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The Dog Days of Summer
By Tracy Winters
8/8/05
 
uccess and passion are two words that simply go together.
The truth is that people who are successful have a passionate
commitment to success and are willing to pay the price to
achieve it.
In the sport of drag racing, every racer I know
has a true passion for drag racing. Behind every successful
race team, company, and organization there is a team of people
who have made and continue to make sacrifices to achieve a
desired level of success. That is what I admire most about
the volunteers of D.R.A.W. Their passion for making D.R.A.W.
a success and constant support to the racing community is
remarkable.
There is one D.R.A.W. member whose work within DRAW and outside
of D.R.A.W. stands out in my mind. The Area One Coordinator,
Pat Shaeffer, has a huge passion for helping others. Pat attends
all the NHRA Division One races and the National events in
the Northeastern United States to represent D.R.A.W. When
Pat is not representing or working for D.R.A.W. she is bringing
a ray of sunshine to those who are in nursing homes.
 Pat
has four therapy dogs that visit 20 different nursing homes
and assisted living facilities in Pennsylvania, Maryland and
Florida. Pat’s dogs are not just any dogs, they are therapy
dogs. Their names are Gypsy Blue, Stormin Badberry, Aces High
Vito and Honey Bunny. All the dogs are retired show dogs and
Yorkshire Terriers. The most interesting aspect of the dog’s
names is that three of them are named after racers. Stormin
Badberry is named after TAFC driver Bob Newberry, Aces High
Vito is named after TAFC driver Frank Manzo and Honey Bunny
is named after Bunny Burkett.
Pat explained “The best thing about therapy dogs is
that people who never talk, smile or communicate with anyone
will communicate with the dog and remember the dogs name even
if they do not remember their own. Cancer patients sick from
their medication will forget how sick they are, smile and
pet the dog. It is actually my therapy because I feel we have
brought sunshine into some lives for at least a little while.”
 I
have a great deal of respect for all the volunteers of D.R.A.W.,
as they give up so much of their time for the benefit of others.
In Pat’s case especially she is giving to those who
really need a distraction and a reason to smile.
Pat and her husband are shown in the photo at right representing
D.R.A.W. at the Muscle Car Reunion at US 30-in York, Pennsylvania
during July 2005. When Pat is representing D.R.A.W. at all
eight of the NHRA Divisional events she brings at least one
of her therapy dogs to the races. So the next time you are
in the Northeastern United States attending an NHRA Divisional
or National event stop by and visit with Pat and her dogs.
Click
here to visit the DRAW website: www.drawfasthelp.org
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