CORNWALL — A beautiful autumn day welcomed dogs and people to Little Guild’s 11th annual Run and Wag 5K in Cornwall Village.
In a fair-like atmosphere of live music played by Relatively Sound, food trucks and booths with local goods, people and dogs gathered before the race set off at noon.
Jenny Langendoerfer, Executive Director of Little Guild, an animal shelter in Cornwall, explained that the Run and Wag 5K is one of their main fund-raising events. “We have to raise seventy five percent of our operating costs. All the money raised by the Run and Wag goes to those costs.”
She went on to say, “The Run and Wag is a premier dog and human race. We are extremely proud of it.” This year she noted they had “79 dogs and 200 human runners and walkers entered.”
Nita Colgate, from Cornwall, was spectating with her dog, Ananda, who was adopted from the Little Guild in December. Colgate said that Little Guild was “absolutely wonderful in post adoption care.” They supplied her with dog food when Ananda ran out and wouldn’t eat his new food, in spite of it being Christmas Eve.
Robert Lindgren with Cecil, a cocker spaniel, and friends Michael Carter and pug Juniper, waited to walk the route. Lindgren said, “Little Guild is wonderful. They do great things.”
Human and canine runners depart the starting line for the 11th annual Run and Wag 5K to benefit The Little Guild in West Cornwall.L. Tomaino
Andrea Fournier came from Barkhamsted with Maverick, a yellow lab. She commented about Little Guild, “It’s a great organization. We had a 15-year-old cat from them. She was the best cat! We like to support them.”
Robert Ghitelman and Sandy Adelsberg of Cornwall were walking with their companions Airedale and Scout. Adelsberg said “The music is a lot of fun and appropriate. Great weather, lots of people came out and there are lots of happy dogs and people.”
At noon, walkers, runners and dogs all lined up at the start and were off on the five-kilometer route.
The first runner, seventeen-year-old Bradley Bozzuto, returned 16 minutes at 16 seconds later. He broke the previous individual record of 16:24 set in 2015.
The first dog-human team to finish was four-time winner, Brittany Telke with her basenji, Mazikeen from Bristol. Their time was 19:02. Brittany said of the run, “The challenging part is that she gets a little distracted (by other dogs) during the second part of the race. But she was better this year.”
Thor and Michael Geschwind, winners in the men’s category for human-dog team at the Little Guild’s Run and Wag 5K. Their time was 19 minutes, 30 seconds. Also pictured is Tara Gres.L. Tomaino
Winners in the men’s team category were Michael Geschwind and Thor the great dane-mix with a time of nineteen minutes, thirty seconds. Tara Geschwind, who also ran, said, “I just love it. I’ve been donating to Little Guild for years and years.”
John Guenther, a former president of Little Guild’s board, came in with a time of 22 minutes. He walks 12 miles daily with the little guild dogs awaiting adoption. He said the event was “A wonderful celebration of dogs and the connection people have with their animals.”
Toby, a husky/chihuahua, wore a costume of bat wings and ran with Kristin Wheeler. “It was hot. He pulled me along with his wings. It was lots of fun!”
This was a sentiment all seemed to agree with, spectators, runners, walkers, and dogs alike.
Toby, a husky/chihuahua mix wore bat wings for extra speed at the Run and Wag 5K on Saturday, Oct. 19 in Cornwall.L. Tomaino
The Berkshire Resilience Brass Band brought lively brass and jazz-inspired music to the lawn at the David M. Hunt Library on Friday evening, July 24.
Audience members became part of the performance as well. During one number, the horn players switched to percussion, while a basket of rattles and other handheld instruments was available for audience members to play along. Sadeh and O’Dea encouraged several young children to shake along with the music.
The audience continued to grow throughout the evening, including a family who stopped after hearing the music while driving by.
Although the band’s performances sound spontaneous, they begin with a shared musical framework.
“We start with a tune or arrangement,” Rogers said. “Then we do or don’t follow it.”
Rogers estimated that any given performance is at least half improvisation.
It’s not left entirely to chance. O’Dea said the group rehearses once a week, on Sundays.
Patrick L. Sullivan
Deanna Hearn opened Lucky Orphans in 2003.
Growing up in the Bronx, Hearn was captivated whenever she saw horses. Her grandfather, a Korean War veteran, had cared for military horses during the war. After returning home, he struggled with addiction, and the invisible wounds of military service. Through every difficult chapter of his life, however, one thing consistently brought him peace.
“Horses bring peace,” he told his granddaughter.
When Hearn was 11, after years apart, Hearn and her grandfather began spending weekends riding together. Less than a year later, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Before he died, he asked family members to help buy Hearn’s first horse — a stubborn paint horse that bit, kicked and frequently threw her off. She wanted to sell him. Her father refused.
“Every life has value,” he told her.
Looking back, Hearn says that lesson became the foundation of everything she would later build.
What began as a boarding stable in 2003 took a different direction after the Dutchess County SPCA asked Hearn to care for horses seized in cruelty cases. She soon realized that although Dutchess County had one of New York’s largest horse populations, there was no dedicated nonprofit equipped to care for neglected and abused horses. Lucky Orphans officially became a nonprofit in 2008.
Some of the more than 40 horses at Lucky OrphansProvided
Today, Hearn is quick to point out that Lucky Orphans is not simply a rescue.
“We’re a sanctuary,” she said.
Many of the more than 40 horses living there arrive with broken bones, chronic illnesses, heart conditions, missing eyes or other injuries that make them unsuitable for riding or adoption. Rather than rehabilitating and rehoming them, Lucky Orphans makes a lifetime commitment to every horse.
In 2013, Hearn became certified in equine-assisted psychotherapy, combining her lifelong relationship with horses and the lessons she learned from her grandfather to create programs for veterans, trauma survivors, children and families facing emotional challenges. The transformations she witnesses continue to surprise her. She recalls one woman who arrived convinced she would not fit in with a group of strangers. During the session, a horse quietly chose to follow her without a rope or commands. For the first time in years, the woman said she felt truly seen.
Another memory has stayed with Hearn ever since. A teenager in a juvenile probation program, wearing an ankle monitor and struggling with anger, entered a round pen with a horse. As his frustration grew, the horse moved farther away. When he finally calmed himself, the horse walked directly toward him and rested its head against his chest.
“I told him, ‘If you can control your energy, you can control the world around you,’” Hearn said.
Stories like these sustain her through the difficult realities of running a nonprofit. Operating the sanctuary costs roughly $52,000 each month, and Hearn lives on the property, where the work never truly ends. Veterinary bills, staffing, fundraising and the daily care of dozens of horses are constant concerns. Then someone returns years later and tells her that the horses changed their child’s life.
“That’s why I keep going,” she said.
Looking ahead, Hearn hopes more people discover what makes Lucky Orphans unique. The organization is expanding its community programming with educational visits, yoga sessions, horse encounters, volunteer opportunities and family events designed to reconnect people with horses and with one another.
Her vision is simple: to create a place where people slow down, reconnect and remember something modern life often makes us forget. If horses could speak, Hearn believes they would offer just one piece of advice.
“They’d tell us to slow down,” she said.
After spending an afternoon at Lucky Orphans, it’s hard to disagree.
For more information or to plan a visit, go to luckyorphans.org
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