Betty fans there though... I'd say the biggest Betty fans were the couple that donated $10,000 in an ebay auction in order to sit next to Betty! (Wouldn't it be awesome to have that kinda money? "It's a good cause; we love Betty; we've got 10 grand to burn - let's go for it!")

Anyway, seated next to me were 2 vets that volunteer for MAF, including Dr. Jeff Wyatt. He was super interesting, telling us about his work at the University of Rochester and the Seneca Park Zoo. (He had to leave the next day and get home cuz the baby orangutan at the zoo was feeling puny. He had pix of her on his phone. So cute!) He was also a wealth of knowledge about MAF and talked about what a great organization it is.

He volunteers for them, traveling to do audits of research programs that MAF funds. He said that MAF has very low overhead (less than 8% of funding goes to admin expenses). I had checked out MAF before pledging to donate part of the profits from Rescue Me, Maybe sales to them, and had seen that they earn 4 stars (the highest rating) on Charity Navigator.com, but talking with an actual volunteer who clearly loves the organization made me feel even better about my decision.

So... it turns out, he's met Betty! Touched her even! So of course, I had to touch him and have my sis take our pic! :)
Me and my fellow MAF/Betty-lover
We got talking about how my sis and I came to discover MAF, so I told him about Abby and then of course, I had to whip out my bookmarks I'd brought along and give them to Jeff and the other volunteer, and the MAF employee seated on the far side of them. That also got us talking about how the research MAF does on canine cancer is also really important for humans. (For example, canine bone cancer is very similar to bone cancer in kids - the same treatments and medicines are used, so any advance for one is an advance for both!)

During dinner, they showed a couple of slide shows - one about Betty and her many accomplishments, and one with a few celebs (Jack Hanna, Slash - the lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses who's on the LA Zoo Board - who knew?) and MAF trustees thanking Betty for all she's done. (If you want, you can watch the videos here on the MAF blog. The first one is quite interesting and has many great photos of Betty!)
The video mentioned some fabulous things about Betty that made me love her even more:
  • She's been with MAF over 40 years!
  • She's going to be in the Guinness Book of World Records next year for the longest TV career for a female
  • She doesn't just lend her name to MAF - she's even been known to read the grant proposals!
They had Betty come up on stage, and presented a check for $100,000 for MAF that they'd raised in her name.
Blurry Betty in red
Then she spoke for a few minutes. I can't really tell you much of what she said because I was just so IN AWE. She looks amazing! She sounds fantastic! You would never know she's 91!

I know she talked about some of the cool things MAF has done (like funding the research that led to the parvovirus vaccine), and she talked about the research they're doing related to sea otters, which she has a great love for, and she thanked all of us. (You're welcome, Betty!)

She ducked out early (sad face!) and then Tom Sullivan got up and spoke. You'd recognize him if you saw him - he's probably one of the most famous blind people around and he's been on many TV shows over the years and is also an author and singer. He gave a very nice speech about Betty. One interesting story was about a guide dog, a Golden named Dinah, that he'd had for years. When she was 9, she suddenly signaled that she was no longer able to guide him (turning in circles in an airport). When he got her home, she hid under the bed and wouldn't come out or eat. He said it was as though she was trying to commit suicide. But then Betty came to his house and asked if she could try taking Dinah - and Dinah lived another 4 years with Betty! She's like Betty of Assisi! (I'd like to go live with Betty for 4 years...) (My sis was looking him up after and found out he and Betty wrote a book together about Dinah.)

After that, there was a live auction - lots of cool trips went for LOTS of money. And even a stainless steel doggy water bowl full of dog toys went for $1500! There was also a year's supply of Blue Buffalo auctioned off (whatever line you wanted) - I think that went for several thousand. (It was cool to learn that Blue Buffalo is a partner with MAF since we feed Rita the Blue Wilderness food, but I didn't bid!)

And then... it was done. I was tempted to try and palm my book (tucked away in my new evening bag) off on the woman we met that was an MAF employee, but she was engrossed in a conversation and I didn't want to interrupt, so we collected our goodies and left.

Here are the goodies we got/bought at the silent auction: a stuffed bunny for Rita (the center piece at each table was a dog bowl full of toys and you could help yourself to them after; he's wearing a glittery bow tie, related to another fund-raising game they did), a box full of Honest Kitchen goodies that my sis bid on for Reggie, and a necklace that I bid on. It's really cute - a tail with a paw, but it kinda looks like a "J" doesn't it? It's from Dazzling Paws. Was checking out their site - some cute stuff, even agility charms! Thought some of you ladies might like to check it out - or tell your hubbies to check it out since Christmas is coming!


So, that's it. That was our fabulous night. The only bummer was that we didn't meet Betty, but other than that it was really great. So glad we got to go! Hope you enjoyed reading my (probably way too detailed) account of it!


Happy Really-Wordy Wednesday!

