Gloria Towne and All Around Towne Photography won “Best of South Sound for 2024” in Photography. What an honor!
How time flies, it’s hard to believe Christmas is only 21 days away, but it’s not too late to get your Christmas photos in time for Christmas. If you are thinking hard on what to get for some of your family, friends and especially pets, look no further.
Gloria Towne and her husband Mike (Santa) were at the Pet Works last weekend taking Santa pictures with pets, kids and a few adults for a very reasonable fee. The best part is 25% of the proceeds went to Concern for Animals. We thought it would just be pictures, which is cool anyway, but they do so much more.
With each sitting, you got a free ornament that is made specially by Gloria and Mike. They do laser engraving on ornaments, glass, wood, ceramic, metal, plaques and awards. You name it, they can surely do it for you.
They also heat press images on various items and fundraising items, such as mugs, T-shirts, dog tags, etc. They also offer trophies, figurines, and you can order in bulk if you so desire.
It’s kind of a one place shop for all that has been mentioned above. In fact, Mike is the one who did the graphics and heat pressing of the Jolt T-shirts that you see at so many of our events here in town.
Speaking of the Jolt News, Gloria has been a photographer for the Jolt since around 2021, about a year after Danny Stusser, our gifted publisher, formed the best local online newspaper in Thurston County. The Jolt has been with us since 2020. We hope Danny doesn’t take that part out — lol.
Now, don’t get us wrong, Gloria does a whole lot more than pets (but that is why we are doing the story on her and All Around Towne Photography). She does weddings, sports, families, seniors, commercial products, fashion, corporate photos, food photography, etc.
Now, for the details on how to get hold of Gloria and Mike, as well as some background.
They have a studio at: 4239 Pacific Avenue SE, Lacey, 98503, situated across from the car wash. The studio can be reached at 360-890-4602 or visit its website at: https://www.allaroundtowne.com.
Gloria has been a professional photographer for over 30 years. She was formally trained with an Associate of Arts degree in professional photography from Vancouver, B.C and Bachelor of Arts degree in illustration and advertising photography from Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, California.
She is published in catalogs, as well as several newspapers and magazines. She has also done photography for the Orange County Register for 17 years and The Valley News and Vermont Standard newspapers in Vermont.
Gloria and Mike's daughter graduated from Vassar College in New York. Their son Chris goes to St. Martin’s College and helps occasionally at the studio.
They have lived in Thurston County for five years. They were originally going to buy a house up north to be closer to her parents, but with housing costs such as they are, they decided to come to Thurston County. We are fortunate they did.
She started including pets in her repertoire in New Hampshire.
What we admire, among her accomplishments, is Gloria and Mike do events for animal charities here in Thurston County and donate a percentage of the proceeds to the charity.
In case you missed Santa Mike and Gloria at The Pet Works, you can visit them on Sunday, Dec. 8 from from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Coastal Farm, 5500 Martin Way, Lacey 98516.
Part of the proceeds will go to Caring Hearts for Paws. There will be Christmas frames, photo gifts, Christmas cards, as well as a free paw photo ornament with a purchase. If you have never visited Coastal, you are in for a treat.
And in case you miss that one, there will also be a two-day Pet Santa Photo opportunity at Tractor Supply, 4141 Martin Way, Olympia 98506. It will be from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 21 and Sunday, Dec. 22.
All pets are welcome with photos printed on the spot! Part of the proceeds will be donated to Concern for Animals again. There will be photo ornaments, photos and gifts for purchase and a gift from Santa.
We hope to see you at one or both of the events.
Tuesday, Dec. 3, was Giving Tuesday for donations to charities with many matchings or doubling the amount given.
We know so many of us are struggling with costs of absolutely everything and they just keep going higher and higher, but if you can see it in your hearts, maybe instead of a gift for yourself at Christmas, ask the gift giver to donate to a favorite charity.
We did an article on Boarding for Dogs and Cats a couple of weeks ago and it was brought to our attention that one of the boarding places we mentioned isn’t open for business any longer.
That business was Precious Paws out on Brooks Street SW, and it hasn’t been operating for a couple years now. We didn’t want to leave them out, but maybe we should have done a bit more research so thank you to one of our readers for pointing that out.
Also, we got an email about another business that we would like to have been mentioned. We don’t normally do businesses that aren’t local, but because they have local pet sitters and since we mentioned Rover.com, we thought it only fair to mention another company as an option. Valerie Lange, who contacted us is a member of Pet Sitters International (PSI) website https://www/petsit.com.
You can find Valerie, Pet Sitting ABC’s under the website. They provide in-home care for a variety of pets, including cats, dogs, horses, house rabbits, birds and other small animals. Dog walking and house-sitting services are also available.
There are six pet sitters within the 98512 ZIP code. They are insured, bonded and can provide background checks for clients. Members participate in a variety of educational pet care training sessions.
Valerie made a good case for home-based pet care. Pets are happier in their home environment; diet and exercise routines are maintained; the client’s home has someone to watch over it; it’s often less costly than boarding and they are often available to perform other duties such as brushing, watering plants, etc.
Paws for Thoughts
When you get a dog, your house will never be perfectly clean again and you may never sleep alone again, but you will have more love than you could have ever dreamed of: By ShakePaws.com
Thom Donitz and Trish Lynn are neighbors and close friends who share their love of animals and wildlife. Trish and Thom are residents of Tumwater. Contact them at pets@theJOLTnews.com.
1 comment on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
Scndbseman27
I was just thinking about getting pictures of our dogs for Christmas so this article was perfect timing. I love how they have so many different options available for your pets picture.
Thursday, December 5, 2024 Report this