Aug. 8, 2011: Another Hot One

1. AOL Weather says temperatures could reach 85 today. Beware of thunderstorms.

2. Aug. 7 through 13 is International Assistance Dog Week, which recognizes all the devoted, hardworking assistance dogs that are helping transform the lives of people with physical and mental disabilities. Many of these dogs are considered heroic for the deeds they perform for their owners as well as the companionship they provide. For more information about assistance dogs, visit Assistance Dogs International, The International Association of Assistance Dog Partners and Working Like Dogs.

International Assistance Dog Week (IADW) 2011 has a new public service announcement on TV. The announcement tells people about IADW, gives them the event dates and the Web site address and shows assistance dogs in action. The 30-second announcement can be found on YouTube.

3. The popularity of assistance dogs to help children with literacy skills seems to be on the rise. Libraries routinely call in these dogs, from organizations including READ (Reading Education Assistance Dogs) and Allan’s Angels, to help kids gain confidence in reading aloud by providing a non-judgmental audience. For recent Patch articles about these dogs, and .

4. Bloomfield’s Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation promotes increased independence for blind men and women by providing them with high-quality guide dogs. Fidelco offers tours of their campus on the first Tuesday of each month. These tours, called , take place from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. If you’re interested, contact Jan Adams at 860-243-4801 or at jadams@fidelco.org.

Mark your calendars as Saturday, Oct. 1 is Fidelco’s annual Fall Gala and Auction, which takes place at the Hartford Golf Club in West Hartford. For details, visit Fidelco’s Web site.

5. The Vernon Lions Ckub is involved in severalmajor fund-raisers for Fidelco, incouding the rcent Summar Days Carnival.