30 comments:

  1. You met Parker. What a meal you had. I think they get the wine at the same place as our GR rescue. LOVE the necklace. Lots of tasty goodies for Rita. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar

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  2. You both look very stylish. Glad you got to go and have a great time. Pity about not meeting Betty but still it sounds like a nice night. Have a wonderful Wednesday.

    Best wishes Molly

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  3. Sounds like a lovely time. And that doctor sounds interesting. It's good you sat with nice chatty people. You should definitely try to find that Nature show on otters now. I learned that researchers thought otter hunting had wiped them out until they found a small group of 50 in central CA in like the 20s or 30s. And from those 50 otters came the like 2800 there are today. That's not a lot of otters! So interesting.

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  4. What a night! The food looked delicious...but seeing and hearing Betty, and about Betty and all the great work she has done, was probably fantastic! I am so glad you had a great time!

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  5. Well, I'm so glad you decided to be wordy :-) Sounds like a fabulous evening even if you didn't get to meet Betty (and I'd like to go live with her, too) Just wish there'd have been a way for you to slip her your book, darn it!

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  6. It sounds like you had a wonderful time! But a real bummer that you didn't get to meet Betty. When she first joined twitter I asked her to follow me, but sadly she didn't. How cool would that be to have Betty White as a twitter follower?

    What a great organization MAF is, you are truly privileged to have them.

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    1. That would have been very cool if she followed you. I looked though and she's only following 50 people. Too bad you didn't make the cut!

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  7. Since we probably will never have an evening like that, we loved every word you wrote about it. I remember reading about the 8% admin fees of MAF; seeing it in comparison with other charities really puts in perspective the commitment they have and all the great work.

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  8. Loved hearing about it! I hope I am as vibrant as Betty is if I live to 91! What a life she has had!

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  9. Glad your evening was great, even though you couldn't see Betty.

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  10. glad you had such a great time! and for a great cause. hey, that vet guy is from around where I live!
    love your necklace, the perfect J!

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  11. That is super cool, Jackie! I am in awe that you met Parker Pup! Chili Dawg's name is supposed to be on one of his vests :-) It sounds like a great night!

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    1. Oh, that's so cool. I zoomed in on my photos and looked at the few blurry names I could see but didn't see Chili's name.

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  12. St. Betty of Assisi, indeed! :-) So glad you got to do this; it looks like an amazing time. LOVE LOVE that "J" necklace!

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  13. Awesome night, super great cause and i love that necklace you scored...

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  14. What a fun evening! I haven't met Parker but I believe he lives in our city so maybe someday.

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  15. What an awesome event to get to go to! So glad you worked it out so you could go!

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  16. What an awesome evening!! And I'm glad that you shared all the details, so we get to kind-of-sort-of-almost vicariously be there :). I want to comment on every single thing, but then my comment would get crazy-wordy, so I won't.
    I'll just say thank you again for sharing it all with us and I love the necklace that you picked up!

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    1. Yes, I wanted to make it as "YOU ARE THERE" as possible. Wish y'all really coulda been there! How fun would that be?!

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  17. That was great, I loved reading all of the details! What an awesome time, and so interesting for you....not some boring, stuffy party for sure! Betty White is amazing, it is so hard to believe that she is 91! Thank you SO MUCH for trying to find Moses and Shelby's names on Parker's vest....I'm glad you at least got to meet him!
    I am also glad to hear all those good things about MAF...it is definitely a worthy cause, and sometimes these days you can't be sure when you're giving your money to someone whether or not it is really being used the way you think. It's good to know organizations like that are true to their cause.

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    1. Yes, so true! Sometimes you really don't know what your money ends up going towards.

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  18. Sounds like a great night. I love the J necklace, it's perfect for you!!

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  19. Sounds like an amazing night - so fun to hear about and it's so great that you went! I love Betty White - she is a true inspiration!!

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  20. What a great night. You and yr sis look lovely. Thank you for sharing your night with us ad all the info about maf. Our clinic donates to them whwn a pet dies as i did too when my friends dog died.

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  21. What a sensational looking night! The necklace does look like a "J" which is super cool! You both looked fab! What a great org!
    Ge'

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  22. looks like you had a grand time. plus you went home with goodies! awesome.
    love the necklace. thanks for the link. i saw it as a "j" before i even noticed it was a tail! gotta get me one.
    wags, bailey unleashed

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  23. look at YOU and your ADORABLE self! Oh what a fun time you had! I am so happy! Your "fellow Betty lover" looks like a doll too! To answer your question, YES, my iphone takes crappy photos when there isn't enough light too :(

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  24. Great pics, even if you're not happy with the lighting! Mum's sister in law was having problems with her iPhone too and then Mum discovered she still had the clear plastic cover on, which was over the lens, just saying! Tee Hee

    Mum's just got the new phone, so she's hoping the new flash will help with indoor shots :)

    Wags to all,

    Your pal Snoopy :)

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  25. Fantastic!!! Glad you had such a great time.

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  26. That was a great post! Sure sounds like you had a great time, even though you didn't get to meet Betty. But hey - you saw her!

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