I am not Lassie

2011-02-01T14:07:00.001-08:00

Ronnie the collie snow photos from the February 2011 snowstorm.

2010-12-03T14:30:00.001-08:00

We'll miss you Ron Santo!

Many of you know that I (Ronnie the Collie) was named after the Chicago Cubs announcer and former third baseman Ron Santo.

My human actually met Ron Santo in September at the Billy Williams statue dedication ceremony and told the Cub's legend about me.
I'm sure she said that he could find this page by googleing "Not Lassie".
(That was when she took this picture of him)

She always wanted to get a picture of me with Ron Santo.
Sadly, that can only happen now with the magic of photoshop.

Our condolences to the friends, family and fans of Ron Santo.

Related links:

Video: Cubs broadcaster Jack Brickhouse predicts a triple play
(Ron Santo started the play at Third Base)
http://www.cubsnet.com/node/3154

More pics of Ron Santo
Ernie Banks, Billy William, Ryne Sandberg and Ron Santo

Ron Santo and friends at the Ryne Sandberg Jersey ceremony

Ron Santo at WGN TV
www.wgntv.com/santo

and WGN Radio
www.wgnradio.com/sports/baseball/cubs/ronsantomemories/

Ron Santo Wikipedia page
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Santo

Ron Santo Obituary Chicago Tribune
By Paul Sullivan

Ron Santo was all Cubs, all the time
Player/broadcaster devoted most of his life to North Side and loved every minute of it
By Gene Wojciechowski
ESPN.com

Beloved Cubs icon Santo dies at age 70
Nine-time All-Star, longtime broadcaster was Chicago legend
By Adam McCalvy / MLB.com | 12/03/10 1:18 PM EST

Comcast obit
www.comcast.net/articles/sports-general/20101203/Obit-Santo/

'The Cubs have lost their biggest fan'

Tributes from former Chicago Cubs teammates, radio partners and fans poured in today for Ron Santo, the iconic player and broadcaster who died Thursday night at the age of 70 from complications of bladder cancer.

Ron Santo's life in baseball

Fans gather at Wrigley Field Share your thoughts and memories

Phil Rogers: Santo was 70, going on 17

Should Santo be inducted into the Hall?

Ron Santo's last interview on 720 WGN

Santo remembered, in story, song and radio highlights

Audio: Highlights of his career

WGN Radio honors Ron Santo

Video tribute to Ron Santo

Ron Santo: Memories and tributes

Photos: John Williams leads a heel click for Ron Santo

Click YOUR heels for Ron Santo

Share your memories of Ron Santo

Donate in Ron's memory

2010-07-03T11:40:00.001-07:00

At Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves...

I don't know what I'm doing here.
I'm a Cub's fan.
Named after Ron Santo, ya know.

Like I need to be told to bark...

I'm not fetching that ball!

Mental note....don't let those cleats step on my paws...

2010-07-03T11:30:00.001-07:00

With the Warren Spahn statue at Turner Field..

2010-07-03T11:26:00.001-07:00

We had to get rid of the kids...the dog was allergic.

Funny stuff...I hope

2010-07-03T11:20:00.001-07:00

I lost a good friend this year.
When I first moved in, this cat hissed, growled and swatted at me for two weeks.
We became friends and now I miss him.
He was almost 17 years old.
He passed on the day after the above photo was taken.

Below is a picture of him in better, feistier days.
(Okay, really he's just yawning here)

2009-08-19T15:30:00.000-07:00

3rd Annual
Walk with Therese to prevent Domestic Violence
August 15, 2009
Keystone Park, River Forest, IL. 60305

Click on a photo for a larger view.

This is a dog friendly event.

Please attend the 2010 event on August 14.
More details on Facebook.
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=127875130570843

Above: Therese's niece shows a friend her photo necklace with Therese's photo on it.
Click here to see the necklace.

Below: the scene of the 2005 crime

The above are photos from the Third Annual Walk with Therese to prevent Domestic Violence.

Photos from the previous two events are available at the links below:

2nd Annual "Walk with Therese" to prevent domestic violence

1st Walk with Therese to prevent domestic violence

---------------

Update on the murder trial in Chicago Tribune

Local paper's report on the trial

Illinois Department of Corrections - Inmate Search

News reporting regarding this event...so far...

www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-walk-w-zone-12-aug12,0,1092317.story

www.wjinc.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=15241

www.pioneerlocal.com/riverforest/news/1711835,river-forest-penderwalk-081109-s1.article

Search for articles with keyword "domestic violence" at the Chicago Tribune

Search for news articles with keyword "Therese Pender"

I hear that Paul McCartney was informed of her passing.
He would recognize her.
Later on he made a video with all ladies who resemble Therese.

