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| PUPPY LOVE Jade Monfils with Leia. (Photo by Terry Thompson) |
Hot dog!
A sweet-faced Boston Terrier is voted ‘Top Dog’ in online contest celebrating the Dallas Voice’s Readers Voice Awards
Women’s apparel designer Jade Monfils always thought her dog was a star, and now she has the title to prove it. Monfils entered Leia, her female Boston Terrier, in the Top Dog contest last December, and after making the top 10 finalists, Leia was voted on by Dallas Voice readers. It wasn’t even close: Leia nabbed more than 25 percent of the total vote, with 10 dogs in contention. That’s a landslide.
But Leia’s fellow contestants get their moment in the sun, too — each becomes the official "spokesdog" for one of the nine divisions voted on by readers. But it’s Monfils’ little angel who gets to claims the title "Top Dog."
In addition to becoming the cover girls for the 2010 Readers Voice Awards, Leia and her mom will have $2,500 donated in their name to AIDS Arms LifeBark in October. Monfils shared with us the thrill of having the community bark all about you.
Dallas Voice: Tell us about Leia. Monfils: She is a Boston Terrier and will be 2 years old May 21. Leia has a Miniature Schnauzer brother named Luke. They are the same age and do everything together.
Now that Leia is officially the "top dog," has she become more demanding? Of course not! She is still as sweet as ever.
What did it feel like to win? It felt great to know that so many people supported Leia, especially all her Boston Terrier friends.
How did you and Leia celebrate? We went to the dog park, and Leia got a new bone and dog bed. Nothing too extravagant.
Does Leia strut around at the dog park or keep it modest? She is a modest girl, but can be forward when she tries to get hugs and kisses from everyone — canine and human … she is a playful girl.
What was it about your dog that made you decide to enter the contest? She loves to have her picture taken, and we were so excited that she even made the top 10!
Now that you’ve launched your dog’s modeling career, what’s next? We are going to see where things go, we don’t have any big plans yet.
What’s Leia’s best trick? She knows a few, but my favorite is "roll over." She will do anything for food. She is pretty spoiled because I home-cook all her food.
What part of town do you live in? Victory Park. She loves walking by the American Airlines Center in her Dallas Mavericks jersey. She is a huge fan.
What’s you’re favorite thing y’all do together? Probably sleep in on the weekends! She is a cuddle bug and we love to be lazy together. It is tough getting her to get out of bed.
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| AND THE WINNER IS… | Dallas Voice reader Gil Perrone, left, was presented with a certificate and two tickets on American Airlines from publisher Robert Moore. (Photo by Terry Thompson) |
Taking flight
Voting in the Readers Voice Awards paid off for Gil Perrone
The League of Women Voters has been telling us for years, but now Gil Perrone knows it’s true: Voting pays off.
All Perrone had to do was vote for some of his favorite people and businesses last January, and bam! He walked away with two round-trip tickets on American Airlines, good for travel in the continental U.S., Canada, Mexico and Caribbean.
With his partner, Perrone moved to Dallas from Philadelphia "kicking and screaming" eight years ago, but he doesn’t seem to have any complaints now. And he already knows where he’s going with the tickets. …
Who are you? Perrone: Gil Perrone — the other half of Rob Fontanilla. I also own Turtle Creek Consignment & Estate Sales.
Where were you when you found out you won? Working — I received an e-mail message! I was thrilled. It was totally unexpected.
Now that you have your picture in the paper, are you gonna work it? Well, yes, but only because I didn’t have to take my shirt off.
Do you know where you’re going with the tickets? Orange County, Calif. A long overdue family visit to see the in-laws.
Why did you vote? I always vote, for a couple of reasons: I’m a little opinionated and I have many friends that own businesses in DFW that I wanted to support with my vote. Oh, and of course the possibility of winning two American Airlines tickets and having my photo in the paper didn’t hurt either.
That seems to have paid off. What was your favorite category to vote in? Restaurants [Dining] and antiques [Shop].
If you had a dream date for your traveling companion, who would it be? There is only one dream date for me: Rob Fontanilla, my partner of the last 90 — I mean nine — years.
Will you bring back any souvenirs? Yes: Tacky magnets for Rob’s collection, penguins for my collection. And memories. Thanks Dallas Voice and American Airlines!
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EDITORIAL
Editor: Arnold Wayne Jones
Writers: Rich Lopez, Tammye Nash, Steven Lindsey, Jef Tingley, Eddie Garza, Arnold Wayne Jones
Ballot tallying: Terry Thompson, John Simpson
DESIGN
Art director: Michael Stephens
Graphic designer: Kristina Walton
Photography: Arnold Wayne Jones, Terry Thompson, Rich Lopez, Tammye Nash, Eddie Garza
ADVERTISING
Sales: Leo Cusimano, Gary Karwacki, Chris
Edwards, Ramon Vega
Promotions: Kris Martin
SOME FACTS ABOUT THE VOTING
After five years, y’all have gotten pretty good at this. We launched the Readers Voice Awards as a way of recognizing the best of the best in nine divisions: Services, Entertainment, Metro, Shopping, Nightlife, Dining, Health, Pets and Travel.
In 2006 — the first year of the Readers Voice Awards — about 1,700 electronic votes were cast for 197 categories. This year, nearly two-and-a-half times as many votes as that — 4,239 — were recorded in a streamlined 142 categories. (That was nothing compared to voting for the Top Dog: 8,119 votes were cast there.) The most votes in any one category were cast for Services: Real Estate Agency.
We also added some editor’s choice picks to our write-ups of the best, added the Top Dog contest and generally did everything we could to make it even more fabulous. We hope you agree. And it’s never too early to start thinking about what you want to vote for next year!
Click below to see winners in each category:
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This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition March 19, 2010.