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18 18 | Four Seasons Hemet Herald | AUGUST 2024 | | Four Seasons Hemet Herald | AUGUST 2024 | July was a fairly quiet month for these quilters as excessive heat kept us inside and sewing. We continue working as a group on our Farm Girl Vintage patterns, each quilt design as unique as each of us are unique. From barns, to farm animals, farm houses and tractors we can't wait to see our finished quilts. Pictured here is one in progress. Seasons Quilters meets EVERY Thursday, (except the fourth Thursday) in the Arts & Crafts Room from 10 am to 4 pm breaking for lunch at the Bistro at 12:30 pm. In August we will all be together on Aug. 7, 14 and 21. For more information about quilting, activities, fun projects and forming forever friendships through this wonderful hobby of quilting, stop by the Craft Room and see what's sewing! We would love to meet you. All Four Seasons residents are welcome to meetings and excursions. For more Information, please contact Diane Best at (951) 816-0449, dianequilts@verizon.net or Sharon Deuber at (760) 500-0077, Sharon@ BlackDiamondInvestments.net. Well the HOT August Days are here. Keeping the pets and ourselves cool and hydrated is important. When the air temp is 77 the asphalt temp is 125. When air temp is 87 asphalt temp is 143. A special thank you to Victoria Danner for organizing the Technique Clinic Sat., May 2. Three of the many pets that received services. PAWS is scheduling another Technique Clinic for Sat., Aug. 24. If there are a lot of sign ups, they may add Fri., Aug. 23 to the schedule. Victoria is in charge and will do a wonderful job as always. We are also trying to schedule a class to get your dog tested to be a Canine Good Citizen. It has just been too hot so we will plan that for the fall. If you are interested in PAWS come to one of our meetings. August we have a representative from Frosted Faces. A rescue that places elderly dogs. Here is an interesting story about a special dog in the military. Many military female dogs have been instrumental in aiding troops during wartime and Lucca stands out for her service. Lucca was born in the Netherlands. The Israel Defense Forces brought her to Israel and she trained there for six months with an American team. She was then inducted at Lackland in the United States and brought to the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona for training in an environment similar to Iraq. She served two tours of duty with the U.S. Marine Corps during her six years of service. During that time, she completed more than 400 missions. She was trained as a specialized search dog, and belonged to an elite group of canines capable of working off- leash at long distances from their handlers in dangerous situations. On her missions, no humans accompanying her were ever injured. Specifically, the dog's record of military service included Afghanistan with more than 400 patrols and three combat tours in Iraq. She was credited with finding ammunition, explosives and insurgents at least 40 times, without a single human fatality under her watch. The PDSA noted that she protected thousands of human lives as part of her assignments. On her last mission in 2012, when she was on patrol in Afghanistan, she sniffed out a 30-pound (13.6-kilogram) IED and was continuing her search when she lost one of her legs when another IED detonated underneath her. Cpl. Juan Rodriguez, her handler, thought she had been killed, but was able to rescue her. He administered first aid, and Lucca was then airlifted to Germany for medical treatment and rehabilitation. Ten days after the explosion, she was walking again. Following her recovery from her injury, Lucca was retired. She lived in California with Gunnery Sgt. Chris Willingham and his family. According to Amy Dickin, the dispensary's spokesperson, the award of the Dickin Medal to Lucca garnered more "public attention than any other Dickin Medal honoree in the program's 73-year history." In November 2019, Lucca became one of the first winners of the Animals in War & Peace Medal of Bravery, bestowed posthumously on her in a ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The story of Lucca's life was turned into a book, Top Dog: e Story of Marine Hero Lucca by Maria Goodavage. Lucca died on January 20, 2018. Lucca and Cpl. Rodriguez PAWS

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