Ever Present Past by Paul McCartney
Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVGk5qm6Mac

This is what was in her cd player the night of the murder

An old photo of Therese years ago on the train - she's carrying a John Lennon album.

Therese was an incredible Beatles fan. She traveled around the world to see Paul.
She emailed Paul's son (and he wrote back!), she met Pete Best, she met Paul a bunch of times and was even quoted in more than one news article about them.

She was even at the Oprah show w/ Paul McCartney.

Ronnie's owner saw Paul in concert
5 times with her - 3x at the Rosemont, once at Soldier Field and again at Busch Stadium.

At the opening of Paul's Standing Stone concert at the Royal Albert Hall she gave him flowers at the end of the concert. If you watch the video you can see her give him the flowers.
(Do I have the concert correct? It was one of the classical works)

Therese went to a press conference for Paul and Linda's vegetarian frozen dinners.
Her question to the McCartneys was covered by the press.

The Chicago Tribune ran an article on her years ago regarding her Beatle fan activities.

*JOIN THE CLUB THESE LOYAL FANS ARE THE KIND OF PEOPLE WHO PUT THE MANIA IN BEATLEMANIA; [LAKE FINAL Edition]*
/Mark Mandernach. Special to the Tribune./. *Chicago Tribune (pre-1997
Fulltext)*. Chicago, Ill.: May 29, 1994. pg. 7

Column Name: /Lake People/Places./
Section: /TEMPO LAKE/
ISSN/ISBN: 10856706
Text Word Count 2042
Document URL: *Abstract* (Document Summary)

That makes Wesley one of hundreds of suburban Chicagoans-ranging from
Beatles' fan Therese ***** of Carpentersville on through Mary Wilson
fan Carl Feurerbacher of Mundelein-who are card-carrying members of
various fan clubs that cater to just about every avocation.

I was surprised to read that the Beatles song that comes to mind when reading about her husband's act of violence was reportedly not about what you'd think.

Were you at this event? Feel free to share your stories from the day here.

Did you know Therese Acheson Pender?

Please share your stories on her Legacy.com page.

2009-05-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

I am not a Saluki !!!

Ronnie the collie visits SIU Carbondale, Illinois.

Top photo taken at the 710 Bookstore.

Lower photo is a Saluki painting at the local Walmart.

2008-11-17T13:03:00.001-08:00

Ronnie asks why the house is moving.

He also wants to know why we're in the street.

2008-10-01T14:32:00.000-07:00

When you've gotta bark, ya gotta bark...

2008-09-05T13:23:00.000-07:00

2nd Annual "Walk with Therese"
to prevent domestic violence

Hi! I'm Ronnie the collie
and on August 16, 2008
I participated in the

2nd Annual "Walk with Therese"
to prevent domestic violence.

Proceeds benefit the Constance Morris House.

I was at the first walk too.
Here are some photos from the event.

Please attend the 2010 event on August 14.
More details on Facebook.
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=127875130570843

The great-niece (above) and nephew (below) who will never get to know their Aunt Therese.

Therese's mom listening to the pre-walk speech.

As Therese might say "It was a kissy-face sort of day".

You can click on a photo for a larger view.

It was a beautiful day for a walk.

Above: a representative from Pillars.
Below: A butterfly on the walk

Above is a photo-necklace with Therese's photo on it.
Below: a portrait of Therese with a newspaper article.

As a result of what happened to Therese, a new law was made that speeds up the serving of an order of protection. It is called the short form notification.
This has already helped one of my friends.

Our thanks to all who participate in the walk,
and to the businesses that donate raffle prizes and food for this event.

Did you miss the event? You can still donate in Therese's name.
Click here for details.

Newspaper listing

Pictures from the first year's walk

Pictures from the 3rd annual Walk with Therese

Would you like a full frame image from this event - suitable for reprints or enlargements?
Email :
NBC News report from March 18, 2005

Did you know Therese Acheson Pender?

Please share your stories on her Legacy.com page.

You're also welcome to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

Update:

4th Annual "Walk with Therese" to prevent domestic violence

August 14, 2010

Keystone Park,
(Keystone and Lake Street)
River Forest, IL

View Larger Map

Registration starts at 8am

Walk at 8:30am

$20 donation

Participants receive t-shirt and goodies bag.

Email : samanthasatterthwaite@yahoo.com

Proceeds to benefit Sarah's Inn.

