Springer

The expertise of Pam
Hoover, this issue’s
featured volunteer, can
be seen regularly in MAESSR’s
Springer Tails quarterly newsletter.
Pam’s responsible for
taking the photos and plain
typed copy that the rest of us
submit and turning it into the
beautifully formatted offering
that arrives in our mailboxes.
She also formats the electronic
version that published on our
website. Pam not only does a
consistently professional job,
she also handles the challenge
of dealing with our alternating
print/electronic formats.
About six years ago, Pam’s mom, Marty Troutman, whose
Springer had died, discovered MAESSR when she was looking
for another dog. She ended up adopting a dog named Riley, and
Pam’s involvement with the organization followed a few months
later. Pam is a professional graphic designer and thought she
could use her skills and talent to help our cause. She also had
the experience of designing and editing her church’s monthly
newsletter. We are so lucky to have her as a volunteer!
Springers have been a part of Pam’s life since her junior year of
college when her parents acquired the first of many Springers—
a pup named Schroeder. After Schroeder came Murphy (Murphy
Brown) and then Casey (named after Rashard Casey, a quarterback
at Penn State). After moving out of her parents’ home, Pam
vowed to have a Springer whenever she bought her first home.
That happened in January 1990, when a newspaper ad for a sixmonth
Springer brought Samantha (Sam) into Pam’s life. Pam
and her husband, Rich, joke that when he first sat down on her
couch, she warned him that Sam probably wouldn’t make up to
him right away because she didn’t like deep voices. Sam hopped
right up on the couch and sat tight against Rich. Pam took that
as a sign that Rich was a keeper!
Pam’s family now has Bailey, a real Velcro Springer. She is a
true two-person dog and if her folks are in separate rooms, she
makes sure she’s positioned where she can see (or hear) both of
them. Bailey turned 14 on March 30, and except for some arthritis
in her legs, she acts just like a puppy. Naturally, Pam is hoping
to keep her around for a few more years. Marriage brought
her four step-kids (all adults and out of the house), so Bailey
has been her baby. Pam feels she is the smartest, most beautiful
dog ever—not being at all prejudiced!
Pam lives in central Pennsylvania, just northwest of Harrisburg,
and recently retired as a graphic designer for the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania. She’s hoping to spend more time on flower gardening
and minor house repairs, but she’s currently busy with
purging—getting rid of clothes no longer needed, papers, books,
2
Who’s That Volunteer? Pam Hoover
NANCY HALE
www.maessr.org
BAILEY, PAM’S FURBABY
and other accumulated “stuff” that has found a home in all the
nooks and crannies of her house.
Pam and Rich have a small cottage in Villas, New Jersey, where
they spend a few weeks every summer. Now, they hope to be
there more often. Bailey, of course, travels with them as do
Pam’s mom and Riley.
The MAESSR family wishes a happy retirement to Pam and hopes
her future days are filled with fun, sun, and Springers. We see
and appreciate her talents and contributions, which are on display
in every issue of Springer Tails, including this one.
No matter how close we are to another
person, few human relationships are as
free from strife, disagreement, and frustration
as is the relationship you have
with a good dog. Few human beings give
of themselves to another as a dog gives
of itself. I also suspect that we cherish
dogs because their unblemished souls
make us wish—consciously or unconsciously—that
we were as innocent as
they are, and make us yearn for a place
where innocence is universal and where
the meanness, the betrayals, and the
cruelties of this world are unknown.
Dean Koontz, A Big Little Life: A Memoir of a Joyful Dog