The Sunday Afternoons at the EAC series, a winter offering of informal and interactive programs every Sunday at 3 pm at Eastport Arts Center, continues on February 16, when Jeanne Katkavich, with service dog Sadi, will present on Training (and Importance of Training) Service Dogs. The duo will share demonstrations and information on several topics. Some subjects will be: What is a service dog? Can I train my own dog? What do I do when I approach a person with a service dog? What are the Federal and Maine laws? Katkavich will provide handouts and links for additional information online, and is enthusiastic about answering attendees’ questions.

Katkavich was born in Connecticut. Prior to retiring, she worked her favorite job ever—preparing owners and their dogs for the required evaluation to be registered teams for “therapy dog” activities. She and her three registered therapy dogs accumulated “many miles per year” in their volunteer work. In 2005, she and her husband, five rescued dogs and a cat moved to Maine where she continued to volunteer. At the end of 2013, Katkavich found herself the lone survivor of her family in Maine, but while volunteering at the PAWS shelter she found a new reason to continue. A shepherd named Sadi was found wandering in Calais and brought to the shelter, and just one meeting cemented the relationship between the pair.

Sunday Afternoons at the EAC programs are held downstairs at the EAC. Hot drinks and refreshments are offered; donations are gratefully accepted. The series will run through April, skipping Easter Sunday. As a reminder, the January 26 program is Band Stands: the Untold Story (including a discussion of Eastport’s own band stand!) with Barbara Merrill Fox. For more information, and to view the rest of the series lineup, please visit https://eastportartscenter.org/constituent-groups/the-concert-series/. The Eastport Arts Center is at 36 Washington Street, Eastport, and is handicapped-accessible.