This is a dog friendly event!

News reporting regarding this event...so far

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-walk-w-zone-12-aug12,0,1092317.story

http://www.wjinc.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=15241

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/riverforest/news/1711835,river-forest-penderwalk-081109-s1.article

Also see photos of Therese at:
http://cubsnet.com/node/2133#comment-3415

-------------

Update on the murder trial in Chicago Tribune

Local paper's report on the trial

Illinois Department of Corrections - Inmate Search

2008-05-15T09:39:00.000-07:00

Ronnie the Collie at the Illinois Senate vs House softball game

I met Senate President Emil Jones, State Rep. John D'Amico, Rep. Bob Molaro, Sen. Ricky Hendon and got to check out this cool trophy.

It was a fun day at the ole ball park!

I didn't play though.
Even though I'm named after Ron Santo,
I'm really a herding breed and therefore
more of a football lineman than a baseball player.

Everyone was a great sport and was happy to pose with me
...even though I'm not old enough to vote.

I didn't see Senator Obama or Senator Durbin there.

Perhaps they're a different kind of senator...

2008-04-26T15:40:00.000-07:00

A collie and golden retriever at the lake

It's a beautiful day for a run.

Wait, I'm the herding breed. What are you doing chasing me?

C'mon in. The water is fine.
It's already April!

I'm not a water breed!

You're getting wet one way or another.

You're still not wet. Get in the water.

-------------

Click on a photo for a larger view.

Click on a link below for more adventures with Ronnie the collie...

Fun at the ole dog park Ronnie herding a boxer ...
The amazing 8 legged dog
Ronnie's Florida vacation... Learning about palmettos
Walk with Therese to prevent domestic violence
Photos of some of my furry friends. Yep, that...
Ronnie the Collie with a CVI Electric car
Ronnie the Collie visits Florida! Here I am at M...
Ronnie the Collie's Excellent Adventure Who are ...
Hi, I'm Ronnie the collie and this is my sister w...
I can't wait 'til baseball season! ...
Pam, Tess and Zoe signed my cast and included the...
Yep, I broke my leg. No idea how I did it.Wasn't ...
Greetings from Florida! I've been in Florid...
Butterfly Kisses or not...
Scenes from a Dog Park...
Designing a pet-friendly minivan... Here are some...
I dogsat for a sheltie this weekend. Can you te...
Hi, I'm Ronnie the collie. My owner has been rea...

Ronnie the collie was adopted thru petfinder.com
Find a furry friend today at
www.petfinder.com

2008-03-22T10:11:00.001-07:00

Fun at the ole dog park

Ronnie herding a boxer and a huskie-chocolate lab mix.

The huskie-chocolate lab had a fantastic fur feel.
Like puppy fur.
The owner says he doesn't shed much at all.

Please don't go. I still want to play.

See ya next time!

Click on a link below for more adventures with Ronnie the collie...

The amazing 8 legged dog
Ronnie's Florida vacation... Learning about palmettos
Walk with Therese to prevent domestic violence
Photos of some of my furry friends. Yep, that...
Ronnie the Collie with a CVI Electric car
Ronnie the Collie visits Florida! Here I am at M...
Ronnie the Collie's Excellent Adventure Who are ...
Hi, I'm Ronnie the collie and this is my sister w...
I can't wait 'til baseball season! ...
Pam, Tess and Zoe signed my cast and included the...
Yep, I broke my leg. No idea how I did it.Wasn't ...
Greetings from Florida! I've been in Florid...
Butterfly Kisses or not...
Scenes from a Dog Park...
Designing a pet-friendly minivan... Here are some...
I dogsat for a sheltie this weekend. Can you te...
Hi, I'm Ronnie the collie. My owner has been rea...

2008-03-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

The amazing 8 legged dog

April Fools!

Here are both halves of the 8 legged dog.

Click on a link below for more adventures with Ronnie the collie...

Ronnie's Florida vacation... Learning about palmettos
Walk with Therese to prevent domestic violence
Photos of some of my furry friends. Yep, that...
Ronnie the Collie with a CVI Electric car
Ronnie the Collie visits Florida! Here I am at M...
Ronnie the Collie's Excellent Adventure Who are ...
Hi, I'm Ronnie the collie and this is my sister w...
I can't wait 'til baseball season! ...
Pam, Tess and Zoe signed my cast and included the...
Yep, I broke my leg. No idea how I did it.Wasn't ...
Greetings from Florida! I've been in Florid...
Butterfly Kisses or not...
Scenes from a Dog Park...
Designing a pet-friendly minivan... Here are some...
I dogsat for a sheltie this weekend. Can you te...
Hi, I'm Ronnie the collie. My owner has been rea...

2008-03-14T14:47:00.001-07:00

Ronnie's Florida vacation...

Learning about palmettos at Merritt Island.

Here I am at Lake Louisa.
My family would love to rent one of their cabins...if only the cabins were pet-friendly...

Collie Hugs!

Here I am giving two Florida artists a collie hug.

Here I am at a Florida nursing home,
visiting a 92 year old lady who requested a visit from lil ole me.

Maybe if I wish really, really hard, they'll let me in the door at Buca di Beppo's.
Wow, their food smells great!

Here I am meeting a sheltie at the Webster Flea market.
I'm glad to hear that this isn't where fleas really come from.
I'm wearing a gentle leader, which gives my owner what they call "power steering".

Here's my friend Odie getting a bath in the washer. Don't tell Garfield, but he's next!

2007-12-28T12:17:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
From Ronnie the Collie
and friends and family

Check out this supper!

Isn't she cute!

A gingerbread cathedral

Below...a remote control tarantula....
It didn't scare me.

2007-08-22T12:27:00.000-07:00

Walk with Therese
to prevent domestic violence

August 16, 2008

Keystone Park, River Forest, IL

Proceeds to benefit the Constance Morris House.

Newspaper listing

Did you miss the event? You can still donate in Therese's name.
Click here for details.

Photos from the 2007 Walk with Therese

Commentary by Ronnie the collie, walk participant.

Hi! I'm Ronnie the collie and this is my blog.

On August 18, I went on the Walk with Therese
to prevent domestic violence.

I didn't know Therese, but my friends the cat and the golden retriever knew her
and said really nice things about her. So I knew I had to attend this event.

I'm told that Therese loved animals and used to have a dog and some cats.

This was a very pet-friendly event. How many puppies do you count in the photos?

It was wonderful getting to meet Therese's friends from her various interests.
Sadly, Paul McCartney wasn't there...neither was Ringo. :(
However, I did get to see her sisters, mother, nieces, nephews and many friends.

Therese's niece gave a speech before the walk and received a hug from grandma.

As a result of what happened to Therese, a new law was made that speeds up the serving of an order of protection. This has already helped one of my owner's friends.

After the speeches and announcements, the walk begins.

I met new friends on the walking path.

Well, my owners failed to get a map of the walking path and we got a bit misplaced.

My new friend here sent us on our way.

Sometimes getting a bit lost can result in an excellent find...
such as this neat entrance to a home with a railroad theme.

Go ahead, click on the photo for a larger view.

With some strong pulling from yours truly, Ronnie the collie,
my owners got caught up with the group.

Looks like I have someone new to walk with.

So many trees, so little time...

Those are beautiful flowers....Yeah, I know...leave them alone...

Did you know Therese Acheson Pender?

Please share your stories on her Legacy.com page.

You're also welcome to leave a comment at the bottom of this page.

Photos from the 2008 Walk with Therese event
and the 2009 event.

Please attend the 2010 Walk with Therese on August 14.
More details on Facebook.
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=127875130570843

Oak Leaves article
Family memorializes sister with walk

Wednesday Journal

NBC News report from March 18, 2005

Below are Amazon links to books regarding the topic of domestic violence.
Your local library should be able to request some of these for you to read if they don't have it in their collection. If the library doesn't have the book you're looking for, please consider donating it to the library in Therese's name so that others may benefit too.

2007-08-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

Photos of some of my furry friends.

Yep, that's my roommate the cat.
He's 14 years old. He came from the pound too.
When I first moved here, he hissed, growled and swatted at me for two weeks.
Now we're buddies, really.
This is just a photo of him yawning.

2007-04-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

Ronnie the Collie with a CVI Electric car

2007-04-05T14:37:00.000-07:00

Ronnie the Collie visits Florida!

Here I am at Merritt Island on the Space Coast.

Here I am at the beach on the west coast of Florida.

The rest of the photos are from the east coast.

I'm wearing a gentle leader, which makes me easier to walk.

Otherwise, I forget I'm a collie and get into husky mode. Whoops!

Learn more about Merritt Island here:

http://www.fws.gov/merrittisland/ccp/index.html

I look forward to hearing from you.

Post a comment below.

Ronnie

PS: More of my vacation pics can be found here:

http://colliediary.blogspot.com/2007/04/ronnie-collies-excellent-adventure-who.html

2007-04-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

Ronnie the Collie's Excellent Adventure

Who are they trying to kid?

At the Harpeth River in Franklin, TN.

He's not going anywhere without these!

I can sleep soundly now!

Don't tell them I borrow their pillow.

They won't know if you don't tell.

2007-03-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

Hi, I'm Ronnie the collie and this is my sister who is a golden retriever.

I was adopted by her family in early 2006.

Sadly, she came down with kidney failure.

You know things are bad when the cat is keeping you warm.

Her tail was wagging even at her very last vet visit.

I still miss you.

----

If your dog has kidney disease, please check out this email list.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/K9KidneyDiet/

2006-12-30T12:44:00.000-08:00

I can't wait 'til baseball season!

2006-07-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

Pam, Tess and Zoe signed my cast and included these delicious biscuits and fun toys.

Thank-you!

You can click on the photo for the full view.

You can visit Pam's blog at:

http://www.pamibe.com/

PS: The folks at photo.net have been busy with this project.

One person even started up a series of photos regarding prayer and titled it Prayers for Ronnie.

2006-07-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

Yep, I broke my leg. No idea how I did it.

Wasn't hit by a car...or even a mini-cooper.

At the vet I squirmed so much they put me under anesthesia and when I woke up and I had this thing on my leg.

I'm not allowed to run with the cast, or wrestle with the other dog, or chase the cat or anything fun these days.

Hey, if you want to, you can sign my cast!

Just click on the photo above (to make it bigger.)

Then save the image and load it into a photo-editing program.

Add your artwork, messages, etc. to it.

You can change the color of the cast if you want.

I don't like the red color.

Then email it to me at:

chicagocubs (at) prodigy.net

and I'll upload it here.

Keep the message family friendly, I'm still a young dog.

Feel free to share advice for speeding up my recovery.

I still want to enjoy some of my summer vacation!

I look forward to hearing from you.

Ronnie the Collie

-------

2006-05-18T13:39:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Florida!

I've been in Florida working as a therapy dog, meeting senior citizens at three nursing homes / rehab facilities. One gentleman's toddler grandson was worried about kissing the golden's face, so he kissed the back instead. Bleah!

On a day I didn't go to the nursing home, my owner met a lady with a sheltie. She brought the sheltie into grandma's room and told her "Look what the Florida weather has done to my collie!"

During a discussion of our "clothes" (leashes, etc.) one little girl overshared that her "daddy doesn't wear clothes at night, because anything would give him a wedgie".

My owner didn't hear it....but I did. :)

On days we weren't working, we had to stay in the air conditioned kitchen. However, there is no door and my owners didn't want me snacking on the hor'dourves from la kitty box, so we were baracaded in here. Every day they added more and more additions to the baracade to keep us in. During a Florida storm though, not even this set-up could keep the golden retriever in the kitchen. (She has skills.)

Remember to scroll all the way down this page (past the Amazon ads) to see all the collie / golden / shiba inu photos.

2006-04-21T11:40:00.000-07:00

Butterfly Kisses

or not...

2006-03-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

Scenes from a Dog Park...

2006-03-21T11:30:00.000-08:00

Designing a pet-friendly minivan...

Here are some starter ideas I have for the pet-friendly mini-van...

The window grates in a mini-van that has middle windows that roll down would allow for cross ventilation in the vehicle, and allow Fido to get lots of air while riding, yet keeping his precious head inside the van.

Click here to participate in the

Designing a pet friendly mini-van discussion at:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=289808

2006-03-01T13:28:00.000-08:00

I dogsat for a sheltie this weekend.

Can you tell which of these pics are of of me (the collie) and which is the sheltie?

2006-02-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

Hi, I'm Ronnie the collie.

My owner has been reading the book Life is Good!: Lessons in Joyful Living which is written by Trixie Koontz,(a golden retriever!) and Dean Koontz. Now it seems to me that if a golden can write a book, a collie can surely share his thoughts on an internet blog.

Here I am shopping for a new leash and collar. The one they gave me at the pound was okay, but since I'm named after Ron Santo, I really wanted a Cubs leash. My owner wants me to pick one out at the store. They're available online, but she doesn't believe that I can websurf, so I'm still shopping.

Here is my sister, shopping for rawhides and a what is that? A guinia pig.
You are so not getting a guinia pig!

This is my view of my new aunt.

I'm still trying to figure out if she is a cat or a dog. I'm very confused about this.

------

More later, Ronnie

PS: Please don't call me Lassie. I am a manly dog!