Assistance Golden Barkley — Let’s Make a Deal Show

 

Still a chance to make ‘Deal’
By Susan Guyett, Indy Star

That “Deal or No Deal” frenzy didn’t end when the open auditions for the NBC show closed at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Some of the people who waited for hours in line at Indy Hyundai on Washington Street got to wait some more Wednesday during a return casting call at the Crowne Plaza in Downtown Indianapolis.

Contestants who made the first cut for the hit show hosted by Howie Mandel started showing up around 10 a.m. with their friends and family as supporters. Some groups color-coordinated their wardrobes, and others practiced enthusiastic looks, hand motions and excited whoops outside the audition rooms.

Sherri DeCoursey, Martinsville, showed up with Barkley, a 2-year-old golden retriever who is being trained for the Indiana Canine Assistant Network, a program that trains assistance dogs. DeCoursey has volunteered with the not-for-profit group for about three years. A dedicated animal lover who went to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to help care for pets separated from their owners, DeCoursey said that if she is selected to be on the show, she’ll donate all her winnings to ICAN.

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Remembering Golden Retriever Mix Gus

Bud to the Point
By BUD POLIQUIN, POST-STANDARD COLUMNIST

I should have tossed the ball in the yard with him more often. I should have ambled along the trail with him more often. I should have swum in the lake with him more often. I should have done a bunch of things more often with Gus, but I didn’t . . . and now, it’s too late.

And here I am, wishing he was sitting by my desk and staring at me one more time.

Gus was a mix of black Labrador and golden retriever, but more than that, he was my friend. And he was a great one because through the bulk of his 121/2 years – a good, long run for the breed – he’d listen to my troubles without ever telling me his.

And, oh, in these past few weeks as he battled the cancer that would eventually kill him early Friday morning, Gus could have bent my ear. Instead, he went about his happy business of taking me – my bride, my son and my daughter, too – for walks, and never once seemed embarrassed by the antics of any of the two-legged creatures at the end of the leash.

There’s more to the story . . . .