PAWS for People concert
Animals and music – what's not to love? The New Ark Chorale will present 'All Creatures Great and Small' April 21st at Newark United Methodist Church. Michael Larkin is musical director.
"Forty eight animals I think we have included in the program, with music from the Renaissance right through a medley of novelty songs, 'How Much is that Doggie in the Window,' Larkin said.
Larkin's beagle Bonkers will be there. Larkin got the dog for his wife, Linda, who was dying of a brain disease.
"I watched him, even as a puppy, as he grew up, care for her, help me care for her for those two and a half years, and he was with her to the moment she passed away," Larkin said.
The concert benefits PAWS for People, a non-profit pet therapy organization in Newark. Executive Director Lynne Robinson.
"When people are around animals, they can let down, they can feel their feelings, they forget kind of where they are, whether they are having recurring thoughts, whether they're depressed," she said.
Bonkers will be a therapy dog.
"Not only does this dog, I think, has the great temperament to do it, it's also a way for me also to give back to the community," Larkin said.