Some of you may wonder what a photo of a dog is doing on a floral design school blog. However, Rittner people know that that when you graduate from our school you become part of our extended family of graduates that spans over sixty years. Our grads aren’t just customers. They are friends as well…..As this blog is one way we can communicate with our friends, it is appropriate to use it to share news, both good and bad……
We are sorry to report that our school mascot, Jean Tunney, recently passed on.
Jeannie was the most recent in a succession of Boxer dogs that have had the position of “Official Rittner Floral School Mascot.” We have been fortunate to have some wonderful Boxers—Corporal, Pepsi, Tov, Kelley, Marvelous Marvin and Sugar Ray as mascots over the past sixty+ years. Many of you have fond memories of the problem solving pursuits of some of our mascots (like trying to get into the garbage), their gourmet tastes (attempting to “share” cake, cookies and ice cream) and their keen interest in our lectures (snoring).
We chose the Boxer Dog as our floral school mascot for we feel that the breed displays outstanding personality traits, many of which are important for people planning to be floral designers.
Jeannie exemplified every one of these traits.
She was friendly and outgoing. She enjoyed people and being with others. She made many, many friends. She was intelligent and warm hearted. She was a very optimistic animal and had a very positive zest for life. Jeannie, (like most Boxers) was smart and loyal and quite enthusiastic in all activities. She was creative in her play, always seeking new and different ways to accomplish things. She could be stubborn and tenacious, yet, at the same time, quite practical and adaptable. She was very unique with a very distinctive independent personality…..
Jeannie, we will all miss you.
