by Rachel Lys
The cost to purchase a seeing guide dog had been increasing for years and the East Hampton Lions Club’s financial contributions dwindled over the years because we had been donating to more and more causes not just a seeing guide dog. As a community service organization, we have only as much money as we can raise to donate. So I came up with the idea 5 years ago to raise more money for a seeing guide dog we needed to have a dog-related event and that is how the Hamptons Annual Dog Show came to life. This year we had over 300 people attend the event and 48 dogs participated in the show. The show has seven categories and we give out 3rd, 2nd, and 1st place ribbons for each category. We had local vendors present to sell their dog-related products, we had a dog agility course, and a doggie splash pad, and we had Diana and the dancing golden retrievers perform a show. Josh Brussell was the MC and our esteemed panel of judges included Gavin Menu, Joan Tulp, and Dr. Molly Moiesk. The best-in-show winner was skipper owner Ralph Percelli from Montauk.
