Observer SARASOTA
NEWS ideal institution
New College of Florida celebrates its 50th anniversary. PAGE 3A.
DIVERSIONS: SONG AND DANCE MAN
Ring Leaders
Bill Bordy shakes up The Sarasota Senior Theater with his “Blue Revue.”
Circus Sarasota gets edgier with new show.
NEWS 5A
INSIDE | PAGE 1B
You. Your neighbors. Your neighborhood.
SLICE OF THE CITY PEOPLE, PICS & PLACES
Thursday, FEBRUARY 3, 2011
DOG DAYS
Pet project
+ Archives peel away New College layers Historical photos, student newspapers and old yearbooks: These are all thing you would expect to find in a college’s archives. A banana peel … not so much. But that’s exactly what has been safely tucked away in New College of Florida’s archives room for the last 40 years. The vintage fruit was so thoroughly enjoyed by a student that he decided to preserve the peel. A note on the banana reads: “This banana was reportedly left in archives around 1970. Dubious, but quite possibly true.” The note is signed, “Titus.”
Rachel S. O’Hara
Marsha Panuche chose her dog, Donte, as the namesake for the upscale dog-care facility Donte’s Den. Plans are under way for the unique business, which will house up to 100 dogs at a time. With open space for pets to roam, dog condos, a dog cemetery and its own line of herbal medicine, Donte’s Den will cater to those dog owners who are no longer able to care for their pets.
Mary Lynn Desjarlais
Courtesy photo
+ Get ’em while they’re hot! The Kiwanis Club of South Sarasota hosted a hot-offthe-griddle pancake breakfast fundraiser Saturday, Jan. 29, at Presbyterian Church of the Covenant. Over the past few years, the club has hosted an annual breakfast that raises funds to support the vision of Kiwanis International, “Children First.”
INDEX Black Tie...............................10B Classifieds..............................20A Cops Corner..........................18A Crossword.............................19A Opinion....................................6A Real Estate...........................16A Weather................................19A Vol. 7, No. 13 Two sections www.YourObserver.com
With no family or children to whom they can will their money, a Bird Key couple is banking their entire legacy on a one-of-a-kind facility for dogs. By Robin Roy | City Editor
For as long as Marsha Panuche can remember, she has had a strong affinity for dogs. The Bird Key resident remembers begging for a dog as a small child. “Mom kept giving me dollars, but, for me, it was always dogs,” she said. “I always wanted a dog for Christmas.” When Panuche and her father conspired to get a dog, it started a lifelong love affair with man’s best friend. Today, she and her entrepreneur husband, Don, are putting their entire fortune into a groundbreaking facility that will care for dogs, providing housing and veterinary services and a new line of herbal medicines for dogs. And all of it will be headquartered at a yet-to-be-determined location in Sarasota County. “We have no family, no kids,” Panuche said. “This is going to be our legacy.”
Lifelong friends
If not for her grandfather’s dachshund, Beauregard, Panuche may never have developed a love of dogs at an early age. Her mother was deathly afraid of dogs, because she had been bitten when she was a young child. Panuche was never allowed to have a dog in the house. “After years of getting stuffed dogs, I wanted the real thing,” she said. Panuche’s father wanted the same thing for her. So, when she was 8 years old, the two of them made a deal — they would bring her grandfather’s lively dog to their home so often that her mother couldn’t help but grow attached to it. “Dad and I did everything we could to get her to love that dog,” she said with a smile. It only took three weeks before her mother relented. Panuche has rarely been without a dog ever since. “There’s just something pure
For more infoRMATION: E-mail: Marsha@dontesden.org about a dog,” she said. “They’re unbiased and loving. They forgive us, even when we betray them. I just hold them in a different spot.” At 18, Panuche began touring the world as a concert pianist. No matter where she was, she made it a point to visit the local dog shelter. “I always wanted to bring them all home with me,” she said. She was never able to, of course, but one time in Thailand, Panuche was taken by one particular street dog that spent the majority of its time in front of one business. Panchue wrote the business owner a check and asked him to use that money to care for the dog. He did so — begrudgingly at first — but as the years passed, the dog grew on him, and when
Panuche checked in for an update on the dog, the business owner would happily provide one. Through the years, Panuche became a successful jewelry designer and fashion consultant, with several celebrities as clients. As her career blossomed, marriage waited. But her love of dogs was never placed on hold. Standard schnauzers became her favorite. “They are little gentlemen,” she said. “Bright, funny, and they just want to cuddle.” Through work she met Don, who owned an electrical-manufacturing company in Chicago. The two wed in 1990. “By the time we got married, it was later in life, and children were out of the question,” she said. “But I met a man who shared my passion for dogs, and that’s how Donte’s Den came about.”
SEE FACILITY / PAGE 2A