On Valentine’s Day, DeFeo and Viv will participate with other guide dogs and their owners in a ceremony at Perkins honoring the US Postal Service for its new 65-cent “Dogs at Work’’ series of stamps. The series depicts a guide dog, therapy dog, military tracking dog, and search-and-rescue dog, and celebrates the “enduring partnership between dogs and people.’’
Designed by Postal Service art director Howard E. Paine, the four stamps feature original paintings by John M. Thompson, an illustration professor at Syracuse University.
Television newscaster Randy Price will emcee the 1:30 p.m. ceremony Tuesday in the historic Howe Building on the Perkins campus, 175 North Beacon St.
The event will include speakers on the importance of guide and service dogs in their lives, and a presentation by Perkins Elder Book Club members on “Thunder Dog,’’ a true story recounted by Michael Hingson about a guide dog’s heroics on Sept. 11, 2001. There will be gift bags of dog biscuits made by Perkins students, and the presentation of a plaque to Boston’s postmaster, James Holland, in honor of the Postal Service’s longtime commitment to the blind and visually impaired.
DeFeo will be there as a person with first-hand knowledge of the bond between guide dogs and their owners.
“She’s meant a whole new life of independence for me,’’ said DeFeo, describing the confidence she feels from Viv’s presence, guiding her almost imperceptibly. “I’m a people person, and now I’m never alone. My pal is always right by my side. She’s just the best.’’
Watertown resident Kim Charlson, director of the Braille & Talking Book Library at Perkins, coordinated the event after learning about the stamps. Through the Postal Service’s free delivery of reading material and sound recordings for the blind, the library serves 25,000 people across Massachusetts who cannot read ordinary printed material due to visual impairment, reading disability, or physical disability.
