Arrowhead resident-playwright loves her pair of Pyrs

PITTSFIELD – Sally Filkins, a city resident, is the playwright-in-residence at Arrowhead on Holmes Road.

She’s written numerous plays that have been performed by VOICES theater group, including “Melville Haunted.”
It will be performed at Arrowhead Oct. 15-27.

When asked if the homestead of the New England writer, Herman Melville, is haunted, she said, with a smile, “It depends on who you talk to.”

Ms. Filkins brought two special guests to last weekend’s flea market, tag sale and crafts fair event.

They were her very large but gentle Great Pyrenees dogs – Satya, who weighs 125 pounds, and the her son, Remy, who tips the scales at 165 pounds.

Ms. Filkins has loved and cared for dogs of this breed since she was 17 years old.

As for Remy and Satya, the two dogs go everywhere with her, she said.

Remy is an all white dog and his mother is white with color variations,  a color mix termed “blaireau.”

Great Pyrenees dogs are gentle and loyal, Ms. Filkins said.

“They guide flocks in the mountains.”

For instance, they guard goats, llamas, sheep and free ranging poultry throughout the northeast, according to the website of the NorthEast Pyr Rescue, a Lee-based all volunteer organization with which Ms. Filkins is associated.

The ancestors of Great Pyrenees dogs are said to have migrated with shepherds from Asia as far back as 5,000 years ago, according to the website.

They were first brought to the United States by General Layfayette who gave them as a gift to a friend.

This breed of dogs has even helped in war time by bringing pack supplies to soldiers across the Pyrenees borders of France and Spain, according to the NorthEast Pyr rescue website.

The organization provides rescue care for this breed of dogs whose living situations have been interrupted, sometimes through divorce of the owners or even death.

Volunteers help find  foster as well as adoptive homes for the Great Pyrenees dogs.

Anyone who would like more information should check out the organization’s website at www.nepyres.org or call 1-877-528-0637.

At last weekend’s event, Ms. Filkins bought some very large silk sunflowers. Satya and Remy just enjoyed walking along the lawn of Arrowhead, meeting people and getting lots of attention.

Posted by Susan M. Wicker Guerrero on September 26, 2013. Filed under Community Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry